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7am train from Vancouver to Seattle; SEA-Hawaii flight is much cheaper than YVR-Hawaii flight
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outside the Space Needle; our hotel was within walking distance
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climbing some play structure while Lauren napped in stroller
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up on the Space Needle
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our feet on the glass floor
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Haidilao hot pot
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flew Delta to Kona - this is the view from our airbnb balcony
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jet lag, we woke up early on the first day and drove across the island to Thurston Lava Tube in Volcanoes National Park
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arrived around 9am to get a parking spot
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view of crater
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Hōlei Sea Arch at the end of Chain of Craters Road
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steam vent
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back at our airbnb using communal BBQ
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view back towards the building - it was a mix of short term and long term lodging, but mostly tourists I think
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I think this was Magic Sands Beach Park
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I lost my underwater camera at the manta ray snorkeling a few nights later, but I had taken a pic like this on the beach day
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Da Poke Shack was downstairs at our airbnb
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this was the best poke we had in Hawaii (grocery store poke was second best)
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Greenwell Farms Kona coffee tour; we did a second tour at a different plantation on the last full day
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Fanfei and I took a tour to Mauna Kea with pickup in Kona
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there are 11 working observatories up here
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over 300 nights a year are crystal clear and they can see northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere skies
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I felt a little light-headed with the altitude
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video walking around the summit
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amazing sunset views
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panoramic video
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this and the next two photos were taken with the tour company's long exposure lens
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the next day, Punaluʻu Beach with black sand (near the southernmost point in USA)
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a lot of driving to the east side of the island hear Hilo; this is Rainbow Falls
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Fanfei's haupia pancakes (coconut); I had loco moco, not as good
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we drove up to the Mauna Kea Visitor's Center on the way back to Kona
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above the clouds
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crater
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I think this was Honl's Beach
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shave ice in historic Kona city centre
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more poke
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last sunset from our airbnb
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manta ray snorkeling on our last night in Kona
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this is what they looked like
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flew to Kauai, and did a 2 mile roundtrip hike to Ho'opi'i Falls
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amazing road that we passed several times driving in and out of Poipu
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our Kauai airbnb, sharing a sofa bed again (sideways); we were a 5 minute walk from Poipu Beach
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first full day in Kauai, Waimea Canyon
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red dirt waterfall
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Waimea Canyon
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the view at the end of Canyon Trail
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snack time; there were a lot of chickens on the hike
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Kalalau lookout
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beautiful view of Nā Pali Coast
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back in Poipu for some ice cream and shave ice
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some bananas had fallen at our airbnb; our rental jeep is behind
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turtles come onto Poipu Beach every afternoon to stay the night
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videos: in and out and longer out
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more turtle video
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monk seals on Poipu Beach too
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seal moving: video 1 and video 2
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Little Fish Coffee Poipu for açaí bowl and bagel breakfast
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we booked a parking spot at Ha'ena State Park (required 6am website refreshing from home a month before); this is Hanalei Bay on the way to Ha'ena
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Hanalei Pier
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we did the first mile of the Kalalau Trail, starting at Ha'ena from our parking spot
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Lifang stayed with the kids while Fanfei and I hiked farther to the first lookout point
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my photo actually shows the coastline
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Maniniholo Dry Cave
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another stop at Hanalei Bay on the way back; we came up north for another beach day the next day (Anini Beach, and did some snorkeling)
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last full day, 60 minute helicopter tour: takeoff and landing
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with Island Helicopters
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Jurassic Falls
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Waimea Canyon
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we flew into a valley with waterfalls coming down on multiple sides!
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Nā Pali Coast
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those beaches are part of the Kalalau Trail (11 mile one-way hike), but we couldn't make it that far
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Hanalei Bay
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Hanalei Bay again
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with our helicopter after landing
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bought a fresh mango at the roadside on our last morning; Lauren eating mango
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Spouting Horn near Poipu
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back home with all our purchases
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