Jason with his Lei (I'd been in airplanes for twelve hours, so forgive the wrinkled shirt).
Lovely Ljudmila's Lei.
Coconuts here, coconuts there, coconuts everywhere in Kona!
Can you spot the parrot? The aviary at the Royal Kona Resort Hotel (which we didn't stay at).
Arrangement of tropical flowers, including orchid and bird-of-paradise.
Ravishing Ljudmila holding a palm tree behind her back :)
Shy Jason in the shade of a palm tree.
The dangerous side of tropical fruit!!
Ljudmila on a black rock beach (there are hundreds of crabs on those beaches, but they were hiding in this shot).
"The World", a nationless cruise ship whose millionaire tenants spend their lives cruising from one tropical paradise to the next. This week Hawai'i, next week Thailand.
Jason with a suntan.
We stayed across the street from Banyan Beach, the most popular surf spot on the Big Island (there was even a surf competition there while we visited)!
These little yellow birds always fly in couples. Just like me and Ljudmila!
A Hawaiian hawk flying in front of Mauna Loa.
It's nice to know I'm not the only redhead on the Big Island.
Ljudmila the Lifeguard with Captain Crazy-Shirt.
Decisions, decisions . . . who wants to go to the Volcano!
Jungle Jason in a safari hat.
Kona Coffee plantation.
Ripe coffee beans, known as "cherries".
The drying house, where the beans are prepared for market.
Ljudmila hanging loose with the Hawaiian gods.
Hawaiian gods holding a meeting in the City of Refuge.
Same meeting, different point-of-view.
The black sand beach of Punaluu created by volcanic eruptions of Mauna Loa.
Sulfur steam rising from Halemaumau Overlook (dangerous to breathe, but mystifying to watch).
The hardened lave on the bottom of the crater is all that's left of Halemaumau Lava Lake.
It reminds me of the "hell sequence" from Kurosawa's "Dreams".
The crater formed by the collapse of Halemaumau Lava Lake (I'm glad my digital camera has a "panorama" mode)!
From hell to beautiful orchids -- only in Hawai'i :)
More beautiful orchids.
Are these orchids too? I guess so.
In case you are starting to get tired of beautiful orchids . . .
. . . Here's the most beautiful flower on Hawai'i -- Ljudmila!
And just for contrast, here's Jason!
I don't think this couple is from Hawai'i.
Rainbow Falls, not as grand as Niagara Falls, but beautiful nonetheless.
Ljudmila perched above Rainbow Falls (ready to fly away) :)
Jason playing "cool" on the edge of the falls.
My beautiful baby beachcomber!
Sunset in Kona.
Same sunset . . . but the sun's getting bigger!!
It reminds me of that shot in Star Wars where Luke is posing as the twin suns set over Tatooine (you know the shot I'm talking about).
Ljudmila in her sitting pose in front of a cruise ship.
Ljudmila "and the banyan tree, here at the dude ranch above the sea" (thinly veiled reference to Steely Dan's "Aja").
Jason standing near King Kamehameha's summer home.
Ljudmila imagining herself as King Kamehameha, first ruler of all Hawai'i!
"Bad Ass Xing", "Volcano", anchor and Jungle Jason -- what's the connection? Tourist photo opp of course!
The Hawaiian god of oversized anchors.
A baby palm tree (shot by my beautiful baby -- Ljudmila).
A beautiful stretch of palm trees.
The fan palm.
