The best day yet! We had a blast on the valley waterfall tour. Melanie and Sean from Fort Lauderdale, our newfound friends and casino buddies, were on this tour with us. They were also on yesterday’s Volcano’s Tour. They are super nice people and so much fun.

We took a 4-wheel van 1 hour north of Kona to the end of the road. What a view!! We then 4-wheeled about a mile through a cow pasture to the trailhead. Well, it was so muddy from the early morning’s rain that we had to hike an extra ½ mile through the pasture to reach the trailhead. It was so worth it.

We hiked another 1 ½ miles through the jungle that reminded me of “Lost”. We passed 4 waterfalls and had great views of the valley and Pacific beyond the shore as the trail literally hugged the mountain with 800 feet drop-offs. The tour turned around after we walked under a 500 foot waterfall. This was a once in a lifetime thing to see and do.

This meant so much to me. I so wanted to do this when I first saw it listed in the excursion guide. I worked so hard in cardiac rehab and have walked the neighborhood every chance I got to get in shape for this. This was a real achievement for me. I made it with no problem. I would never have attempted anything like this before. I consider this a milestone in my recovery.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping Kona. We bought plenty of Kona coffee for friends. We spent a lot of money in Hilo Hattie’s. It was the perfect day. I am writing this entry as we cruise out of Kona harbor headed for our next stop. I think that it is Kauai. The weather can not be more perfect… 80 and pure sun.