Ash Wednesday 2010

Well it's Ash Wednesday today which means that we are on our way to spring. We need some warm weather don't we? We traveled from Maui to the Big Island and spent three days there. It was interesting to say the least. The west side of the island where we stayed was very dry and basically everything looked like the outback. A lot of lava flows and stuff. There are no sandy beaches just lava rocks. It was fun though. We toured the largest coffee plantation on the island and even sampled the various coffess. It was located just outside of Kona. I couldn't believe that each coffee tree or plant only produced two pounds of coffee a year! It also takes up to seven months to harvest all the beans. I got to try a bean freash off the bush and it tasted like a cranberry. The guide told us that there is no caffeine in the beans until you roast them. While there, we say papaya trees, apple bananas and avacodo trees. This particular plantation was the largest exported of coffee on the islands. Back at our hotel the next day, we had the oppurtunity to see a whale jump right off shore. We were looking out over the ocean from our balcony and it started jumping and splashing. It wasn't any farther out than I could hit a pitching wedge. (100 yards) It was cool, and boy was he big. It rose out of the ocean about 25 or 30 feet and would come splashing down on it's side. Very unbelievable. Well that's enough for today. I will talk to you tomorrow. Love you both.