Big Island

Hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend, I went to the Big Island for my vacation.
Some close friends of Robert and I, Jason and Megan, invited me to spend four days on Hawaii with them, we left Sunday morning from Oahu and arrived on Hawaii 40 minutes later. That first day we mostly drove south to Kona to sample from numerous coffee farms. Our favorite was Greenwell Farms. I highly recommend it. Went to the hotel and went to bed.
Day two we woke up and decided to do a north to east driving tour. We drove out to Waipi'o Valley where there is an awesome black sand beach. The thing is that the beach is in the valley, so we decided to take the one mile hike to the beach. It would have been easy except that in the one mile there was a 1,000 foot elevation change. The hike to the beach was all downhill and super easy, not so much on the way up. But I got my black sand souvenir and I was happy. Next we headed to Hilo side, we stopped at Akaka Falls Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots; however, Akaka falls was very impressive and the best waterfall I've ever seen. After that we ate sinner then went back to the hotel to make sure the hot tub was in working order.
Day three was a lazy morning, we went down to the "adult pool" but had to arrange the heavy furniture. Thanks to CrossFit we had no troubles with it : ) Later in the day we packed up all our cold weather attire and headed towards Mauna Kea, it was quite the drive with Jason at the wheel, but we made it. We stopped at the visitor center at around 9,000 ft. for about half an hour debating if we should continue up the mountain without a 4WD vehicle. We went ahead with it and I'm glad we did. The temperature at the top was about 32 degrees... I did not pack enough cold weather gear. We experienced the sunset above the clouds which was breathtaking, as well as took handstand pictures (silly CrossFitters). After the sun was below the clouds we headed back down the mountain for a star gazing tour. Equally awesome but I believe I was too cold to fully appreciate it.
Day four was my last day on the island and it was my favorite! We woke up and decided to visit Captain Cook's monument. The monument is fixed in a bay where you either have to hike down 45 minutes, then back up (no thank you) or rent a kayak for a 30 minute jaunt across the bay. Team NachoWey (Nachowicz and Van Wey unite) opted for the kayaks. The water in this bay was the most incredible shade of blue I have ever seen, no words can describe how beautiful it was. Also on our trek across the bay we were accompanied by multiple spinner dolphins. They were so close and it was an amazing sight. So once at the monument Team NachoWey dove in the brisk bay to experience Hawaii's number one snorkeling location. I am fully confident in this location receiving the top spot. The water was clear, the fish were colorful and plentiful, not to mention you could watch and hear those afore mentioned dolphins playing under the surface. Best day ever!

Big thanks to Jason and Megan who have become great friends and whom without I never would have left Oahu.