For Mom

Two bedrooms; one king, one queen, and two twin platform beds (move the cushions off the sofa) in the living room. The kitchen was large, with tremendous storage space, but I don't know for what you might use it. Two bathrooms, a beautiful view from the lanai. No access to the ocean from the resort.

This is a golf resort. You have to walk about a quarter of a mile or so to get to a public beach, and you have to walk through another resort to get to it. But once you are there, it is almost like a private beach, because the hotel behind the beach is closed, with broken windows, graffiti, and overgrowth of tropicals and shrubs.

The golf course is nice, well groomed. There are two pools, a large one by the activities center and a quiet pool (adult) with a whirlpool/hot tub nearer the entrance to the resort. You have to pay a surcharge for air conditioning daily if you have a key in your possession to use it. And you probably will. There was a TV in the living room, and in each bedroom. Tennis courts, restaurant on site. We used neither. This is for a golf vacation. Or shopping, maybe sightseeing, as it is centrally located on the west coast. This is not a resort for water sports or swimming, or beaching.

My mother was recently diagnosed with cancer and was told she couldn't go on the vacation we had planned. She went anyway and was able to enjoy the sights and sounds of the volcanoes the most. It was the one thing she wanted to do. The drive from the Kona Coast to Kilauea was from one world to another. From desert to rainforest. From sunshine to a dense cloud cover/fog. From hibiscus to bamboo. From warm to cool. From lava-covered beaches to sand. You can only see the current of lava flowing by hiking in about 9 miles. But if you drive to the end of the road on the crater rim drive, you can sit by the ranger’s kiosk, chat with them and the other visitors, and watch the glow in the sky just over the mountain ridge to your left. With the ocean behind you and the volcano in front, the darkness is intermittently interrupted by a pink-orange flare of color. This island is being created daily. By the center of the earth birthing new land, as it has for more than a decade. Go, if you have the opportunity. See this amazing wonder. I am so grateful that my mother took the time while she has time. And I am so happy to have been there with her. Truly something I will never forget.