We headed out this morning around 9am to spend the day over at Volcano National Park. We walked back in our room tonight a little after 9pm. Absolutely got our money’s worth out of today! (Jimmy Maske is smiling down on this day!)

We took the southern route to see a different part of Hawai’i, and again, it was crazy to see the differences from one region to another. We also got to see what we thought was a “flat” squirrels with really short legs scurrying across the street. But it turns out there are no squirrels in Hawai’i (there are also no snakes). What we thought was a squirrel was actually mongoose. The sugar cane plantation owners brought in mongooses in to control the rat population, and now they’re everywhere! I tried to get a picture but those suckers are fast!

The pictures really don’t do justice to the lava flows. It was so cool to see where a lava flow went right into the treeline.

We made it! Our furthest National Park yet!

The visitors center was being remodeled so they’ve set up a temporary visitor center in an old military outpost. (I could think of worse places to be stationed.)

Due to the remodeling, we had limited food options. Since Mom’s Cafe is not operating in Hawaii, we grabbed sandwiches at the Volcano House and enjoyed the view of the Kilauea Caldera before we headed into the park to find a place for a picnic. It is just crazy to see steam and smoke rising from under the earth 😬

Picnic in hand, we headed into the park. Again with the massive landscape shifts: you’re in a rainforest and then suddenly, sitting beside a lava field. Each area was marked with signs showing the date of the eruption that caused this particular lava flow. We had our picnic beside the July 1974 Lava Flow (Pro tip, you lift up to move on lava walls – don’t slide unless you want to rip your shorts.)

Across the road was an entire lava field that you could hike across/explore. The rocks were light and totally porous (tiny holes all in it). We were still amazed by the vegetation that was desperately trying grow from any crevices.

We traveled all the way down the Chain of Craters Road: next stop was the Pauahi Crater – last eruption here was November of 1979. This thing was massive… or so we thought.

We traveled on and honestly skipped a few baby craters because they just paled in comparison to Pauahi Crater and Kilauea Caldera. What’s the difference? Well thanks to our friendly park ranger, we learned that a crater is usually a smaller eruption and a caldera is the BIG one that blows a big chunk out of the earth.

The lava fields from the Pauahi eruption of November of 1979 continued for miles. They were so large, you could hike and camp on these – although I could not think of anything hotter or less comfortable than sleeping on hardened lava rock.

Further down the Chain of Craters Road, the lava started to become all you saw. It was amazing to see the differences. The lighter lava came first and then a second flow will come on top, which is darker. Everything flowed right out into the ocean creating more and more land. FYI: if you own land that is extended by cooled lava, you don’t just get more acreage. Sorry. That new land belongs to the state of Hawaii.

We continued all the way to the bottom of the Chain of Craters Road where all the lava flows eventually end… the ocean. And even if new cliffs are created, they are almost immediately subject to incredible erosion forces as the waves crash in over and over.

As we started back up a 19-mile road that takes 1 hour due to the hills and turns, we were amazed by an older couple that were biking up the same hill!!! Forget the level of strenuousness this would take, but there was barely a shoulder on some of the curves!

Up up up we went… passing more markers for lava flows and what the signs called “Earth Cracks”

We passed a sign for Devastation Trail and decided since we have also visited the Doomsday Clock, we needed to see this too! It was about a mile hike to see part of the Kilauea Ike Crater (neighboring the Kilauea Caldera) that erupted in 1959 for over 5 weeks. The hot embers traveled for over six miles! The devastation trail covers a portion of this devastation.

Next stop: a lava tube! To avoid parking issues, we parked in an overlook and hiked back to the tube. It ended up being a really cool hike said that we could get to appreciate the size of the Kilauea Ike Crater. This lava tube was much simpler than the last one we traveled through on Maui. It was also much wetter, but that was likely due to rain forest feel of the area versus Maui’s weather.

These steam vents were all along the road just to remind you that we were driving along a chain of volcanoes

We stopped again to get another view of Mount Kilauea Caldera… honestly, we were hoping to see a little lava, but no such luck. It was still amazing to see all the smoke coming up, and to see how much of the land had already ready been taken by fiery eruptions. Plus, the cracks in the earth gave a pretty good indication of what section would be falling into the caldera next.

Then for some reason everyone started doing these hops… Michael did one and then not to be outdone, Leo did one and then I looked and Mike was doing them too 🤣🤣 (They must have gotten the happy hops like Scarlett does.)

One last stop to actually feel the steam coming up. It was hard to believe this blast of hot air was coming up from the ground.

Volcano National Park: ✔️

Since we were closer to Hilo than Kona, we decided to try another local place for dinner, Pineapples. It was fantastic! Fresh caught Ono (Wahoo) and pineapple drinks 🍍 These folks are brilliant. They need fresh pineapple for dishes, so instead of tossing the “hull” into the trash, they hollow out the pineapples and serve drinks in them… for a small fee 😉 They are known for their Pineapple Pow (alcoholic) or the Pineapple No-Pow (without alcohol). I got the No-Pow and the pineapple hull was frozen which made the drink inside like an orange-pineapple icee – a dessert more than drink. The boys both got a tropical fruit punch served in a pineapple and Mike tried one of their locally brewed beer. It was a little pricey for the pineapples but when are you ever going to drink out a pineapple again?!?

We started our drive back across Hawai’i and I have to say, this road is a little creepy at night… especially when you got the intermittent fog as you went over the hills. And even creepier when someone made us stop for a potty break on the side of a creepy road (sorry Hawai’i)

We made it back in time to fight the gnats (ugh – long story), grab showers and crash! Tomorrow, we leave Hawai’i and head to Oahu.

So far, the Browns are split on favorite islands: Maui: 2 and Hawai’i: 2

Since we discovered that snorkeling and curvy roads are not our favorite pastimes, we readjusted and decided to head over to Hilo on eastern side of the island to try our hand at ATV-ing. Driving across Hawai’i (because we’ve learned that you pronounce the actual island differently than the state), we saw a totally different part of Hawai’i.

Going straight across you would think you were in South Dakota.

Then as you drive along the coast, on one side of the road, theres the coastline and on the other side, there are rolling hills and pastures like in Montana.

The cooled lava fields were so cool You could see along the coast line exactly how the lava flowed into the sea. We learned that that island is separated into lava zones ranging from 1-9 (one being most severe). Think of it like the Flood zones we have in North Carolina.

All of Hawai’i was gorgeous. If you categorized Maui as “resort-y”, I’d put Hawai’i in the laid back relaxed category.

We arrived at Umauma Experience right on time and ready to ride.

The Umauma Experience is on a 230 acres plot of land that was an old sugar cane farm. After the sugar cane stopped they tried to grow eucalyptus trees until they realized that when they are dry they are crazy-flammable. So they started the Umauma Experience. You can chose from horseback riding, ziplining, ATV trails or waterfall repelling.

When we dropped snorkeling on Sunday, we threw in the ATV tour since the worst review online was that “the guides went too fast and let us get too dirty” 🤦🏻‍♀️ seriously? We wore bathing suits and old clothes, and had our fingers crossed that we would be filthy by the end. (Spoiler alert: our wish comes true). We checked in and then explored the grounds a bit while we waited for the others in our group.

We had the BEST guides today! 2 were Midwest transplants and 1 was born and raised in Hawai’i. After a little snafu with our first ATV, we were off.

Nick (one of our guides) said they had a little rain overnight so should be great muddy ride. 🎉 It started off pretty easy…

And then we started hitting it big time!

Passed a few cows (not even letting my brain think about the contributions that the cows may have made to the mud), and just kept up the muddy fun!

Leo and I switched places because no way was I going to be the messiest!

We stopped for a few pictures, and a chance for Michael to take the front seat.

Our faces were hurting from laughing when we made it to the waterfall for a snack and swimming. Thankfully there was also a restroom with a sink to wash off at least our hands and faces 🤪

We headed down to the waterfall and pool area. We have never been so excited to swim in a pond!

Even Mike and I got in on the fun!

Nick showed the boys were to climb up and jump for higher spots while Mike and I were happy to stay in our easy spot.

We even swam across (holy cow, that current was no joke!) and went under and behind the waterfall. The guides stayed right with us just in case.

A Fantastic Day we will always remember!

Then it was back in the ATV to finish our ride and head back, and of course a little more mud!

Thankfully they had showers on site so after some scrubbing, we were presentable enough to head into Hilo for lunch at a place our guides Chloe and Alicia recommended for “real” Hawaiian food.

Hilo is cute town – lots of shops in the waterfront area and with the hills, it reminded us of Asheville.

We made it to the “Hawaiian Style Cafe” and WOW! We met the nicest older gentleman while we waiting who said he hoped we were hungry. (Um sir, we have teenage boys. They are always hungry!) but we loved that the menu said all food scraps are donated to a local pig farm 🐽

We decided to check out another spot we read about… the Dooms Day Clock. It sounded really ominous. The clock was hit by a tsunami in 1960 and is frozen in time. There have been several tsunamis that hit so much so that they commemorate them on a pillar by the ocean.

Our guides also recommended we check out Rainbow Falls and the boiling pots. So glad we took their advice! The falls and boiling pots were really beautiful

One thing I love about Hawai’i is the stories around everything. For instance the Falls were created for the mother of Maui, the demigod (remember in Moana?). And the boiling pots and falls have claimed the lives of 27 people since 1995… but seriously what kind of idiot would go beyond the railing to a waterfall?!?

Our favorite part however was this incredible Banyan tree!

Banyan trees have a crazy root system where the roots grow down from branches and create a new trunk. This banyan tree is estimated at 600 years old, and in Hawaiian culture are places of spirituality and symbols of wisdom, endurance, and protection. It was just incredible!

We decided to head back to our side of the island and took a slightly different route so we could see a little bit more of the island. We’ve covered the middle, northern and eastern side of the island and every part looked like a mix of other states.

Back at the hotel, we took long showers (with soap and washcloths) and decided to grab pizza for dinner. The best pizza (according to online reviews) was about 4 minutes away, so we thought we would see if the reviews were true… they absolutely were!

We stopped in at Target to grab bandaids (Leo got a blister) and detergent, and made it back to hotel in time to do a couple of loads of laundry before we crashed!

Tomorrow we head to Volcano National Park – fingers crossed that Mount Kilauea decides to put on a lava show while we are there 🌋

Having covered the northwest, west, and southeast sides of Maui, we checked of our hotel and headed to our next Island, Hawaii – the Big Island. We flew out of Maui and learned quickly that the Hawaiian Airlines Maui airport folks aren’t known for the friendly disposition. Yikes, think of it this way, if the two guys from grumpy old men were looking for jobs, the Hawaiian Airlines Maui airport folks would be their people!

We decided not to let them ruin our mood, so we just smiled and headed to our gate. We took off and landed on time, so I’ll take a little grumpy as a trade off anytime.

We landed on the Big island and immediately saw all the differences… everything seems to have come from volcanic rock!

The Big Island of Hawaii is the youngest island in the Hawaiian chain. This makes perfect sense since the Big Island has the most active volcanos. We were able to check in a bit early so we dropped off our bags and headed to the Big Kahuna Grill for lunch. The food was great and the atmosphere was so relaxing from the open deck.

Everyone was ready for a nap, but we can sleep inside at home, so the boys and I headed down for a little pool time, and Mike joined us a little later.

The Big Island is very different than Maui. We are staying in Kona which is much more densely populated – based on what we have seen. It is definitely a tourist area like our NC Beach towns. (Tomorrow we are exploring more of island and I’m interested to see how it looks.)

The boys went to the gym to complete their soccer runs (because their parents wouldn’t let them go run on the street). Mike found (and hotel staff agreed) a restaurant for us to try that has fresh seafood grill and market, Umekes. It was delicious! Mike and Michael had the Ahi Tuna steak special, Leo went with the seafood pasta, and I had the fish tacos made with Ono fish (which the waitress told me on mainland it’s called Wahoo). Everything was fantastic, especially the lava cake at the end ♥️

Tomorrow we were supposed to snorkel on the Kona (west) side of the island. However after the multi-level motion sickness on Maui, we pivoted and are now headed for a non-curvy road land adventure on the Hilo (east) side the island 😊

Today’s goal was to travel the famous Road to Hana. The Road to Hana is a 64-mile stretch of road that covers almost the entire east/southeast side of the island of Maui. There are signs everywhere that say it includes 620 curves and 59 bridges… and what they don’t mention is that these curves aren’t a slight deviation from a straight line – no, they are 180° switchbacks AND almost every single one of those bridges are one lane.

The Road to Hana is famous not just because of the views but famous for the quirky stops along the way. Our plan was to conquer as much of it as we could, but there was absolutely no way we could have anticipated the number of twists and turns that awaited us. (Today’s travel taught me one important lesson… all the boys are going to have to be more involved in the planning of activities, because while I don’t suffer from motion sickness, I planned 2 activities back-to-back that made my guys feel terrible.)

Choosing to focusing on the positive: We definitely saw a different side of the island.  When you move away from the coast, Hawaii looks a lot like the eastern side of California. But as you started making your way to the eastern coast, the tropical views returned.

Our first spot of the map was the cute little town of Pa’ia.  It was like Key West (without the drunks) meets small town America. Really cute town with lots of shops and restaurants. Our first actual get-out-the-car stop was at the Twin Falls. So far the road hasn’t been too bad, but these guys were ready to explore.

One of the falls was closed due to too much water, so we made the best of the smaller falls.

Frankly, the upper falls being closed was probably the good Lord looking after my boys because as soon as we got to the falls, they saw some locals guys cliff jumping, and guess who had to join in? 🤪 At least they did come ask permissions first… and then proceed to climb one foot higher with each jump!

Back on the Road… the curves 🤢and the views 🌺 continued… It was really becoming a trade off… we wanted to see the views but these roads and bridges were rough on my guys.

All along the Road, there were several spots called “Wayside Stops” with not a whole lot there other than restrooms and a small trail or two. But in hindsight, I think they are stops to allow your equilibrium to get settled on solid ground…

The views again were picture perfect. We felt like we were in the opening scenes of Jurassic Park so much so that if a pterodactyl had flown out, we wouldn’t have been surprised.

Our next stop was the Hana Lava Tube. What’s a Lava Tube you ask? Well, lava tubes are formed when the hot lava flows underground and creates a roof and walls in the earth. The crust on the outside cools, and hot lava continues to flow in the center through the tube. The Hana Tube is the largest one on the islands and the 18th largest one in the world. The official name is Ka’eleku Caverns… and you know I love to find some caverns to explore.

At one time, the tubes were going to be used as a fallout shelter, although with only space and supplies for up to 16 people, that plan was abandoned pretty quickly.

They gave us each a strong flashlight and off we went…

The Lava Tube is privately owned, and you can explore right up to the property line… well, technically underneath the property line of the owners. Everything beyond this fence is owned by US government, and we could go no further. Gotta admit, I’m a little curious what going on on the government side of the fence.

Next (and final) stop was only 5 miles away, and thankfully it was well worth the journey. Welcome to the black sand beaches of Wai’anapanapa State Park. It was gorgeous!!!

A friend of ours suggested we get water shoes before coming on this trip, and I will never be able to thank him enough! What Hawaiians call “black sand” is really rocks – extremely smooth jet black rocks. I am hoping the sound comes through when the waves crash into the shore.

These waves were crazy and the seas were rough and crashing against the rocks along the sides. It was so rough that the boys said they thought they’d skip a swim here. As we walked down the beach and toward the cliffs the “sand” changed a bit, but it was still little tiny rocks.

We walked up to one of peaks surrounding the beach. The waves were slamming into the rocks and creating some awesome spray! It looked like fireworks made of water!

We stayed up there forever just watching the waves and trying to catch the perfect photos ♥️

We scooted over to the other side and snapped a few more pictures.

Leo found a heart shaped rock for me ♥️ but Mike convinced us we might get some bad voodoo from the Wai’anapanapa tribe so I snapped a picture instead.

As cool as Wai’anapanapa State Park was, we were anxious about the return trek back on the Road to Hana. Michael kept saying “surely there is another road?” And technically there is, BUT its a road considered sacred and they do not want tourists on it. So no, there isn’t any other way home. We took it nice and slow, and thankfully the sun put on a show to distract us.

We can mark Road to Hana ✔️ with a promise from mom to not make them get on any boats or crazy roads tomorrow 🤭

We started a little early today but since we aren’t adjusted to Hawaii time, a 6am wake up time is still doable time for us. We have a day of snorkeling at Molokini Crater and Turtle Arches planned, so we woke without too much grumbling. We are headed to Wailuka, about a 30 minute drive down the coast of Maui. The boys were amazed by the different regions that seemed to be squeezed into Maui – Mountains (from dormant volcanos) on one side of the street, gorgeous ocean views on the other side with tree lined streets in the middle

We arrived at the Pac Whale Foundation, checked in and were ready to go when our crew gathered for briefing and loaded the boat. We chose this tour because everyone on board has a college degree, masters or PhD in Marine Biology so there was a little education sprinkled into the trip 🤣As we headed out, the waves were not terrible and it was really cool to see these land masses just rising out of the ocean. We also learned that Hawaii is made up of over 137 islands all scattered along the Pacific in a chain. I suppose there is a minimum size the land must reach to be qualified as an island? So far, my seasick guys were doing okay. We had breakfast on the boat of fruit and pasteries along with juice and coffee, so we were looking good…

We arrived at Molokini Crater and the boys were off and snorkeling. We tried a few pictures with our underwater camera in the pouch but they were blurry at best… you do get to see one good picture of Mike and a great picture of someone’s arm 🤣 I was a little disappointed and Leo told me we would just laugh and remember that we tried ♥️

I also realized that I did not get one picture of us all together… I have individuals so guess we can make a collage 🤦🏻‍♀️

The snorkeling was amazing. The water was so clear you see 100 feet to the bottom. All different colors of schools of fish and coral reef. I don’t think even the best camera would be able to capture how beatiful it was. As we got back on the boat and headed to the second snorkle location, my seasick guys were starting to feel the ocean a little more than they wanted. We had hoped that being in constant site of land would stave off any motion sickness, but that wasn’t the case. Thankfully, when they were in the water, it was okay. So they pressed on and made it through.

One of the funniest parts of the day was meeting the Kerrigan Family. Initially when we sat down, another family sat nearby and of course, we started talking… turns out they were from NC. And then turned out they were from Greensboro and then turns out that we have SO MANY mutual friends! It was crazy! We had a great time getting to know them and even exchanged info to keep in touch.

The captain took off part of railing on the top of boat to let folks jump off and you know two boys who were absolutely not going to miss this!

We had lunch on the boat, but Mike and Leo decided that would be a bad idea for them, so once we were back on dry land, we decided to find some food trucks. Hawaii is famous for its food trucks, so off we went… found them! Barbecue, Traditional Hawaiian, Burgers, Mexican, you name it and it was in the rectangle of food trucks all circled up with covered picnic tables in the center.

We explored Kihei a bit, and then decided to head back to the hotel and just relax for the rest of the day. We learned 2 things today, seasickness will get 2 of my guys no matter if land is in sight, and 2 hours of snorkeling is exhausting!

Bellies full, we decided to spend the rest of the day at the pool… and feed our new addiction of fruity frozen drinks…

Since we have committed the day to laziness, we decided to sit and watch the Hawaiian sunset, and it did not disappoint…

Not a bad way to end the day ♥️

We may have been exhausted yesterday but this is pretty great view to wake up to…

One the requests that the boys had on this trip was beach days… just some days to sit on the beach with nothing to do and no agenda. (Yea, becuase that’s what I excel at on vacation 🤦🏻‍♀️) But it was an honest request so here we go, a vacation day with literally nothing planned UGH!

As someone who is not a natural early riser, I love the first few days in new time zone. Today, we woke up at 12pm to our bodies but 6am Hawaii Time🍍. Mike and I went in search of coffee and felt like we had to resort all to ourselves at first.

Well all to ourselves, except for the “influencer” who was on the beach at 6am with her camera and equipment decked out in a red bikini and captain’s hat. We weren’t sure what she was supposed to be “influencing” but she spent 20 minutes posing and doing a captain’s salute over and over and over… which of course led to my “inluencer” photo shoot on the beach 🤣

After our photoshoot 😉 we headed over to Starbucks and couldn’t understand why everyone was in workout gear, until we remembered that it was 6:45am on a Saturday and only the crazy workout people were awake this early… normal time adjusted people were asleep!

Coffee in hand, we got the boys stirring and headed to breakfast, with some photo ops on the way.

Finally we headed out to the pool, which presented its own issues. In 2021, Hawaii passed the Hawaii Act 104 which now requires that people only use reef-safe sunscreen. Normal sunscreens effect the coral reef causing coral bleaching, which then effects the millions of fish who depend on the reef. So non-aerosol reef safe sunscreen it is. But here’s the fun part, these two have been raised on spray sunscreen. It seems like a small thing, but watching them rub the old fashioned white suncreen in and cracking themselves up made me giggle 🤣

Then it was time to break in the snorkel equipment that we all got in our Easter Baskets… they’ll be experts by the end of the day! 🐠

Mike and I kept everything held down on shore

The sand here is so different. It feels like extremely soft modeling clay. Thankfully, some child left their sand buckets on the beach and these two spent 45 minutes on a sand castle… cue the flashback 🥹

From the beach we could see folks jumping off Black Rock Point and cliff jumping was HIGH on the boys’ list of Maui Must Do’s. So we grabbed lunch at the hotel and off we went…

Michael and Leo climbed these lava rocks like spider monkeys. I tried to use an old camera in a waterproof pouch to grab some underwater pictures… while fight the current, without flippers and without my googles… so the pictures turned out exactly as you would expect🤣

Unlike like my spider childen, I climbed like a 52 year old with a bum hip and leg 🤪 BUT I jumped off a cliff in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, and I was going to do it in Ka’anapali Beach in Maui too.

Slighting different jumping styles🤣

We posted back up in our little spot for a little more beach time before we headed to the pool for fruity drinks and even more downtime… (seriously getting a Clark Griswold twitch)

We decided we really wanted to have fresh fish for dinner and what’s fresher than sushi 😉. Online one of the best restaurants nearby was MISO PHAT (pause to laugh at the name… and even funnier… their boat is called the SHISO PHAT 🤣🤣). Without mentioning the name of the restaurant, we asked our waitress at lunch where is the best sushi? She said “Miso Phat”. Gotta be a sign, because that is coolest name ever! So off we went.

In our travels, we have learned to never judge a restaurant until you have had the food… so didn’t bother me that it was in a strip mall that was the bottom floor of some apartments… so people aren’t coming for the location. It didn’t bother me when the lady up front didn’t say hello or welcome, just a terse “if you’re eating in, put your name in the iPad”… so people aren’t coming here for her sparkling personality. And it didn’t bother me when the sign on the door said “BYOB Liquor Store next door”… I mean that’s just saving on a liquor license 🤣

What did catch my eye was that Guy Fieri visited here with Dine In Diners and Dives! So it has to be good… and it was! 2 out of 4 said it was best sushi of their life, 1 said great sushi and one said I like Kabuto better 🤦🏻‍♀️

Between the snorkeling, cliff jumping, the sun, and the jet lag, the Browns are back in their room and in PJs by 9:30. Thankfully, tomorrow has a few agenda items!

Finally!  We are back on the road for another road trip… and this one will take us not only across the country but across an ocean.  We are flying out of Charlotte, then to Los Angeles and then onto Hawaii.  State #49! This is the farthest any of us have traveled, so we are packing our patience for this whole day full of travel.

We made it to Charlotte with plenty of time to spare, grabbed lunch and found our gate… time for pictures!

Off we go for Leg 1 of our Quest… because it is no longer a vacation, its a quest, a quest for fun 🤪.   So glad we paid a little more for the extra leg room, especially for growing man-child boys!

One of the cool things about flying literally across the country is seeing the different topography … from the green pastures changing into divided parcels of farmland, then shifting into sandy deserts and then to mountains.  Finally, it all became the metropolis of Los Angeles that went on and on…

Five hours and the whole continental US later, Leg 1 of the journey was complete!  Hello LA!

Sure looks different now ♥️

We had a 2 hour layover at LAX, which seems like a long time but when you factor in a terminal change and the sheer size of LAX, it was about perfect.  Bellies and hearts full after getting a text and pics from sweet Charlotte Stewart about the fur babies, we were headed onto the second even longer leg of the journey from LA to Maui… a 6 hour flight and with the time change, we will arrive on Maui at 8:30pm (which is 2:30am EST) 🤪

BUT nothing happened until we completed the State of Hawaii Dept of Agriculture Plants and Animals Declaration Form. Basically, we had to fill out a form stating that we were not bringing any pets, animals, plants, fruits or vegetables on the islands. I am assuming this is due to the islands’ ecosystems, but whatever the reason, we attested and declared ✅

We said goodbye to the last land that we would see for the next six hours and off we went over the Pacific Ocean. (Cannot spend a lot of time thinking of the fact that we are flying over water and ONLY water for the next six hours)

Six hours and some amazing views and sunset later, we landed on the island of Maui!

Still smiling, although not quite as chipper 🤪

One trolley ride later, and we have rental car and headed to Ka’anapali to check into hotel.

So 22 hours since we woke up in NC, we are putting our heads to bed in Hawaii. That is awesome! Now, just need about 8 hours of sleep, and we’ll be all set for a full day on the beach

Final stop on the SEC Tour: the University of South Carolina.

We couldn’t get into the general campus tour but instead did a tour of Darla Moore School of Business, the Engineering school and a self-guided tour through the campus

The school is named for Darla Moore, a graduate of USC who ran Chemical Bank and then took over Mesa, Inc. (oil & gas) when T. Boone Pickens ran it into the ground. She and Condelesa Rice were the first two women admitted to Augusta National. She made a humongous donation to the school, and left them with this statement:

The business school was really impressive, and the student guides did a good job showing us around… after they got warmed up.

We finished at the business school and headed back to main campus, and the Horseshoe (like the quad at most schools). At the visitors center, we checked in and met with a guide to map out our self-tour before heading over to the engineering school. We also got to see what the smallest dorm size looks like at USC (still pretty good size).

The boys aren’t really interested in typical engineering but some of the civil and industrial engineering seemed pretty cool – especially the labs! It was like a big kid playground!

We headed back to checkout the student union and food court (and of course, the student store)

A picture with Cocky finalized the tour.

Back in the car, and headed home…

Four universities.

Four states.

Four nights.

And four tired Browns.

We know how precious these trips are now more than ever. Not going to miss a moment! ♥️

SEC Stop number #3, and the one Michael has been most anticipating… the University of Georgia

The campus is big but not nearly as spread out as Alabama. There’s a much more homey feel than some of other schools we’ve visited. We decided that if UNC and NC State had a baby, it would be UGA. Athens was like Chapel Hill in that the whole town is centered around the university, and like Raleigh in the mix of new and old buildings and grounds.

We met our guides and hopped on our tour bus to cover south and east campus, then walked near (but not under) the Arch to walk through North Campus. You do NOT walk under the Arch until you are a senior! (It was crazy, we watched every single student walk around the Arch). The campus is beautiful – lots of outdoor space and plenty of historical spots and stories.

We, of course, had to check out the rec center, and end up having a muscle-up dip contest🤣

UGA absolutely made you feel welcome and our tour guides were great, especially addressing out-of-state issues/financial aid and tuition. Our guide, Olivia, was a senior from Texas and had some great advice for the boys about getting involving and connecting socially and academically at a big university. (Mike and I both said we wish we had those suggestions when we went to school). Then we ended our tour with a big shout: Go Dawgs! Not surprisingly, it was Michael’s favorite tour.

We checked out the dining hall, and picked up our traditional shirt, and off we went for our last stop, Columbia, South Carolina and the University of South Carolina. After we checked into the hotel (and getting a suite upgrade for being understanding and polite when they originally didn’t have the room we booked), we headed out for Mexican dinner.

We found a small Mexican restaurant online with great reviews, so off we went. We got a little concerned when we got close because the neighborhood was a bit questionable BUT we saw lots of families going in and out so we gave it a chance. Holy Moly, so glad we did! It was amazing!!! So if you’re near Columbia, definitely worth the drive!

Up and going in the morning for the last tour of our trip. Even more thankful for this time with my people.

Here we go with SEC #2, the University of Alabama.

Oh. My. Word. This is by far the prettiest campus we have seen so far. Everything was larger and bigger than really necessary, but it all fit together like a movie set. The welcome center (formally a hospital) was redone in 2008 and was now available for rental/receptions.

The campus is ginormous – so large that we had to board a bus to cover the campus with 3 stops along the way. First stop was the student rec center… imagine the largest/nicest gym you’ve ever seen (in real life or tv/movies), then add multiple basketball courts, 25 yd lap pool, workout studios, classes and running/walking track. It was just crazy!

At Stop 2, we headed off to see a model dorm room. Let me just say, dorms have changed quite a bit in the 30 years since I was in college…

This all-female dorm is right across from sorority row and Bryant-Denny Stadium… bet this is a prime spot on game day. But these sorority and fraternity houses were insane! Seems like everywhere else you live in life is going to be a downgrade after this.

Our last stop was into the heart of the campus, library and student center. Everything on the campus was so clean and manicured. I don’t think we saw one piece of trash ANYWHERE.

Both boys were impressed but both said they didn’t see themselves going here. (Whew! Because I don’t think I could leave them 9 hours away from home). They said it was just too fancy for them.

We checked out a few more stops on our own, and of course, had to get a t-shirt (it’s our college tour tradition). And then we hit the road for our next visit. As we drove, I started researching a local spot for lunch. I kept finding articles on J&J’s Grocery and Deli in Bessemer, Alabama. Since we don’t have anywhere to be until tomorrow morning, off we went to find it.

Don’t let the outside fool you, this place was AWESOME! Michael said it was the best cheeseburger he has ever had in his whole life! Leo said the same thing about the onion rings, and the chili cheese dogs were fantastic! When they found out we were first-timers, they yelled, honked a horn and rang a cow bell. We sat across from a sweet couple who lived 10 miles from J&J’s and came here once a month for the last 30 years. When we asked how long J&J had been here, he said he moved there in 1968 and it had been there a while before then. So glad we took time to find this place!

Bellies WAY too full, we headed to our next stop: Georgia! We checked into our hotel – loved the coathanger hooks (little bulldogs), and then headed out for dinner. The hotel clerk recommended a local pizza place, Stoner’s Pizza, within walking distance, so off we went. We loved all the bulldogs around town.

Great pizza followed by a stop off at Insomnia Cookies for a sweet treat.

Thankfully, we don’t have the early tour in the morning, so we can sleep in a bit before we head into Dawg territory and visit number 3.