HAWAII, THE FIRST 18 MONTHS

Our Flight on Alaska Airlines to Hawaii

The Plane That Will Carry Us Off to Hawaii

Johnny B and Rocky Onboard

Hawaii Rises Out of The Ocean

Johnny B's First Taste of Hawaii

Unknown Location in Paradise

Another Unknown Location in Paradise

We Stayed 3 Nights in This Yurt at The Isle of You Farm

A Clothing Optional 100-Acre Banana Plantation

Rocky at Akaka Falls

Banyan Trees at Akaka Falls

Akaka Falls State Park

Akaka Falls, 442 Feet High

Johnny B and Rocky at Akaka Falls

Hilo Bayfront Park

Hilo Bayfront Park

Coconut Island in Hilo

Johnny B at Hilo Bay

Johnny B, Hilo Beach Parks Area

Onekahakaha Beach Park in Hilo

Rocky at MacKenzie State Park Coconut Grove

Johnny B, MacKenzie State Park Shoreline

Rocky at Ahalanui Warm (Geothermal) Pond

Kehena Beach, Black Sand Clothing Optional Beach

Hookena Beach, A Great Place to Snorkel

Johnny B and Rocky at the Maku'u Farmers Market

House and Yard in Hawaiian Paradise Park (HPP)

Rocky on Deck

Front of House

Pool, Deck and Lanai

Lanai Facing East

Lanai Facing West

Living Room

Kitchen and Hallway Before Our Stuff Arrived

Kitchen With Stuff

Rocky Making Sushi

Aloha Breakfast Plate for Airbnb Guests

Breakfast Spread for Airbnb Guests

Airbnb Guests from Europe and
Our Friend, Sam in Background with Ukelele

When Someone's Selling Live Lobsters
on the Side of the Road, You Stop and Buy Some!

We Surprised Our Airbnb Guests with a Lobster Dinner

Beating Back The Jungle in HPP

Rocky and Johnny B Airbnb Profile Pic

Johnny B and Rocky Airbnb Profile Pic

Rocky and Johnny B Airbnb Profile Pic

Buck Buck Sitting on Thirteen Fertilized
Black Jersey Giant Eggs That We Bought

The First Chick Hatches

The Second Chick Hatches

More Chicks Hatch

The Final Chick Emerges From Its Egg
Buck Buck is Now Mother to 13 Illegitimate Babies

Johnny B With a Tiny Chick That Will Grow Up
To Become a 10 Pound Black Jersey Giant Chicken

Sooooo Cute

The Chicks' New Condo

The Chicks Get a Resort

The Chicks Are Growing Up

The Chicks With Sour Cream Mustaches

Rocky and Small Banyan Tree at HPP Coastline

Johnny B at HPP Coastline

Rocky at HPP Coastline

HPP Coastline

Our Friend Mary Visits Us Wherever We Move
She Just Picked This Pineapple From Our Yard

Mary and Rocky at

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park

Rocky at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Park

We Also Took Mary to See Sea Turtles

At Punalu'u Black Sand Beach

Rocky and Mary Above Kilauea Caldera

At Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Rocky and Mary in The Caldera

Mary and Johnny B, Kilauea Crater in Background

Mary During "Poke-A-Stick" Lava Hike

Tortured Souls Encased in Lava

Mary Roasts a Marshmallow on The Volcano

Lava Pouring Into The Ocean

Video of Lava Pouring Into The Ocean

Click to Play

Video of Surprise Lava Outbreak

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Another Video of Surprise Lava Outbreak

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Mary Just Yards Away From Flowing River of Lava

Raw Land in Fern Forest with Cleared House Pad

Top of Driveway at Fern Forest Property

Cleared House Pad on Fern Forest Property

Future Site of The Garden

Week One in Fern Forest with 10' x 20' Carport Tent
Wrapped in Tarps- Our New Home

Livin' In The Lap of Luxury in Hawaii

Some Friends Came to Harvest Valuable Hapu'u Trees

The Blank Slate

Johnny B on the Busy Road Out Front

We Originally Shared Our Tent
With The Black Jersey Giants

Rocky with Bea Arthur,
The Most Vocal of the Chickens

Rocky Planting The Garden in Fern Forest

Rocky Planting The Garden in Fern Forest

Bare Bones Living in Fern Forest

The Crops Are In

Fern Forest Property Week 3

Rocky In The House

Rocky's Homemade Chicken Coop in Background

Tent Home in Fern Forest

The New Floor Goes In

Final Touches to The Perfectly Level Floor

A Sneak Peek Inside While Replacing The West Wall

Week 6 in Fern Forest

Fern Forest Panorama

When You Cut Down Invasive Strawberry Guava Trees

They Come Back A Hundred Times More Numerous

Not Good in The Ohia Forest

All Settled In

Rock Path Leading to Hot Shower

View From Shower Area

Our Friend, The Baby Owl

Video of Our Friend, The Baby Owl

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Sunrise at The Coffee Farm

Back of House in Ninole with Unfinished Deck

Johnny B Having a Beer on The Unfinished Deck

Coffee Pickers

View From Deck, Yurt Where Caretaker Lives
Cruise Ship in Background

View From Deck with Cruise Ship in Background

Incredible Full Rainbows Are Common

Fairly Dim Full Rainbow

View of House From Yurt Area

Coffee Plant

Dried Coffee Beans

Our Friend and Landlord Richard Talks Coffee Beans
Click to Play

Video of Barney Hulling Coffee Beans
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Banana Trees Are Everywhere on the
East Side of The Big Island
There Are Plenty Here on The Coffee Farm

Rocky Carves Tiki Idols From Bamboo on The Farm

August 15, 2012 to January 15, 2014.  Rocky and I arrived in Hawaii on August 15, 2012.  We landed in Kona on the west (desert) side of the Big Island.  Our reason for moving to Hawaii in the first place was to go to the exact opposite of the New Mexico desert so after about an hour in Kona, we headed for the other side of the island.  We had been researching various locations for several months before the move and quickly decided that the Puna District was where we wanted to be.

August 15 to 17, 2012.  We spent the first few nights with Sequoia.  We found him on airbnb.com and his nightly rate was very reasonable.  Sequoia loves to surf and makes the very popular “Filthy Farmgirl” soap that sells at the farmers markets and some of the local stores.  The odor coming from the lab in his garage was overwhelming but the location of his house (a block from the ocean) was worth the inconvenience.  We still see Sequoia at the Wednesday night farmers market and celebration at Uncle Roberts in Kalapana.  The weekly event hosts hot food vendors, live music and sometimes even hula dancers.  You can view the lava flow (3 miles away) and visit the newly emerging Kaimu Black Sand Beach from Uncle Roberts.

Aug 18 to 20, 2012.  We spent the next few nights at the 100-acre “Isle of You” clothing-optional banana plantation.  We stayed in one of the yurts.  Even with no electricity or running water, the yurt was very comfortable.  Kelly and Normand (The Banana Boys) are great hosts.  They host naked volleyball every Saturday.  We’re currently living about 50 miles away but still occasionally show up there on a Saturday afternoon.

August 21, 2012 to June 30, 2013.  We had been researching rentals and property for several months before moving to Hawaii.  We decided on a 3-bedroom house with a pool in Hawaiian Paradise Park (HPP).  HPP is the largest subdivision in the United States with 6,800 1-acre lots covering approximately 25 square miles.  Our landlord, Yahavah own the only massage school in Hilo.  She’s got a beautiful soul and still invites us to her birthday parties every year.  Her latest party was at a pavilion in downtown Hilo and we were all treated to free massages.

As planned, we posted the extra bedroom on airbnb.com to generate some extra income.  We soon found ourselves very busy hosting guests, mainly from Europe.  Our great reviews put us at the top of the list on airbnb and we attracted some very cool people.  We currently have 44 glowing reviews on airbnb.  We made lots of new friends and many of them have invited us to stay with them in Canada, England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc.  Two of our guests have actually been into North Korea, one of them with President Jimmy Carter at his side.  Another one of our guests runs the research station in Antarctica.  It was a great experience that we’ll never forget.

July 1 to October 15, 2013.  We then purchased 3-acres in Fern Forest, about 7 miles from the lava filled Kilauea Crater at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.  It was raw land except for a small cleared house pad area.  We built a crude pallet floor and erected a 10’ x 20’ carport tent that we wrapped in tarps for our new home.  We built a pallet outhouse and a pallet hot shower.  We cleared away rocks, built rock paths and planted some crops in the rich volcanic soil.  After a few months, we decided hat we didn’t want to live there anymore so we sold the property and made a few bucks in the process.

October 16 to 31, 2013.  We spent the last 2 weeks of October 2013 at various locations, including the Hilo Hostel, The Hilo Gardens Guesthouse and an airbnb rental house with our new friend Jeannie.  Jeannie’s house was a block away from the world famous Kapoho Tide Pools.  The Kapoho Tide Pools is one of the safest and most beautiful snorkeling spots in the world.

November 1, 2013 to January 15, 2014.  We posted an ad on Craigslist indicating who we were and what we were looking for.  That’s how we met Richard, our current landlord and new good friend.  Richard owns a 13-acre coffee farm 18 miles north of Hilo and a very nice house right next to Kehena Beach, the clothing-optional black sand beach where we love to spend sunny afternoons.  Rocky and I are staying at the coffee farm house and Richard stays at the Kehena Beach house.  Richard actually spends half his time in California so we have access to the beach house often.  There are caretakers at both houses.  Barney, the caretaker here at the coffee farm, hires all the coffee pickers, processes all the coffee and takes care of the property.  There’s even some sheep in a pasture here.  We love it here on the coffee farm.  The view is phenomenal and there are no barking dogs.  Also, it’s all solar and wind powered so no electric bill.  We hope to be here until Rocky’s New Mexico house sells and he buys lots of acreage for us to start our own farm.