Road Scholar Hawaii, Four Islands, January 19 – February 8, 2026.
We number 30. Three of us are group leaders and 27 are participants. Most of the group members have traveled with Road Scholar (formerly known as Elder Hostel) many times, some as often as three times a year. Christine and I are in the minority as this is our first Road Scholar experience.
There are 10 couples and seven singles. Among the singles there are six women and one man. A number of the singles have expressed to me that this is an ideal way of traveling for them as they are never “alone“.
We are as young as our mid 60s and as old as 90. Perhaps we have lost a step physically, but we more than compensate in our inquisitiveness and desire to keep exploring our world.
We don’t talk politics, we don’t talk religion, we avoid controversy in favor of fostering a welcoming and inclusive dynamic. I do not sense that any of us represent the extremes of conservative or liberal. Perhaps some are right leaning and others left leaning, but we seem to be mostly centrist. For us, “current events“ represents what we have seen yesterday and will be seeing today and tomorrow.
We are retirees, but many continue to freely donate time and expertise within our communities. We represent the four corners and center of the Continental United States.
As conversations and relationships within the group mature, we learn of spouses lost, children, grandchildren, prior professions, medical challenges, prior travels, milestones…
We learn of special talents and expertise among us; quilting, pottery, music…
For these three weeks I am left with no doubt, this is where I belong.
Yesterday, Sunday, was an official free day for our Road Scholar group. Some members took the opportunity to do laundry, others enjoyed a leisurely ocean swim, and still others slept late and embraced the joys of doing mostly nothing. Christine and I counted ourselves happy to be among the last group.
Today the program resumed.We were again up at 6 AM and on the road after breakfast for a day of sightseeing and informative lectures.
First Stop: A “Painted Church”.
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This Catholic Church, a wooden structure built in 1899, is plain white on the outside, but wonderfully colorful on the inside.
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Murals depict biblical scenes. Columns morph into images of palm trees as they ascend to a star covered sky. Images behind the altar are meant to mimic the grand cathedrals of Europe.
Eve, trying to revive her son Abel, who has been slain by her other son, Cain.
This church is an unusual treasure in that it has survived the decades and avoided destruction from the natural disasters common to the island (not the least of which are the termites!).
This little guy was watching us as we left the church. 
Next Stop: Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau, National Historical Park.
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Tradition holds this to be a place of extraordinary mana (spiritual power). At one time the bones of 23 chiefs were protected in the temple.
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These royal grounds were a center of island political, and religious power. It was here that Kapu was declared: The sacred laws and beliefs by which the islanders lived.
.This artisan is hand weaving native head dressings. He is doing it with traditional methods and traditional materials. Each head covering takes from 3 to 6 weeks to complete. .
Some examples of Kapu are: Men and women could not eat together. Only men were allowed to eat pork, women were relegated to eating dog. Only men could be involved in food handling and preparation. Women, who were deemed unclean, only took care of the children. Women had to segregate themselves from the rest of the tribe during their monthly cycles. Tribal commoners were not allowed to look upon royalty or to even step on a royal person’s shadow. The usual penalty for violation of Kapu was death by strangulation.
This game, which looks deceptively similar to checkers, was played between chiefs in order to resolve disputes. It was winner take all and the defeated lost his life, properly, and warriors. .
However, separate from the Royal Grounds and surrounded by a massive stone wall, 1000 feet long, 10 feet high, and 17 feet thick was sanctuary.
Experts estimate that this entire 1000 foot wall was erected in one week. No mortar was used and the stones, many of which weighed hundreds of pounds, were transported without the benefit of the wheel. .
If one were able to escape to the place of refuge behind the wall, he could seek absolution by a tribal priest. At one time there were a number of such places of refuge (Pū’uhonua) in the islands. This one has been preserved as a National Historic Park.
The law of Kapu existed for many hundreds of years, but was finally abolished in 1819. This sanctuary is still held sacred and remains a place of peace, calm, and reflection among Hawaiians.
Final Stop: The Kona Coffee Living History Farm.
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This site, a beneficiary from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, preserves and depicts daily life of the Japanese Uchida family. For 81 years these Japanese immigrants leased and worked this coffee farm of approximately 5 acres. They experienced the severe hardships of the Great Depression and the significant restrictions on their liberty brought about by suspicions based on their ancestry during World War II.
As we approached the home tradition and ceremony dictated that a small gift would be given to the farmer.We were welcomed into the home and provided an explanation of its use over the years. The home was a beautiful in its simplicity..
90% of the area farms that produced coffee were operated by Japanese families. They were small at less than 5 acres each yet they were the lifeblood of coffee production in this part of Hawaii.
Many of the coffee trees are nearly 125 years old and still producing. Production methods were explained to us. They were decidedly low tech.A major leap in technology occurred around 1930 when a single cylinder stationary engine was installed that drove simply equipment through a series of pulleys and long belts. The engine still works and has run monthly. The farm grounds were also covered with macadamia nuts. Macadamia nuts could be gathered from the ground and cracked open to be enjoyed. Table top nutcrackers were available. I optioned for the Stone Age technique of using two volcanic rocks. I think it worked better than the nutcracker. A macadamia nut ready to be pulled from the shell and enjoyed. 
There were usually three or four harvest cycles each year. During each cycle family members and workers were called upon to harvest hundreds of pounds of coffee berries each day. The berries then had to be stripped of the sugary cover, dried, and stored for eventual transport. This was backbreaking work. Each farm had to rely upon one donkey (few farms could support two donkeys) to provide “horsepower“. The donkeys, a social animal, would bray to one another in the distance each evening in what the farmers would call the sound of the “Kona Nightingales”. These small but sturdy animals carried over 500 pounds of coffee beans at a time.
100% Kona coffee is prized for its flavor and richness. It prices locally at over $50 a pound.
Tomorrow:
Tomorrow morning, we bid farewell to The Big Island and fly to the island of Maui.
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. There is so much more that we have experienced in each day than I can present in these posts. For you who have been here, I hope that I am resurrecting fond memories. For you who have thought about coming to Hawaii, I hope I am providing extra incentive. For those who will never come to Hawaii I hope that I am giving you at least a “taste” of this paradise. -Pete
… but full and rewarding. Hilo, Hawaii, January 21, 2026.
In the interest of brevity so that I can communicate to you an adequate summary of the day and yet get to bed at a respectable hour, this narrative will be “short and sweet”.
Our day kicked off with a visit to the Wednesday Farmers Market in the town of Hilo.
The farmers market
We next proceeded by motorcoach to Akaka Falls. These towering falls are 442 feet above the river that they plunge into. The area around the Falls was lush with vegetation. It was like walking through a house plant menagerie grown large and out of control.

The falls The jungle. 
We briefly stopped along the road above the place of a tragedy that took the lives of over 150 people, including 24 school children and their teachers in 1946.
The tsunami tragedy of 1946. 
Finally, a long overland journey took us to the Pu’ukohola Heiau Historic Site, managed by the US National Park Service.
The historic site where the unification of Hawaii under one king began.
A wonderful dinner with great fellowship shared with our 27 Road Scholar participants capped off a along but wonderful day.
Pictures with captions follow.
Peace Everyone. Pete
The vegetables, fruits, and flowers were an explosion of color..Christine “holding court” at the farmers marketThere was an entire section for crafts.Our group leader, giving us detailed information about the local plants and the geology of the falls. An interpretive sign contrasting this waterfall against other great falls in the world. An interpretive sign detailing two unusual lifeforms found only at this waterfall and nowhere else in the world. One is a small fish that spawns by climbing the cliff to the top of the falls! Another view of the jungle.Very small finger size bananas, growing wild. At the Falls..An hour long special presentation by the Park Ranger. He explaining to us the history of this sacred site. One remarkable piece of information was that these stones, each weighing approximately 30 pounds and held in place without mortar, were transported 20 miles by 10,000 warriors passing them along in “bucket brigade“ fashion.  the transit of each stone had to be continuous, and it could not touch the ground or it would have to be returned down the line to the beach from which it originated. An interpretive sign boardAn explanation of the general layout of the site.The Temple grounds are huge and not open to the general public. They are still used for religious and ceremonial purposes. .
Since the holidays I have fielded several inquiries as to my health and wellbeing. Two occurred just today. I am touched by the thoughtfulness.
I am well, and this is a good time to give an update:
Upon our return from Norway in September I underwent surgery to remove the kidney stones that almost derailed the trip. The recovery was tolerable.
In late October we spent a relaxing week in New York City, lodged near Times Square.
We enjoyed a special “hardhat tour” of parts of Ellis Island not open to the general public,
This room was used for surgeries, autopsies, and served as the morgue. The medical care was first rate for the time.
Visited Liberty Island,
Attended Broadway performances of “The Book of Mormon”, “Wicked”, and La Boheme at the Met,
At “Wicked”
The “Wicked” stage
The “Book of Mormon” stage
At “The Book of Mormon”
The Metropolitan Opera, the “Met”
The Metropolitan Opera, the “Met”
The Metropolitan Opera, the “Met”
Spent an afternoon in Central Park watching the New York Marathon,
New York’s Central Park
The 2025 running of the New York Marathon
True courage, grit, and determination!
And of course there were museums to see, food to eat, and crazies to watch.
China Town
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Museum of Natural History
Van Gogh at the Museum of Modern Art
Van Gogh at the Museum of Modern Art
Picasso at the Museum of Modern Art
Picasso at the Museum of Modern Art
Andrew Wyeth at the Museum of Modern Art
“Christina’s World” (1948), by Andrew Wyeth, has long been a favorite image for me. I had considered it a surreal portrayal of a peaceful life in contemplation. However, I had never seen the original. The closer examination revealed painful swollen and arthritic joints. hair turning grey, and an aspect of emotional pessimism with security beyond her reach. It is now even more a favorite.
Some of the Halloween craziness.
In the past I have not been an advocate for travel insurance, but the experience of suffering a back injury in Spain (2024) that necessitated an early return to the States and surgery, my age, and the kidney stone problems last September changed my perspective.
Christine and I purchased an annual “all trips” policy last year through Allianz Global Insurance. It was money well spent and compensated us for the extra costs incurred due to the kidney stone problem during the Norway trip. We have renewed the policy this year in anticipation of major travel ahead.
Sunday we depart for Hawaii. We have been to every US State and every Canadian Province (plus the Yukon Territory), except Hawaii. We will be there for a little over 3 weeks. In another departure from the typical for us we will be traveling in a small group with Road Scholar, formerly known as Elder Hostel. The trip will include 4 islands, with each day plotted out as an in-depth learning experience. How Christine and I will adapt to being told when to be up, where to go, what to see… getting along with the group, remains to be seen. People who have travelled with Road Scholar are typically very positive. If that is our experience then who knows, Egypt and even Antarctica might be in our future with Road Scholar.
In March I plan on taking 3 of the grandsons skiing for a week in Colorado. I plan to ski… not well, not fast, but free. Ski Monarch near Salida waves all fees for “super seniors”. I qualify.
Salida is a delightful western town with good lodging and dining options. Our two-room suite for the 4 of us is $150 a night which includes a simple breakfast.
The big trip on the calendar is a return to Spain for grandson Britton and me to complete our aborted 2024 Camino.
Me and Britton on the Camino in 2024
He and I will resume from Burgos and hike 300 miles to Santiago de Compostela. But that is not the half of it:
We will be joined on our departure flight by Christine and our daughter Alexis’ three children (the “Cook kids”), arriving in Madrid. The 6 of us will travel by train for a 3-night stay in Burgos. After sending Britton and me on “The Way” Christine and the “Cook kids” will return to Madrid where they will meet granddaughter Delaney (Britton’s “quad” sister) who will have just finished walking the Portuguese route of the Camino with her school group.
Christine with the 4 grandchildren in tow will then wander through France to Amsterdam where the three Cook kids will fly to meet their mom in New York. Christine and Delaney will continue together to Portugal where they will meet our daughter Renee and her other 2 children.
Finally, Christine, Renee, and the three grandchildren will be on hand in Santiago to welcome Britton and me at the end of our trek. 4 days later Renee will depart for travel with her children while Christine and I head for a couple of weeks in Paris, Brittany, and Normandy. Whew!!
Christine spent nearly 2 hours on the phone today with the airline representative coordinating the 5 separate flight itineraries.
Hawaii should provide some great pictures and a wealth of information. Stay tuned… and Thank You!
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. By design the Statue of Liberty is hollow. These words are still a part of “Lady Liberty” and were never meant to be hollow. My grandparent, 2 who were Germans from Russia (now Ukraine) and 2 who were Arabs from Lebanon, were welcomed to America through Ellis Island. How things have changed in a little more than a century.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me…”. From “The New Colossus”, the 1983 poem by Emma Lazarus.
Christine and I were up at 5 AM on September 3rd and thanks to our daughter, Renee’, we were on the road to the airport by 6. En route we received a text message from Delta Airlines indicating that our flight from Kansas City to New York had a two hour delay. We were going to miss our connection in New York for Paris and Bergen!
The Delta ticketing agent sweated the problem for us. She was laser focused for 45 minutes on her terminal screen and ultimately was able to reroute us with a flight from Kansas City to Boston, Boston to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam to Bergen. We were downgraded on the first leg from our first class/Delta One reservation.
We experienced a sigh of relief until we reached to the gate and learned that the new flight from Kansas City to Boston was also now delayed. In Boston it was a foot race to reach the connecting flight to Amsterdam. We made it with only minutes to spare. We later learned that our luggage did too.
We made use of Delta’s Skyclub lounge in Kansas City. Immediately upon entering the lounge I heard my name called. It was our Camino friend Theresa, who was on her way to Milan Italy. She posed with us for a selfie.
Our flight to Boston was unremarkable except that the original reservation was first class and we were now seated in main cabin. Kudos and gratitude to the Delta ticket agent that she preserved the timing of our flight into Norway.
The six hour flight from Boston to Amsterdam was wonderful. Unfortunately because of the change in ticketing Christine and I were no longer situated in adjoining “pods“.
We have only recently begun flying first class, business class, and Delta one. We have come to realize that the horizon of travel for us is shrinking but our need for comfort is expanding. It’s called getting old… not just older, but old.
We made the best of our three hour layover in Amsterdam by the use of KLM’s exceptional passenger lounge.
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Our tickets were on partnered flights with segments flown by Delta and KLM.
Our “business class“ flight from Amsterdam to Bergen was on a smaller regional jet. The seats were tight and still six across, however, the middle seats were intentionally left unoccupied. We had a boxed breakfast, but it was far from ordinary!
Passport control, and customs were both handled in Amsterdam and took mere minutes. Our bags had been checked through to Bergen. We arrived in Bergen at 10 AM on the morning of the 4th.
The Bergen airport is located some distance from the center of the city. Our options were taxi cab ($50), shuttle bus ($20), or light rail ($2.50 per senior citizen!) We took the train.
Figuring out the ticketing kiosk took a few minutes and would’ve been easier if I had just seen that there was a button to translate it into English.
Norway is fast moving to a cashless economy. As an example the ticket kiosks only accept credit cards to purchase the train tickets. The credit card itself then becomes the ticket. If a rail agent wished to see our tickets all we would need to show is the credit card.
It was a 45 minute journey through picturesque hills and villages.
The train and platforms along the way were immaculately clean, (the windows of our home should be this clean!).
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, with a population of approximately 250,000. Norway is the size of the State of Montana but with a population of just under 4 1/2 million. English is a commonly spoken in the city. Younger people often have barely a trace of an accent.
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The Norwegian kroner is easy to convert. Merely move the decimal point one space. In other words, 10 kroner is equivalent to one dollar, 100 kroner is equivalent to $10, etc. Prices in Bergen seemed about on par with those in most major American cities.
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This is the rainy season in Norway and today was no exception. Temperatures were cool in the mid 60s and there was a near constant drizzle. This did not dampen our spirits as we are staying in the harbor area, which is both charming and beautifully old world. Our hotel, oozes charm, but more on that in another post.
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This has been “the longest day”. I’ve been up for 36 hours and bed is calling me.
