"Green Flash

Lunel's art -- "The Green Flash"

This first entry to our new Haysmer Hawaii blog totally captures what happened to us when we visited the Big Island of Hawaii in February 2011.

Simply put, we were "struck" and after our return to Eureka's 30 degree weather, we immediately began to plan our escape!  Lunel felt so connected to the island she even continued to wear her "slippas" in Eureka instead of her customary wool stocks inside sturdy hiking boots.

We became obsessed with getting more information about the Big Island and spent hours on-line researching the different "districts," weather patterns (which vary widely according to elevation,) lava (that has been flowing for 30 years non-stop,) rainfall (that can be from 1 - 180 inches per year,) and of course, home prices. In only a few months, as we continued our homework, we were convinced "yes, we could," and our retirement plans began to take shape.

This February (2012) our month-long visit was specific --  narrow down the area where we wanted to live.  The island has many different climatic zones, and we needed to spend time getting a feel for the land, people and areas.  .