Hawai’i. The Big Island. My favorite place on earth. Home of Papalokea Beach, one of only four green sand beaches in the world. As I stepped off the plane, instead of the aloha that had always embraced me, I slammed into a wall of dissonance. Disconnection. But that is in the book.

Like Alaska, Hawai’i needed a page of its own with a picture every time you turn around. I did my normal circuit of the island, found a few new beaches and a few old one, did my favorite drives, and finally made the hike to Papalokea. I sported in the waves, feeling, for a brief time, the dissonance wash away and the accomplishment overcome me.

I did it! 40,000 miles, 152 days on the road, all 50 states, and an epic adventure unlike anything I had ever imagined for myself.

I even broke out my tiny, foo foo drink umbrellas that my cousin, Dawn, had given me almost a year ago. I sipped my Kona coffee while walking in the surf.