Repeat info from the e-mail update. In the first 24 hours we saw Casey Martin on the flight to SFO (golfer), taxied by Air Force I at SFO (pilot said that's probably as close as we'll ever get) then in Kona, saw a cardinal (and head many more, saw our first mongooses at the shopping center (pests) and learned that David Douglas (of tree fame) died on Hawaii when he fell into a pit that was supposed to catch wild cows. (He survived the fall, but unfortunately so did the bull that fell in before him.)
Today we drove as far north as we could to Hawi. The road crosses lava fields marked on our map with (flow of 1801) notes. Apparently, when someone dies or maybe to honor them, it's traditional to write their name in white coral in amongst the black rocks of the flows. Many RIP notes.
We stopped at the heaiu (national historic site) where King Kamehameha III built a heaiu to his god, the god of war. Of course he had decided it was his destiny to fight all the other islands and bring them under him to bring peace. (hmm.) Anyway, a line of "volunteers" carried rocks 20 miles to build an amazing structure that was his compound. That's where the royal family lived, too, in a bay below the heiau. Stopping there was a "Do you want to turn?" SURE! decision. They have an 800 phone # to call with your cell phone (free) and then enter the trail markers to hear about that spot. Very cool idea I'm already wondering whether that would work for campus tours. We bought a hiking book at the gift shop to help on make some decisions.
We kept to the low road on this drive and stayed in the 80+ degrees. It's a little humid, but not that bad.
We drove all the way to Hawi where the original King Kamehameha stands (2nd one is at the judiciary bldg in Honolulu -- the one you see on Hawaii 5-0. Funny story about why there are two.
It was early in the day so we didn't stop for AMAZING ice cream. hmm might have to go back.
We were back at the condo for lunch and a nap. Then we walked to Kamehameha IIIs birthplace, a marker by a small nearby bay that looks like it took a hit from the 2010 tsunami, but we haven't talked to any locals about that.
Checked the clock to see if I could catch C, C and Mom on their way to the coast to wish mom a Happy Good Friday Earth Day Birthday. Success. They were having dinner, looking at the ocean and were on their way to the beach house.
We decided we'll challenge ourselves to get wet everyday. The condo area has 3 pools, including an "adult" pool and we were the only ones in the water before dinner. Good time to do that for zero sun burn risk. (We stopped at a nice beach on our way north, but swimming wasn' the goal at that point.)
John made teriyaki chicken, veggies and rice for dinner and we spent the evening reading about possible adventures. We were watched on the lanai by a gray and white kitty who stood below, meowed and tried to look pitiful.
Also entertaining, the family above us (2 boys, 3 girls, gma, gpa, and 4 parents.) Someone gave the boys ukeleles -- oh joy. It may be that this is gma and gpas condo and the kids aren't actually staying here. Apparently, it's ok to run around on the golf course early and late because there were lots of folks doing that, including the boys "Uncle Fred! Uncle Fred! We'll race and you time us, OK?"
There's a big earth day ocean/land festival today in Kona so I think we're going to check that out and then go up in the mountains for a little hiking.
We want to go to Kilauea -- about 90 miles away, so that will be an early day. We also want to kayak to Capt Cook Monument and will research that today, too, to plan ahead.
More Kona coffee and then time to get dressed for today's adventures.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment