The TRIP - Day 6

June 18, 2009

After a continental breakfast, we took a walk in the garden that was on the hotel grounds. It was as nice as I remembered from 15 years ago.

Larry and Wanda in the Garden

We left to go to Hilo Hatties to buy some shirts. When we went in we were given pukka shell neckless and stopped by a jewelry sales woman who was giving a deal on pearls which you got by opening oysters. Gloria picked one and opened it. It had two pink pearls in it. We picked out a setting for it which had room for three pearls. The sales woman gave us a third pearl. It was my gift to Gloria for our 35 anniversary .

The saleswoman was interesting. She complimented me on Colts hat and asked me where I was from. I told her that I was from Indianapolis. She said that she grew up in Indy, and that she had been in the Islands for about 15 years. I asked her where she went to high school and she replied Tech. Then, I asked where she went to grade school and she said PS 78. That's where I went to grade school. She lived a couple of blocks from school, but graduated about 15 years after I did. Its a small world.

From there, we went site seeing. We saw several falls and cliffs at the seaside.

One of Several Water Falls that We Saw

We stopped off for lunch at a 50s restaurant and had desert at a bakery. We bought extras for breakfast the next day.

The 50s Style Restaurant the We Stopped at

Gloria and I at Paradise Point

After getting back to the condo, we rested in preparation for supper at Bongo Ben's.

Yes, There is a Bongo Ben's

So, we finished another day in paradise.

The TRIP - Day 5

June 17, 2009
We got up and hit the road to Hilo stopping first at the coffee place that we had looked for before. We found it, but it was closed with a sign that said “I will return at 9:30.” We went to Micky D's for a coke and went back, but he didn't. We hung around for awhile, but finally left.

We drove to the southern most place in the US. It was very windy. The spot is on a high cliff ( probably 50 feet high). We saw a guy jump off into the water and climb back up on a ladder that had been there for what looked like centuries. I asked if anyone was interested in jumping off, if I jumped first. It was a unanimous, no. I figured if no one else was going to jump that I wouldn't either. After all, the tga can only take you so far.

Gloria and I at Southpoint

We left there and had lunch at the southern most restaurant in the US, and then, went to a bakery that is the southern most bakery in the US.

If it says so, it must be true

We, then, headed off to see a black sand beach, Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. The sand is actually black. While there, we saw some turtles resting on the beach. There was a sign stating that we were to stay at least 15 feet away from the turtles because they were protected.

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach

We continued on to see the volcano at Volcano National Park. We saw the visitors center, the caldera which has some activity in it, a crater (very deep), and walked through a lava tube.

We left to see the eruption which is observable from outside the park. By this time, it was about 6 ish and beginning to get dark. Larry, Wanda, and Gloria went on to see the site, but I stayed behind in the car and slept. I was bushed. They got back around 8 ish having very much enjoyed themselves.

The Smoking Caldera

We had supper at Ken's Pancake and Steak House – a very popular spot. After that, we went to Dolphin Bay, a hotel that Gloria and I stayed at when we came to Hawaii 15 years before for some well earned rest.

The TRIP - Day 4

June 16, 2009
Today, we first went to a condo sales meeting where they tried to get Larry and Wanda to upgrade and Gloria and I to buy. The sales lady was very aggressive and made it sound very appealing. After an hour and a half, we had all completely resisted. (Sorry family. :)) We went to this meeting because we got bigger discounts on some of our tours.

We dropped Larry and Wanda off at a golf course, and Gloria and I went site seeing. We first went to a seahorse farm were they breed seahorses in an attempt to keep the wild populations from becoming extinct. We wanted to take a tour but we felt the cost was too high.

Moving north, we stopped at Hapuna beach which was very nice; nice beaches are few and far between on this island. Most shorelines have a lot of rocks.

Hapuna Beach

Leaving there, we stopped at Cafe Pesto for lunch. Gloria and I split a hamburger (1/3 / 2/3) and fries (4 of them) for $12 (drinks were extra). The most memorable thing was the iced tea. I thought that it had a hint of raspberry in it; Gloria disagreed. I asked the waitress what was in it and she said passion fruit. It was delicious.

Next we stopped by a wind farm called Hawi, with 16 windmills that were generating electricity. It was neat to see conservation at work.

Hawi Wind Farm (only one of the 16 windmills shown)

We continued north to the very end of the road at Pololu Valley Lookout. I mean the VERY end. It ended. At that spot was a very nice view of the coast line.

The View of the Coastline at the North End of the Big Island

On the way back, we stopped in Kapa'au where is a statue of King Kamehameha.

It has an interesting history. In 1878, a statue was commissioned of the king and was cast in Spain. While it was on ship, the ship sank near the Falkland islands. The statue was insured; so, it was recast and delivered.

Sometime after that, the captain whose ship had sunk was in Argentina and saw the first statue. Someone had salvaged it. He purchased it and made delivery. And, it has stood in Kapa'au ever since. Gloria thinks that I look like him (see pict. below.)

Statue of King Kamehameha (I'm the one in front)

We continued back to pick up Larry and Wanda, and then went back to the condo for some rest.

We had dinner at a place called Merrimac's Restaurant. It was excellent and expensive.