Aloha 2011

Day twelve-  

Last moonset of the trip. Awesome waves again this morning.

 

Today we have to be out of our condo by 11:00 a.m. but not at the airport until after 8:00 p.m. So we plan to spend afternoon driving around and killing time while we keep an eye on our car and luggage. 

We went for our walk before sunrise this morning and spent the rest of our time doing laundry and packing and listening to the ocean while we work. We've managed to fit everything back into our bags! We've tossed all our restaurant left-overs loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. We didn't finish all of our eggs, veggies and juice and we left those in the fridge. We'd like to think the condo cleaners will take it home and use it, but it will probably just get tossed.

Ready or not (mostly not),  land of winter- here we come.

 

Aloha 2011

Day eleven-

We started today by watching some nice waves. Then we went on our usual morning walk along Ali'i Drive and the ocean.

This is the seawall that we walk by at the far end of our walk. The barricades are always there to warn people that waves might pop over the wall and get them. The sidewalk there is almost always a little wet, and sometimes a lot wet. We walk to the far end of the seawall, cross the street and walk back along the road past shops and restaurants. The walk from the condo to the far end of the seawall and back to the condo is about 2 1/4 miles.

After that we spent today just hanging out, thinking about packing but not doing much about it, blogging, emailing and reading. We went for another walk in the early evening before we made a stir-fry dinner with the broccoli and some leftovers in our fridge. 

There were several of these little birds by the condo when we left for our walk

This is another stretch of Ali'i drive, closer to the condo. Nice waves this evening.

Enjoyed another pretty sunset. Then we watched whales breaching just outside the bay as dusk settled in. Nice end to the day!

Last sunset of the trip

Aloha 2011

Day ten- Today is another farmer’s market day. We also found a new shave ice shop. SF’s favorite shop went out of business a few days ago and this one will take it’s place for now. Not the best location so I suspect it will be out of business next time we come. Too bad. They have a clever idea for their little shop. In addition to shave ice and smoothies, they sell frozen yogurt by the ounce. You get your yogurt cup and fill it with whatever yogurt and toppings you want in whatever amounts you want. Then they weigh it and tell you how much to pay. They even have a soft-serve sorbet. Hope they make it until we come back.

We connected with an acquaintance from Etna, CA who now lives in Kona and made plans to have dinner with her at Huggo’s tonight. Then we got a call from an organic vegetable farmer (thanks for your help on that DD) who said that this afternoon would be a good time to come check out his farm. So off we went to Waimea. Again.

The farm was interesting and we had a good visit there. He grows several kinds of lettuce, cabbage and broccoli. His is not one of the farms that serve the restaurant community. He sells to Whole Foods and a couple of other big buyers. 

We talked about his challenges, his organic strategies, his propagation techniques, his family, politics, etc, etc. Then he sent us off with some of his lettuce and broccoli. Yum!

Here is a picture of one of his lettuce fields, with a crew doing some weeding

We got back to town just in time to change our clothes and meet our friend for dinner. We had a really nice visit, plus good food and service. And we had a nice table by the water where we watched another great sunset.

 

Aloha 2011

Day nine

Tuesday in Kona is always a temple day for us and that’s what we did today. Here is a picture of the orchids near the entrance to the temple.

We came back to the condo, changed our clothes and hit the road to go to Hawi, a tiny town on the northern end of the island. There are a lot of artists up there and we enjoy browsing the shops.

As we turned at a highway junction, I noticed a sign advertising a woodworking competition/exhibition about a mile away. Lucky us! The show was right next to one of our favorite restaurants and we had a little bite for lunch before we checked out the woodwork.

When we walked into the little gallery, there was the cabinet that SF had admired in Hilo. It was a traditional Japanese Tea Cabinet. It was amazing. Every surface, inside and out, was smooth as glass and the woodworker had done it all with a traditional Japanese wood plane and not one bit of sandpaper. So, so beautiful! So, so expensive! But when we went back to admire it later, it was gone; purchased by someone with an extra $6900 and space for an exquisite piece of woodcraft.

There was lots of other beautiful woodwork to enjoy, and then we headed for Hawi. We browsed our favorite shops for a while and then headed back for Kona.

We stopped in Waikoloa and decided to eat at Roy’s. So tasty. We usually eat at the Roy's in Waikiki on our way home, but this year we aren't going to O'ahu, so we're glad there is a Roy's on the Big Island. It's definitely worth your time if you ever find yourself near a Roy's.


Somebody's Father figured out how to take some shows from our TiVo and hook his laptop to the TV, so we enjoyed a little TV before bedtime while we listened to the surf.

Aloha 2011

Day eight- We snorkeled again today. Had another ‘best ever’ time. Then we came back to the condo and showered and just hung out until dinner. Tried the Restaurant Kai. Not terrible, but didn’t live up to our expectations.

Aloha 2011

And here's a little something that we thought a certain smoked meat fan would enjoy. Right in downtown Hilo. Who would have thought?

Aloha 2011

Day seven- We caught the 9:00 block of meetings at the local chapel and then spent the day lazing around. We grilled steaks (that stayed frozen all the way from home) and ate them with more farmer’s market salad and brown rice that we also brought from home.

We brought our stove-top popcorn popper with us this year and we popped some corn and spent the rest of the day watching videos. A fun, relaxing day that ended with a beautiful sunset that we watched from our lanai.