So Long Hawaii, Hello Wreal Life!

Kona, Hawaii
Jan. 7, 2005

Tomorrow we leave for home. I am including the last of my diary entries from here. We have really enjoyed our trip here and we will be back.


Jan 1, 2006
Happy New Year!
Today we lazed around the condo for the morning. Jennifer, Ric and Cammie took off to go back to the Point of Refuge to see if they could see more of it…last time they were there the waves were so big half of the park was closed. While they were gone, Al and I drove to the end of the road from our condo and I walked out to the beach where the waves were really pounding on the rocks…HUGE WAVES! WOW!
From there, we went to see Suzi, who is still in the hospital. We hope she gets out soon….this is no fun!
Rowland and Kathy Brasch got in around 4:30 and we met up with them at the condo that we are moving to. They will spend the night there tonight and we move tomorrow.
Dinner tonight was with everyone, minus Suzi, at Huggo’s. It is advertised as the restaurant where you can see the manta ray’s…well, apparently, the manta rays haven’t been in this bay for years! However, it was still a nice restaurant, we sat out on the patio and the waves were crashing on the rocks right below us. We said goodbye to Mike and Bev, they leave tomorrow.

Jan 2, 2006
Moving day for us. We got all of our “stuff” moved into our new condo. This one is MUCH nicer that the last…We were at Holua, which is nice, just no view. Now we are at Kona Coast Resort and we have a wonderful view of the grounds, golf course, ocean and pool and the waves crashing onto the rocks! The unit it much nicer as well. It is almost as good as our unit was at Sea Village 3 years ago.
We watched the Rose Parade; then went to lunch at Lulu’s. Great hamburgers….Jo was happy. Afterwards we walked through the ABC store again, and then Rowland and Kathy went to Costco and we took Jennifer to the airport. She goes back to reality and soggy Seattle.

Suzi has E-coli and is still in the hospital. We sure hope she gets better soon. Her temperature is still up and until they can get that under control she will stay there! What a horrible way to spend a vacation in Hawaii…I feel so bad for her and Jack.

Dinner tonight was French Dip Sandwiches, made from the left over tri-tip. They were really good!
Ric, Janet and girls stopped by to say goodbye to us. They leave in the morning.

Jan 3, 2006
We went back to Bubba Gumps for breakfast. This time they were out of the Southern Style French Toast that we like so well. Wait! How can that be? Apparently they were out of the cinnamon raisin bread. So we ordered it with white bread…and it was wonderful this time.
Back to the condo, where we had an appointment to take the 90 minute tour of the complex and the “condo sales pitch”. We did add some points and now we have a 2 bedroom unit in this complex every other year. AND we have enough points for a cruise every other year, or we can divide up points and come here every year, or a cruise every year.

This was a potato, carrot, pea day…in other words, we vegged all day. Later in the afternoon I went up to visit with Suzi.

Some observations from Hawaii:

Local drivers are very courteous…and you can definitely tell the tourists drivers!
Local people are very friendly and helpful.
SPAM…and not the email type. SPAM is the national food of Hawaii…I swear more Spam must sold here than anywhere else in the world! And, did you know, Spam comes in different flavors? As if you care……..how about garlic Spam, or Tabasco Spam, or cheese Spam? Still don’t care, huh?
Exotic birds fascinate me. There are so many pretty birds…with names I can’t pronounce or begin to spell.
Hawaiian language fascinates me….can I buy a consonant? Lots of vowel together and repeated and my tongue doesn’t allow me to pronounce them all! Fun to try, however, I am sure we have massacred the Hawaiian language.

Jan.4, 2006
We finally got Suzi out of the hospital and she wasn’t out 10 minutes and rarin’ to go! We all took off for Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. I know, easy for us to say! Pu’uhonau o Honaunau is also called the Place of Refuge and is an awesome spot to visit. In ancient times, commoners’ lives were governed by many, confusing laws. The penalty for breaking these laws was usually death. The lawbreaker could elude the penalty of death if he could reach Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, which offered a safe place, and they could perform certain rituals designated by the priest and all would be forgiven and they could return home. Pu’uhonua o Honaunau is a National Park and it was great to walk around. Some of it was still closed off due to the high waves that have been pounding the island. We did get an idea of what it was like.

Before we went to Pu’uhonua o Honaunau we also stopped at a coffee plant, however, no tours were offered. We walked around the grounds, and sampled some coffee, but didn’t buy any Kona coffee. Kona Coffee is expensive even here! Then we stopped at the Painted Church not far from Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. The Painted Church is actually St. Benedict’s Catholic Church. It is a small, charming church dating back to the 1800’s. Faterh John Velge dedicated himself to creating frescos on the walls and ceiling of the church. It was really very moving to see.

Lunch today was a real treat. We stopped at The Coffee Shack in Captain Cook. This is really a popular place for lunch and we had to wait a while, but it was worth it! We were able to sit on the deck and had a panoramic coastline view overlooking Kealakekua Bay. The food was outstanding with homemade bread and lots of great goodies.

Tonight we tried a restaurant that the locals frequent. The Big Island Grill is located off the beaten path, and is excellent. The food was wonderful and the prices were very reasonable. Al, Rowland and Suzi had the lamb chops; the rest of us either opted for the roast pork, fish or a combination of both.

Jan 5.2006
We are finally getting the hang of being in Hawaii…of course, we will leave in 3 days! We all went to breakfast at the Aloha Angel Café in Kainaliu ( a little south of Kona). WOW…was that good. Better than Bubba Gumps by far. This café is located in the renovated historic Aloha Theather, which was built in 1932 and was originally a silent movie house. Now it still is used for culture events as well as having a great restaurant. Aloha Angel has a lovely view of the beach and ocean and has the best pancakes I have ever had! YUM! A must try if you come to Kona. And the entertainment was great...we had gecko's coming right up to the table...we enjoyed watching the battle of who was the "alpha" gecko! And no, we didn't see the Geico Gecko!

After breakfast, Rowland and Kathy headed for the volcano. Jack, Suzi and us decided to drive north and go over Saddle Road to Hilo. Saddle Road runs between two volcano’s, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The entire area is called a saddle because of the saddle shape of the valley (some BIG saddle!) This road travels through mostly unpopulated areas and some of the most drastically changing scenery you could ever imagine. We started out in the desert, gradually winding our way into the lava fields; or the surface of the moon, whichever you chose! From there we rose to an elevation of 6500 feet to heavily wooded areas; and then on the other side to lush, green tropics! It was absolutely amazing. A few words on the road itself. Saddle Road was hastily built in 1942 for military purposes. As the guide book states “The road was paved by Sadists-R-Us” and that is pretty much an accurate description! The road is very narrow, winding and ROUGH---but well worth the trip. Until a couple of years ago, if you were driving a rental car (and who isn’t on this island???) you couldn’t drive this road without it voiding your contract with the rental car company! We also experienced a definite change in weather. From the east side it was warm, sunny and clear; the farther up we got it was windy and cool, then cold (well, cold is relative..it was 50 degrees); then it changed to fog, rain and a little warmer. It was rainy in Hilo and we basically just drove through Hilo and then headed north on the highway on the west side of the island, through Waimea and then back to the east side of the island and to Waikoloa Beach Resort for dinner at The Big Island Steakhouse…not to be confused with where we had dinner last night!
After dinner Jack and Suzi headed to the airport for their trip home and we headed back to the condo. Row and Kathy weren’t back yet, however, we had a message saying their rental car had broken down not far from the volcano and they were waiting for a replacement car to be towed down for them. They finally got home around 11:00 p.m. Long day for them.

Jan 6, 2006
Today was another veg day. This is what Hawaii is all about for us anymore…rest and more rest. Now, people say, why do you need to rest when you are retired? Well, let me tell you, I do more now that I am retired than when I worked…just different activities. We have been here and it is one of those “been there, done that” things, and there are just some days we don’t want to do anything but read, relax and enjoy the balmy weather and look at the ocean. Kathy and Rowland did go into Kona town and do some required retail therapy this afternoon.

This evening we all piled into the car and drove to Waikoloa to Roy’s Restaurant. Yes, the same one we HAD reservations at for Jennifer’s birthday, however never made it because she was sick. All we can say is WOW! The food, the service was great. I had the best creamy polenta I have ever passed over my lips! And the ribs were wonderful as well. And of course, we had their signature Lava Chocolate Soufflé….it was great as well. We all left there as stuffed as one can get. Burp! All of us commented on how good the food was/is. There is a Roy’s in Scottsdale…hmm…Jack and Suzi, shall we take a road trip sometime soon???

Tomorrow the plan is to lay around in the morning and then take off for the north end late morning and go to the Bamboo Restaurant in Hawi for lunch and play around the north end. Then come back here for clean out the fridge for dinner…which will be a chore. You should see the food Al has stockpiled in the fridge! We could probably eat for another month!

Jan 7, 2006
After lazing around for most of the morning, we took off for the north end of the island. We encountered the normal slow traffic in town, and finally hit the open highway just before the airport. It was really windy today and tough driving. We drove Hwy 19 to Hwy 270 and went to Hawi again. Hawi is where King Kamehameha was born. There is a unique statue that sits in the little town of Kapa’au. We had lunch at the Bamboo Café and it was wonderful. The building this café is in dates back to 1911. Very old and very unique. Again we went to the end of the road to the Pololu valley…this sight is really pretty. We also found a great beach near there called Keokea. Very secluded and protected.

On the way back we saw a lot of Humpback whales near North Kohala area. We spent a few minutes watching them blow, flip their tales and breach. Very cool to see. Also got some awesome sunset pictures from Honoka’ope Beach, just above Waikoloa. Neat area.

Once back into Kona, a quick stop was made for Jo to get her free gift from the ABC Store and for Kathy to pickup a tee shirt. Back at the condo, we bbq’d hamburgers and gave our neighbors all the food we had left over. They won’t have to buy food the entire time they are here. Nice people from Madison, WI.
We are packed and ready to depart tomorrow morning. We both leave around 10:00 a.m., the Brasch’s on Hawaiian and us on Island Air. We both go to Honolulu, they only have a short layover, we have about 5 hours, so Willy, Nora and Ashley are going to come get us and we will go to lunch with them. We should be back in LA around midnight tomorrow night and then on up to Billie and Dans. We should be home in Tucson on Tuesday.

So until next time from who knows where,
we are:
The Wroamin' Wraspir's
Al & Jo
PS...Holly, tell the boys we are comin' home finally!