We traveled north today along 190 up the Kohala Coast…our final destination, a small old -time- hotel in Honoka’a, which I will for now refer to as the sleepy town. It’s so quiet here, and everything is closed (at 8:00)…I guess some would call it creepy, I find it to be somewhat peaceful. The two adjoining rooms in our “suite” seem to be a cross between the bed and breakfast I stay at when my family goes to Lakeside, and the little room I stayed in when visiting my grandparent’s as a child. I’m not sure how everyone else feels about it, but I really like it. It’s the perfect place for relaxing and reflecting on the day…which was quite eventful. We started the morning with a great breakfast, banana/macadamia nut French toast…which I was a bit hesitant about at first, but ended up really liking. We checked out of the Coffee Barn, and headed to a historic park called Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. I’m not always into historical stuff…I’m not a big fan of museums typically….call me shallow….but these ancient Hawaiian ruins were all outside right on the water and were really quite neat. I was able to learn some interesting things, see some really beautiful things, and make some calls on my cell phone all at one time…..great multi-tasking!

Next we went in search of a beach. One thing I’m finding on the big Island is that the beach selection is somewhat limited. There are beaches, but a lot of them are rocky, or super crowded, or really small, or in-front of a swanky resort. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying it’s been a little different compared to the other islands…just a little more challenging to get what we’re looking for. The first place we went was called A-bay (actually a much longer name, but this is how the locals refer to it). I would actually give it a C+. It didn’t help that it was cloudy and sort of cold, and then it down poured, which luckily has never happened on this trip yet. We took cover at the neighboring resort where we went to the bar and got a drink…that was sort of fun. The next beach we tried was Kahalu’u ( it was swarming with snorkelers and was only about 50 yards long)…try again. We finally settled at La’aloa Beach. This beach had the best sand…so soft….The beach was small and crowded, but at this point it was nice just to be laying down on our towels and I had to remind myself that even if the day seemed stressful, we were still on a beach in HAWAII…life was good. This beach was also unique in that it had massive waves….along with massive rocks…..tricky business. It was funny to watch everyone play in the waves….all on one side (trying to avoid the rocks on the right), all crowded together like at Geauga Lake….remember the WAVE pool….everyone would get super excited when the gigantic wave started to approach then there was a lot of screaming….and then the loud powerful crash of the wave against the sand. Jessica and I braved the waves for a bit. I was reminded of how much power the ocean has. I got caught in the “crash zone” a few times. It was like being in a washing machine….the swimsuit definitely came off, and as I tried to recover, I got hit again….it was so….fun?? Well, I guess I could have done without that part of it, but I loved the energy of everyone in the water….young and old…..all having fun….all in awe of the nature they were a part of.

We left the beach, on our way North. On the way the scenery began changing…We were in cowboy country for sure….golden wheat (or some kind of wavy plant looking like wheat,) contrasting beautifully with the darkening sky, and the vast black lava fields…gorgeous. Mountains as a backdrop, and green hills lit just perfectly by the lowering sun. It was worth stopping for a better look. We exited the car and explored the land…at one point I just took off running up the highway in my flip flops, it was the type of setting you just couldn’t not run in. As we continued to drive, we saw the best hill in the distance…..We all wanted to climb to the top…we had to do it….the hill was calling us……to be continued