Hawaii Diary
Saturday, March 28 - Island Hop II
Today was our second "hop day". Today we said aloha to my father who headed back to the mainland after spending the last week with us on Maui.
My father had last been on Maui about fifty years ago when he spent over a month on O'ahu while stationed in Hawaii. Much has changed since then, both in Hawaii and with my dad. Hawaii is not an easy place to explore if you are 73 years old. To his credit, my father chose to come with us on some of our major adventures on Maui, such as our ride around the northern coast of west Maui, our trip to Haleakala and our ride to Hana. It was, however, difficult for him to adjust to the strenuous walking to some of the viewpoints and especially to the high altitudes such as on Haleakala.
He did, however, genuinely have a good time and we are very pleased that we were able to show him a part of the Hawaii that we love.
For Eileen and I it was a short flight to Kona and then a pleasant drive around the northern route to Hilo where we will be spending the next three days. At least Eileen told me it was a pleasant drive.
I have to admit, much to my dismay, I slept most of the drive from Kona to Hilo. It seems that every time Eileen and I fly, we find that we come down with colds. We really believe that the shared and confined air of a long plane ride contributes to this. Eileen was the first to catch the cold, early last week. It finally hit me yesterday with a bad sore throat. I made the mistake of taking some cold medicine last night, so I was really zonked for most of the day today.
I was able to recover by dinner and I was glad that I was able to do so. The Hawaii Naniloa Hotel here had a dinner which included a performance by Ray Fonseca's Hula Halau O' Kahukilaulani. It was a wonderful half hour performance. I always enjoy seeing the ancient hula as well as the keiki hula and both were featured tonight.
We'll it's off to bed and an early rising for a short trip down to Volcano National Park tomorrow. This trip we hope to be able to devote a full day to exploring the National Park and its surrounding area. Be sure to check in tomorrow for an update.
