Hawaii...Day 2

The four of us started our day at a "welcome" breakfast (actually, it was continental style -- you know, fruit, bagels, doughnuts, juice, etc.) and the usual sales pitch for events on the island (in and around Kailea/Kona). We had so many things to choose from that it was hard to make a choice! Input from everybody helped.

For the first day, we selected a Parasailing adventure for Billy and Anna, with Dean and I observing from the boat. It was an exciting "ride!" Billy and Anna rode tandem with this huge parachute-like contraption. Whoosh! And they were airborne! I couldn't see the looks on their faces, but from our vantage point, it looked pretty exciting. The driver of the boat got them up some 400 feet and we were moving at a pretty fast clip. At some point, they asked Dean and I if we would like to go up! My immediate reply was, "No, thank you!" It looked like fun from our vantage point, but I did not want to be the one up in that thing! This was one of those things that you only do maybe once in a lifetime, and Billy and Anna said that they really liked the "high!" For a girl who is afraid of heights, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

After that amazing adventure, we walked into town to a Scandanavian Shave Ice store to treat ourselves to a wonderful taste-treat. We saw some people outside of the shop with huge shave ice's and told the girl at the counter that we really didn't want the biggest one -- maybe the middle sized one. We each got one to share and even the middle sized one was huge! But, I must say, yummy!After cooling off for awhile, we enjoyed a liezurely walk back to where we parked the car. Now, you have to understand that parking is a premium in this little village, and so finding a parking place is a miracle in itself. It seems that there are a lot of really skinny athletes in town training for the upcoming IronMan Triathlon event scheduled for the weekend of October 10th and 11th. Dean's comment was that he had never seen so many skinny people in one place for a very long time! There were bicyclists, swimmers and runners everywhere and each and every one was trim and fit. The run would be a 26+ miler, the swim would be 2+ miles, and the bicycle event would be 100 miles! Amazing. Back at our Condo, we decided it was pretty hot, so we went for a nice swim. The pool was wonderful and clean and we had it all to ourselves. I spent a little time in the jacuzi, too for my aching back and knee.

The nice part about staying in a time share, is that when you can, you can eat there. There is a really nice kitchen, and Billy made a wonderful salad for us to enjoy. We didn't want to eat too much, because our adventure to an authentic Hawaiian Luau was about to happen.


We chose the Luau at the Royal Kona Resort. We opted to walk and get the exercise before a hearty meal! I bought Anna a lei at the local country market and we both wore our lei's to the Luau. (I guess I forgot to mention, that Dean had arranged for a lei greeting at the airport when we arrived in Kona. It was a gorgeous purple orchid one! I loved it, while it lasted!)


We were not disappointed in the food or the entertainment at the Royal Kona. Of course, the big treat of the evening was to watch them pull out the roasted pig from the huge pit where it had been cooking all day. This is so much fun! We all piled our plates high, and even tried the poi! Actually, I quite like it with pork and fish. Not the greatest taste -- sort of bland -- by itself! Billy and Anna seemed to be having a great time.


We watched a beautiful sunset, even cought a glimpse of a rainbow to the east, and I learned something new about sunsets. If you watch closely, under certain conditions, there is a green flare, just as the sun disappears "into the sea." I got to see it! I tried to catch it on camera, but what I was seeing, was not what came out in the picture. Oh, well!

All in all, our second day in Hawaii was all that it could be. We all went to bed tired and reflective of a perfect day spent on an island paradise!