Aloha from Hawaii - Friday-Saturday, March 8-9, 2024

Friday, March 8: Being rudely awakened by the alarm at 3 am, after going to bed at 2 am, is difficult! But it's easier to take in stride knowing we'll be in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii this afternoon.

At 5:15 am, Bob drove 1-1/2 hours from San Antonio, Texas, to an Austin hotel where we had a reservation to park our car while we're on our trip. It's good he called yesterday afternoon to find out about airport parking. It's the start of spring break in Texas and the airport lots at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport are full! Four hotels near the airport sell parking spaces. Bob called four of them and one hotel had two spots left. We bought one of them. 

When we arrived at the hotel, Bob unloaded our luggage in front of the hotel. The sky threatened rain, so we moved the luggage into the hotel foyer.  The weather was warm and muggy. A line of thunderstorms moved into the area. Bob went to the reception desk to find where to park the car. I joined him. A shuttle to the airport was supposed to be included in our parking fee, but their shuttle driver called in sick causing us to call Uber.

When we returned to the car, the temperature had dropped 15 degrees in two minutes. The cold wind, with gusts up to 40 mph, had me scrambling to put on my sweater.

Bob moved the car to our parking spot and called Uber. He no sooner got back into the hotel lobby when a downpour cropped up. Uber's schedule notified us that our car and driver would arrive in eight minutes. The clouds were dumping rain by the gallons!

There was no portico in front of the hotel to shield us from the pounding rain, so our Uber driver backed his car to the hotel foyer door. Bob loaded the trunk without getting wet, but one big suitcase and his briefcase had to go in the backseat, so he got wet. I ran to the front seat but didn't get soaked.

We were at the airport by 7:10 a.m.; the Hawaiian Airlines check-in desk opened at 7:30 am. The security checkpoint line moved along quickly and we were through by 8:00 am. Our flight leaves at 10:30 am. 

There was plenty of time to walk around the airport. I loved all the art and fun stuff to see. 

Austin's Bergstrom International Airport.

Hawaiian Airlines counter at 
Austin's Bergstrom International Airport.

"Texas Birds," by Mila Sketch, an award-
winning Austin, Texas, artist. (On display at
Bergstrom International Airport in Austin.)

These schedules are creative!

It's fun to read these
departure destinations.

The famous South by Southwest 
Music Festival is this week in Austin.

Our on-time Hawaiian Airlines flight is nonstop to Honolulu where we transfer to Kailua-Kona on The Big Island. We will be in Kona at 5:15 pm Hawaiian time.

The flight was bumpy in parts, but we had gorgeous, snowy scenery over the mountain ranges in Utah, Nevada, and California. Then we flew over the top of San Francisco and saw the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. After that, it was all ocean until Hawaii. I slept a little and read magazines or worked on jigsaw puzzles on the in-flight entertainment screen.

Bob chose our seats on the plane so we could see Honolulu and Diamond Head when we flew into Oahu. What a guy! From Oahu to Kailua-Kona, we flew over Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Kaho'olawe. The Kohala Coast of The Big Island is beautiful with its sandy beaches, although there are also long stretches of lava rock too. 

The airport in Kona does not have ramps into a terminal building. Instead, we off-loaded onto a rolling ramp in the open air. There is a new, one-level terminal building, but it is ugly compared to the charming tiki-hut-like old terminal. The old tiki-hut buildings are still there. 

After we collected our luggage, we took a shuttle to the rental car office. It was crowded so Bob got in line while I sat outside with our luggage. Our rental is a dark gray Nissan Altima.

Once we checked into our timeshare, we were exhausted and hungry. We drove to the grocery store. It was 8:04 pm and the store closed at 8. Arggh! No other stores were nearby and we didn't feel up to driving 15 minutes to another store. It didn't matter. As soon as our heads hit the pillow, we slept until morning.

Saturday, March 9: Bob was up at 5 am to run in preparation for the Hilo Marathon in a week. He returned around 8:30 and said he went 9-10 miles. Good going, Bob.

We had to stock up on groceries for two weeks and eat breakfast. Our first stop this morning was the Keahou Farmer's Market. We found papayas, cabbage, apple bananas, limes, beets, and broccoli.

Sticker shock struck when we went to the KTA grocery store in Keahou. A loaf of bread is $9.99 or more. A loaf on sale was $8.49. One-half gallon of almond milk is $7.99. A small jar of almond butter for Bob's diet is $14.99. Our total was $200! Yikes. But, that is way cheaper than eating out all the time.

For breakfast, we made smoothies and each had 1/2 of a papaya and an apple banana. Yummy!

Our next stop was Long's Drugs. We needed fins for snorkeling. Then we shopped at Safeway for bottled water, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, and salad fixings.

We wanted to find fresh fish. The Kona Fish Company had Opah at $32.99 per pound, and Ahi tuna at $42.99 per pound. We decided to buy fish at the Sack 'n' Save. It was much more reasonable and looked good. We took our haul back to our room.

During the afternoon, we spent time online, relaxed (Bob napped for quite a while), and planned activities to do while we're here: 

• a "snorkel with manta rays" nighttime boat tour, 
• snorkel at different beaches/bays, 
• hike to waterfalls, 
• Volksmarch in Holualoa, 
• sightsee at South Point, 
• take in the zoo near Hilo while Bob does the half marathon, 
• visit the MaunaKea Visitor Center, 
• hike the one-mile trail at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden in Hilo, 
• visit the Tsunami Museum in Hilo, and 
• explore Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park outside Hilo.

At the resort, it's a tradition (sort of) to walk across the golf course to view the sunset from the rocky outcropping next to the ocean. There are blowholes to watch as well.

Even though there were too many clouds this evening to see the sunset, we went there anyway. A beautiful grassy golf course, the rocky shoreline, and seawater spraying out of blowholes make for an interesting walk. 

Looking across the golf course from the Kona
Coast Resort to the ocean.

Bob on the botanical trail at the 
Kona Coast Resort.

I'm on the botanical trail at the 
Kona Coast Resort on the Big Island.

Saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola),
a small yellow species of tanager.

This is the golf course cart path. It's the 
easiest way to the rocky shoreline for sunset.

The Keahou coastline on the Big Island.

And another tropical golf course photo.

Looking back at the Kona Coast Resort
office building and main pool area.

We are in a timeshare back along the 
golf course.

Bob at one of the blowholes.

The blowhole going off.

I love this rugged coastline!

 A sailboat just offshore.

A couple of other resorts in Keahou.

After walking a mile out and back to the shore, we continued along the botanical garden trail at the resort to scope out the Quiet Pool area. No one was there. I wanted to go, but we wanted to eat dinner and our stir-fry would take a lot of prep work. I made dinner and we didn't go to the pool this evening, maybe tomorrow. We watched TV and I wrote my blog.

It's time to sleep now. Good night.