Hilo time

One more night at Robert’s house. I lay in this tropical mobile home surrounded by the sounds of the rainforest. The coKEE (properly spelled coqui) frogs cry out for mates incessantly. The geckos chirp here and there and the neighborhood dogs erupt in frequent bouts of barking, one attempting to outcall the next. It’s a complicated world of communication out there – a complex world of messages that I can only ignore with earplugs, a necessary tool round these parts for sleepy visitors. Robert says he doesn’t notice any of these sounds anymore. Now that’s a local.

Today, T and I spent the day breaking the rules. We quickly caught onto the fact that when Hawaiian signs say, “don’t go here”, that is likely to be the very spot you’ve been awaiting. So, we swam in beautiful pools of cool river water beneath tropical rains and towards gorgeous waterfalls. We climbed along slippery ledges coated in jungle mud. The gigantic leaves all around coated us in cool rainwater as we dripped with humid sweat. We came out from this mass of green to find ourselves standing atop another beautiful waterfall – but don’t go there. It’s not allowed.

on the road to Hilo

Waipi'o Valley floor

Waipi'o Valley lookout...we'll climb down next week. You have to have a 4WD vehicle to get down there...it's a 25% grade.

Waimea

First stop -- Waimea, a centrally located big island town that has the most mixed up weather I've ever seen! Shoshanah, my sister, has friends who live up here (I say up because we're at about 5000 feet) and that's where we're beginning our Hawai'i trip.

It's sooooo beautiful here. Kami and Beth's house happens to be up and up and up from "downtown" Waimea and then, it sits on the top of a very steep driveway at the end of a dead end. What does this all mean? We we have an amazing view of Mauna Kea (if it peaks out) and/or the Hawai'i cloudscape from our bedroom window.

They also have four freakin' cute dogs, one of which is only 8 weeks old! His name is Goose and I'm in love...with Birdie too but as you can guess, the puppy stole the camera.

We tried to go snorkeling with turtles -- we saw several, but not by snorkeling. The visibility was poor and the turtles were feeding off the coral and rocks that we couldn't get to. It was a perfect day by our Portland standards though -- warm, but not too much direct sun. Oh, and we "snuck" onto a resort to experience it.

So below is a 5 star resort (virtually empty) which we just walked into and through to their private beach access. Of course, the beach itself is public so what are they going to do...kick us off out of their loungers when there are hundreds empty? It was great lounging time. Yes, we got froofroo drinks and they were great!

The resort raises the young turtles as part of the state's conservation efforts and they swim through the hotel's open inner courtyard under extravagant fountains and such. Then, when they are old enough, they release them into the ocean to have better survival chances.

heading to the big island

Last night, we stayed at Mark and Sandy's house, just minutes from the Seattle airport, and this morning I got to wake up to a very happy baby named Kate. She is quite the morning person and I'm guessing from the giggles that she took great pleasure in drooling on my freshly showered face as I flew her around over my head. I suppose in baby world, that was quite an honor :)

Now, we're onto LAX where we have reserved a couple hours to study the southern California culture and then ... on to Hawai'i !!

Tonight, on the big island we're staying with Kami and her wife -- thank you Shoshanah. I can't wait to get to some warmer weather, some laid back people, and some good old volcanic action. yeah.

Pictures will be coming soon.