That was the view from my bed this morning. It's time to get up and start a new adventure!
Whereas the past two days have been all about geology and astronomy, the next two days are going to be more about botany. Our first stop took us to downtown Hilo. Kona is on the west side of Hawaii and is rather hot, mild and arid. But, Hilo, on the east side is a totally different place. It gets lots of rain and with high winds, it is subject to tsunamis. Apparently, all the businesses on the shoreline have been destroyed at one time or another, some more than once. One tsunami wiped out a school and many children perished. So the city decided not to rebuild so close to the shore. Instead, they built a series of parks, recreation areas, and gardens all along the coast. One of the most popular places is Liliuokalani Garden. This 30-acre park with Japanese gardens is a great location for everything from an elegant wedding to a simple picnic. We really enjoyed strolling around the grounds.
We got back in the car for a short drive up the road to Rainbow Falls. We didn't see the rainbow, but the waterfall was nice.
There was a lot of vegetation up top.
But the view from below was spectacular!
Our next stop was Pe'epe'e Falls. This waterfall is only a short drive, 1.5 miles upstream from Rainbow Falls.
Rainbow Falls is larger but PP Falls Park is gorgeous!
For our last stop before lunch, we drove 10 miles up the road to Akaka Falls State Park. At 422' tall it is the granddaddy of waterfalls on the Big Island.
Breathtakingly beautiful!
After a morning of waterfalls and lush vegetation we headed back to town for lunch. We decided to try Cafe 100. You step up, order your food, and eat outside.
They specialize in Hawaiian food, but they have regular American fare as well. My BLTT (bacon, lettuce, tomato, turkey) was quite tasty and Keith enjoyed his clam chowder. As you can see most of us stayed with American fare, but Bobby decided to "eat like a local"!
That is called "Super Loco Moco" and consists of four scoops of rice, covered with a hamburger patty, brown gravy, and two fried eggs, with a side of Spam and macaroni salad. He said it was good and he ate all the important parts. No offense, but personally, I think you would have to be "super loco moco" to eat that!After lunch we made a quick stop at the grocery for some breakfast food (malasadas!), then we headed back to enjoy some time at the house. Some of us spent time by the pool.
Others enjoyed time out back, listening to the waves crash against the shore.
While others spent some time flying the drone.
All of us were trying not to think about the fact that we head for home tomorrow...sigh...
Eventually, we headed back into town for our last supper in Hilo. We ate at a quaint Italian sidewalk cafe called Cafe Concerto.
We enjoyed salads and plates of pasta as we reminisced about our favorite parts of the trip. We topped the evening off with tiramisu and/or coconut ice cream then headed back to the house to begin packing for the journey tomorrow. It's difficult to think about leaving this place.
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