Saturday lilikoi festival in HPP

Heading to the first annual Lilikoi festival in Hawaiian Paradise Park. We are a little late in arriving and miss the taste testing.  But we do get a piece of the pie and it is Ono!  We hear some interesting music and purchase a couple of items from the venders.  I get a book on gardening and have the author sign it.  Thinking of making a video to leave in our vacation rental titled. "I bought it at the market, now how the heck do I eat it!"  I will need Jake's help to make this video for sure. We drove through HPP and looked at the Whitman home we stayed at in 2009 with Tim & Polly, Margie & Tim. It looks the same from the outside but I know they have remolded inside. It is contingent at 515,000.  After stopping at a garage sale, didn't buy anything, we head back to our VR. We rest, walk, talk to the people, then go into Pahoa to eat supper at a Mexican restaurant.

Friday in the tidal pools.

Taking a break from house hunting, we head to Kapoho.  We drive the old government road with the jeep. It was beautiful and heading out to Champagne Pond, quite rough, but not like the 6 mile to the sea road. We were one of only 2 vehicles and the only one which made it to the pond.  The water was warm, not too salty but we didn't see any turtles and not a ton of fish.  Then we went to vacation land and the Waipao Pools. Here, we weren't disappointed, but saw lots of fish and some coral.  The water is cooler and much saltier here.  It is easier to float and a bigger area to explore.  Such fun, and we really want to share this with our family. After snorkeling we head on down the Red Road to the end (because of the lava flow in the 1990's) We stop at Isaac Hale to rinse off the salt water. Indigo was weaving palms under the shelter when we pulled in. When we went to leave, we found a hat and a basket on the hood of our car.  We went back and talked to him, he does live near and he doesn't surf anymore, he had an encounter with a shark. He was real friendly and I will look him up when it comes time to decorate the Hale because he makes cool wall hanging baskets. We miss stopping at Kehena but did drive around the subdivisions there. Last stop was Kalapana, we got supper, pulled pork, baked beans. We checked on lava tours, but Pele is resting, we were told. We will check back online to see if she wakes up!  It is dark as we head back and I can hear the coqui.

Hale Thursday

Today we look at 3 more houses and drive by one.  The houses are further back from the ocean and nothing really grabs our interest.  There is one which was very nice but the neighborhood was rather rough.  Location really is important for using it as a vacation rental.  We drive back into Hilo to return the car and pick up the jeep. We stop to check on surf lessons at a rental place. The lessons would be given at Honolii Beach.  We pick up the jeep and the gal gives us an upgrade to a 4 door for no extra charge!!  We then drive around Hilo and try to stop at the Trib but it closed at 4:30.  We drive to Honolii and watch the surfers for awhile and decide we won't try surfing here.  The entrance to the water is over lava rock and I don't think we could carry our board and make it. Maybe we will try on the West Side.  We head up the coast for a ways and drive through some neighborhoods.  We have a better idea of the style of housing in Hilo and feel it wouldn't work for us.  We eat at Café Pesto, ordering pizza and volcano salad.  It was good, especially the salad.  We are entertained by Rupert Tripp and I happened to know who he is because I have a CD of his music. 

Wednesday is Hilo day

We wake up early to get ready to head to Hilo. First is the Palace Theatre to see a cultural presentation Hawaiiana.  It is a downtown theatre which has been restored. Built in the 1920's.  The organ was in pieces in the attics and when the Honolulu theatre was demolished they send their organ pipes to Hilo. The organs were used in the time of silent movies. A couple did a talk story with the man accompaniment on different pipes. The stories were handed down and also taught by Hula.  Because it is near Halloween, the stories were a bit scary.  We also watched a short movie about the Menehune.  After the presentation the counter girl came to me a gave me a poster left over from the Hilo Film Festival. I had asked for something from the festival which ended the previous night, but she said she didn't have anything.  So it was a surprise when she found the poster and gave it to me for free. We then went to the farm market, crafts and venders too.  We bought a few items. We drove around Hilo and found Dennis's office, he would be our lender.  We found the library and took some pictures for Mandy. Next, we drove out to the beaches to check them out, then we headed back to the hale to make mahimahi on the grill and salad and pineapple for supper.

First day.

Tuesday. We wake up early of course because of the time changes,  It was 1:30 first, then 5:00.  We got up at 5:15.  Watched the sun come up over the Pacific. The apartment is great and the bed is pretty comfy too.  It rained a couple of times in the night but that didn't deter the Coqui (frogs) from really belting out their songs!!  It is going to be a wonderful day according to our devotions.  How could it be otherwise!  We take a drive around to look at the homes we will see later.  We kind of rule some out because of Location, Location, Location,  Joy arrives at 1:00 and off we go. We see 4 and narrow down to 2.  We help Joy find the homes and she laughs at us and herself for being directionally challenged.  We come back, take a rest and go into Pahoa to eat at Kaleo Restaurant, it was good.  Coqui aren't as loud tonight? I wonder why.

Air travel

Long flight from Chicago to Honolulu, 8.5 hours.  There was a contest to guess at what time we would be 1/2 way there. I thought of Christy first to figure this out given the speed, the head wind speed, the total miles and the starting time.  But I wasn't far off, only about 18 seconds!  The prize was a bag and a tour book, no big loss.  This is the first time we have flown from Chicago.  I think the break you get when you fly to the west coast is maybe better, especially with keiki. We will remember that for future reference. Finally landed in Honolulu. We needed to take a Wiki Shuttle to the interisland terminal and travel on to Hilo,  We had about a 45 min wait. Arrived in Hilo, picked up our car and drove go Verna's to get local food. Then we drove to the KTA store to pick up groceries and on to the vacation rental.  Arrived in the dark and Gary & Karen were worried a little, but glad to see us.  The apartment is perfect!  We are tired.

The Plan

We can make our plans but the final outcome is in God's hands. "The Good Lord" as my Dad would say, has given us the ability to work, to create and to plan. However, we should always pray and ask that His will be done. With this in mind we have been making a plan.  We would like to buy a home in Hawaii which we want to share with our family.  But we know that we have to count the cost before going forward.   So we have been doing our research and estimating, and now we are going to leave and look at some homes on the Big Island.  I think of my family and especially of the grandkids and my desire for them to be able to visit Hawaii.  It makes me think of God preparing a place for us in Heaven. And how much more glorious and wonderful that eternal home will be!! Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard,  nor has the  mind conceived the wonderful things which the Lord has prepared for those who love Him. October 21, 2013