Travel 2021

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When Jeanne got back, we were all treated to manicures by my granddaughter. She had just purchased four bottles of nail polish and wanted to experiment. I have not had my nails done in years, they are just so weak. Anyway we sat around and reminisced while she did her thing. We tried to grill out with a Big Green Egg, but did not work well, so Gerri cooked steak, chicken and baked potatoes in the house. We had been working on the puzzle in and off all day, so after dinner we hunkered down to finish it. Even started number three, a tropical fish puzzle. This morning we head out on our version of a “sugar overload tour”. We are heading down the west coast of the island. Our first stop will be at a bakery near the southern most point of the US. (Eat your heart out Key West, we beat you by a long shot). We will get fresh malasadas, filled donuts with local favorite fruit cream fillings and regular, guava and taro bread. Off along the southern coast and up into Volcano National Park and a walk through Thurston’s Lava Tube and a drive around an extinct cone next to Kilauea. Kilauea is not active right now, but the last flow is still off limits to hikers. It took out a lot of homes and the island grew substantially because of the lava falling into the sea and building new unusable at this time land. Next stop the Mauna Loa macadamia farm for nuts and ice cream. You need to check out pictures of the place. It sounds strange because you just leave the volcano area and are suddenly in the area that gets 300+ Inches of rain a year. The farm is laid out in these big rectangles. To protect the trees from the strong storms, tall yews have been planted around a series of Mac trees. Impressive. Next we hit my favorite store - Big Island Candies in Hilo. White, milk chocolate, dark chocolate or just plain macadamia nut shortbread cookies, chocolate filled with what we consider normal things - nuts, Rice Krispies, and then what the Hawaiians and Japanese consider normal. dried cuttlefish and exotic fruits, etc. From there we head along the coast, stopping to hike down to a waterfall. Our last stop is the Hawaiian Vanilla factory for ice cream and milkshakes. Then finally home to veg out and finish another puzzle. Not sure what real food will be today, but am sure that no matter what we have it will be the perfect ending to the day. Aloha until next time!

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