What do the simple folk do?

Yesterday we got on the road and drove 90 some miles north to the Waikoloa resorts. On the way we stopped at Hannah Hou - the southernmost restaurant in the USA. It's just a little local coffee shop, and the food is freaking good! I tried a local favorite - scrambled eggs on fried rice. Ohhh yeah! Harry had a pineapple and jalapeno omlet. He was inspired! DH had two scrambled eggs and a sticky bun which was so full of sugary, soicey, nutt-laden goodness that it weighed about half a pound. We happily ate till we were in pain!

Then back on the road, which, along this section of the coast, was laid out by a snake with a broken back. The narrow two lanes clings to the skirts of the mountain like a bit of embroidery, following every fold. There are places where the jungle is cut back a bit and you realize you are a thousand feet up, and out there to the west is a hell of a lot of Pacific ocean! It's great if you're a passenger, but rather taxing for the driver. Especially when you meet a tanker truck coming the other way on one of those blind corners. At least most folks are on island time and don't feel the need to drive 80 in the 35 mile zone.


We walked up to the front desk of the Waikoloa Marriot and asked if we could get a day pass. For four adults, it was $99. We got the use of a "Parlor Room" which had a bathroom, a comfortable sitting room with tv, internet access, and a lanai facing the pool. OH, and also we got free parking (it would have been $15 per car otherwise) free snorkle rental for half a day for two people, full use of pool and waterslide, and two free drinks.

Hard to take, eh?

We had lunch at the restaurant. As you can see, the folks at the other table were a bit flighty, but quite friendly.

There are three pools, all filled with filtered sea water. One has a water slide, one is a very romantic "infinity pool, and one has a shallow section for the little kids with a sandy beach and bottom. And, since this is as close to low season as it gets in Hawaii, we had lots of room to spread out and relax. (Between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the best time to travel to these vacation Meccas.)

Our room was rented from 9AM till 7PM. We stopped at a nearby Romano's Macaroni Grill for dinner, then got back onto the road. Luckily, there was about 30 miles of straight, well-lighted four-lane highway to let the drivers get in the mood before we got to the narrow twisty stuff in the dark. We all pretty much collapsed into bed, and slept soundly alllll night long (except for DH who had heartburn and wouldn't wake me up to help him find the Tums. Poor dear! When he finally came to bed at 2AM I swam to the surface of consciousness long enough to dig them out of the bottom fold ot the medicine kit.)

Today looks like rain. DH and I are headed to the volcano. Harry and SIL are hanging out at the condo, resting up. Tomorrow, there will be no sunny pictures. Don't hate me because I'm on vacation.