OUR FIRST DAY IN PARADISE

Jim and I decided only a few weeks ago that we needed to take a break in the tropics, especially as we have had the COLDEST SUMMER IN 50 YEARS in Santa Rosa. The only bad part was that we had to get up at 4 in the morning to make our 7:45 AM plane from Oakland to Kona. However, things started looking up at the check in as we were able to upgrade to first class for a small amount of money. That certainly got things off to a good start! When we picked up our rental car, we upgraded to a Mustang convertible...we were on a roll! We decided to drive south from Kona through the coffee plantations and around through volcano country to our destination, Hilo, on the east side of Hawaii.

So, here we are in a condo in Hilo on the Big Island. This is the view from our lanai.

We have a lovely park next door which we explored right away. The lagoon is used by lots of families. I have heard that there are turtles there but haven't seen any yet. Notice the submerged sidewalk that goes out into the water!

Jim found a comfy place to sit on the lava. I found it pretty rough.


Now I know we are really in Hawaii!

On this beach, the lava is right up to the water's edge. It's amazing that plants do grow out of the rock.
After checking out our park, we went into town for groceries. As we walked around downtown, we saw this amazing display of orchids.

Later we stopped for arguably the best ice cream in town, Hilo Handmade Ice Cream, which, as it turns out, isn't far from our condo. We tried a combo of ginger and Kona coffee on recommendation of our friend Emily. Quite good!

And, at the end of a long but good day:

Next, the Farmer's Market!

Audrey