Hawaii 11: Days 3 & 4

On Sunday after walking the beach at Kailua, we drove up to Kaneohe to meet up with my friend Bridget. We hadn't seen each other since she moved to North Shore in Elementary School, so it was pretty neat to see her (and new baby Evan!) after so much time had gone by.

Monday morning 4am came a little earlier than hoped...since our flight to Hilo left Honolulu at 6am, we had to wake up, get packed, and get headed through the mountain pretty darn early. That's right, THROUGH the mountain. To cross this island, you have to drive right through a rock wall. It's pretty much the coolest thing since escalators.

Upon arrival at Hilo, we hit the Farmer's Market for some fresh local fruits and veggies, and began our trek across the Big Island. We did a quick trip into Volcano's and saw some vents, but didn't continue on because we were kind of pressed for time...we'll visit later. It was pretty wild continuing south in the miles and miles of old lava flow. Completely desolate. We ate lunch in Naalehu at Hana Hou, the southernmost town (and restaurant) in the United States. We (finally) arrived at our "Kona-Side" house...it has a beautiful view of the ocean, but is in the somewhat questionable village of Milolii...they obviously are cursed by Pele', because lava flows seem to have destroyed it on multiple occasions. They were also hit hard by last weeks tsunami (as was the entire Kona coast).

Nothing to exciting yet--but we're headed to Captain Cook and Two Step today to find us some dolphins, and turtles, and fishies--OH MY!....so prepare yourselves for excitement. Until then, Aloha.