The mystery animal I saw on Thursday has been identified...it was a female mouflon sheep with a youngster. We showed the picture to Lex while she was doing my tattoo and she suggested a mouflon; Kim looked it up and verified it.
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Checked out of our house room at 9 a.m…took off do to some more exploring. Still hadn’t been to the northern end of the island. Took Route 190 up to Waimea then over/up to Kapaau. It was a beautiful day to have the top down on the car until the wind got the better of us…up around 2500 ft. evaluation. Top up or down we were enjoying the sunshine.
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Turned on the geocaching app as soon as we left the house. Closest and most accessible cache was at
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I have been surprised at how quiet the car has been with the top down. Windy, yes, but not as noisy as I imagined. Roll the windows up and it becomes even quieter and less windy. There is no back leg room. Little monkeys are about the only passengers who would feel comfortable back there. 😎
I think Kim has enjoyed the handling of the car. It’s low to the ground and he says it has
very responsive steering. He seemed to
enjoy the way it’s been navigating all the twisty roads we’ve been on, driving
a bit faster than I would have. But
that’s okay, I have a door handle to hang onto when the curve feels too much.
Although it was fun to rent this car , it helped me realize that, in
general, I'm not a convertible person.
Interesting features of the car:
*First night out we realized that the underside of the side mirrors cast
a lighted horse down onto the ground by the door. I’ve found it to be more of a fun feature than
a practical one.
*Kim was the one who discovered that the seats are air conditioned. He
was a little taken aback when he realized his bottom was getting chilled. 😀
*The car has Android Auto and I’m not a fan. It was obnoxiously trying
to take over my phone…I think it assumed it had that right because my phone was
charging off the car’s USB port. It wanted access to all my contacts, photos,
etc., which seemed a bit invasive to me so I was refusing to cooperate. But
then something happened. Rapunzel was
navigating through my phone when suddenly she appeared on the car’s navigation
system and at that point the map was inaccessible on my phone. I think Rapunzel
saw the opportunity to be on the big screen and jumped ship at that point.
Traitor!
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Shopping plazas on the island are what I’d call a strip mall set-up. It
was our experience that there are few stand-alone stores or restaurants; most are
located within a strip mall. Saves space, I guess, and when you’re on an
island, that’s probably an important thing to consider. And along with that is the fact that these
stores and restaurants don’t have on-site bathrooms; there was usually one
men’s and one women’s bathroom per shopping area and you had to get a code from
some business to use it. Not convenient
by any means but that’s how it works.
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Observations about the island of Hawaii:
*It’s humid which might be why clothing is loose and flowing.
*Everyone seems to have tattoos…big, involved, body covering tattoos. It’s a way of life.
*Drivers are courteous.
*It’s expensive to live there.
*It’s an island way out in the ocean…rain
happens.
*Prickly pear cactus exist in random places on the island.
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Saw a Ghost Bike on 270 near the north end of the island. It was adorned only with a name and
date. Did a search and found this
article:
NORTH KOHALA, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) - Big Island authorities have
identified the man killed
in a crash on Akoni Pule highway Thursday.
A longtime friend of the Kailua-Kona man says he was riding a couple
miles in front of Taylor when he heard about the fatal accident. "The
interesting thing was that recently he said, 'If I ever have to die, I want to
die riding,'" said Franz Weber, who was riding down to Hawi when the
accident happened. "It was his passion. It was the perfect way to
go."
Police say the driver of the truck was a 16-year-old girl, who was
driving with her mother. Hawaii News Now has learned she was driving with a
learner's permit. The teenager told police she fell asleep at the wheel, but
the crash is under investigation.
Friends of Taylor say they are planning a memorial ride in his honor.
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Had lunch at a little Hawaiian BBQ place in
Kapaau which is at the north end of the island; then it was time to head to the
airport. Kona International is a
relatively small airport; there’s little to no worry about long lines to get
through check-in and security, especially with the online check-in option. Our
flight was at 5:01 p.m., and we were at the airport at 3 p.m. That left more than enough time to return the
rental car and catch the shuttle to the airport.
Since we did online check-in this morning with the boarding passes being
sent to our phones, we had them in hand, ready to scan the QR code and proceed.
However, when we got to American Airlines, we were told that they only wanted
IDs, no phones. Apparently, Kona airport
doesn’t use phone technology to check passengers in. They took our IDs, consulted their computer,
printed out our tickets and pointed us toward security. Made it through security by 3:35 only to find
out that the flight had been delayed until 5:30. Okay, that’s only thirty
minutes late. Returned from the
restroom to find that it was now scheduled to depart at 6:30. Good Grief!!
We chose to look on the positive side of this delay: by getting to Los
Angeles later we’d have a shorter layover.
Waiting outside under a pavilion in the fresh air in Hawaii was better
than waiting inside the LAX airport.
Update, written in the wee hours of
the morning in LAX: As on our flight to Hawaii, Kim watched movies and I tried desperately
to sleep with only moderate success. We arrived in Los Angeles at 1:15 a.m., local
time as they say. The airport is empty…Emp-tee!! Very few passengers, very few employees, all
retail shops closed and an absolutely silent and empty TSA security area. Very eerie.
So here we are at Gate 153 at 2 a.m., waiting for our 6:30 a.m. flight
to Phoenix. This is going to be a long
day.
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Since Sundays are excluded from the 40 days that make up the Lent season
(between Ash Wednesday and Easter), there was no 40 Days of Lent challenge for
today. Just an encouragement to listen to today’s sermon entitled ‘Letting Go
of Expectations and Control’. It was the
perfect thing to do while waiting for our flight to Phoenix.
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