Big Island Day 2 -- 4/10/17

     Okay.  That was exhausting.
     Getting to the islands is normally a pain but wow.  Adding a 2 hour drive on a bad road at night, the 6 hour time difference (Hawaii doesn't recognize Daylight Savings), and of course, sleeping in a strange bed for the first time and its miracle my body wasn't more confused upon waking on my first full day on the Big Island.  But I was up at six and listening to the birds outside my balcony.
     Excuse me -- lanai.  And a pretty nice one at that.

     After lingering in bed for a while, I got dressed and met up with Gigi downstairs.  She gave me the lowdown of the place, showing me the recycling bins, the best parking (still tricky though -- more on that later), and the outdoor kitchen in case I wanted to cook my own meals.  The whole place was really nicely set up.  I had a microwave and mini fridge in my room along with beach towels (wish I'd known that earlier so I wouldn't have packed my own), a guidebook (the one I really wanted) and a map of the island.   Downstairs were paperback novels and bins full of swim shoes, snorkels, sunscreen, mats -- you name it, Gigi had the hookup.  There were even coolers and surfboards so you wouldn't have to rent them.  Just take them out when you needed them and return them when you got back.  Nice.
     It's amazing what you don't notice when you're dog-tired and driving down an unfamiliar road at night.  Once I walked down the rutty driveway that served as a road, I realized the hotel was directly across the street from Kahalu'u Bay, a salt and pepper-sanded beach that was considered one of the best for snorkeling on the island.  It also had a lot more black volcanic rocks than sand, something very common on the the Big Island.  Volcanoes are the big draw here not the beaches.

     I walked a bit up the road and noticed the many communities on Ali'i Drive but found that the nearby grocery store was a little far to reach on foot.  So it was back to the hotel for the car.  While there were parking spaces around the building, backing out of any of them was no picnic.  And you definitely didn't want to go backwards down that narrow winding road.  I managed to not hit anyone during the trip (can't say the same about some of the greenery) but became an expert of the 12-point turn.   The rental was about the same size as my car but it was still new to me and more difficult to handle.
     Ali'i Dr is a historic Hawaiian site and is the main drag in Kailua-Kona.  Once you get past all the houses, the speed limit drops and there are a bunch of restaurants and shops that stay hopping from morning to night.  A lot of the businesses are either on the water or have a great view of them.  After breakfast and some shopping, I drove around a bit to get the lay of the land.  I kept seeing signs saying 'Volcano 93 miles'.  I knew I wanted to go but ... that distance!  Maybe tomorrow.
     I laid out on the beach for a while, watching the students of the nearby surf school try to catch some non-existent waves and planning my activities for the next few days. Just a day to recover before seeing the sites.