As the cold, gray, rainy winter began its return into our lives, a 10-day trip to The Big Island/Kona became irresistible. I selected Election Day for our Alaska Airways departure. Dealing with crowded airports, TSA, the chaos of travel…all of it seemed preferable to waiting for the returns.
Our trip began at 5:30 a.m. when our daughter-in-law picked us up. She works in Portland, near the airport, and didn’t mind starting her day early. Getting through TSA both in Portland and in Kona was made surprisingly easy with their new equipment. No longer did we have to remove our liquids of under three ounces each or our multiple electronic devices from our suitcases. The screening equipment has been upgraded to see through the baggage. Because we were over 75, we also didn’t have to remove our shoes. It was nice to see our tax dollars working for us.
I’m happy to report that the trip out and the one returning were uneventful. Here are some of the highlights of our vacation. I promise to keep it short.
1. We spent a lot of time on our lanai, with its view of the water and amazing sunsets. We read, relaxed, and enjoyed the myriad birds who stopped in to see if we had any food for them.
2. Magic Sands Beach, with crashing surf on giant lava rocks.
3. Harbor House Restaurant, an outdoor eatery at a marina. Delicious calamari!
4. National Park Beach with beautiful white sand and tide pools, the scene of my favorite moments of all. While wading in the water as it lapped the sand, I was accompanied by a bale of large turtles (I had to look that up), swimming happily among the pesky visitors and their bare feet.
5. The Kona Canoe Club, which is a restaurant and not a club. It’s another open air restaurant, on the water where dolphins play just off shore.
6. A ride along the coast that eventually brought us from the west side of the island to the east side where we stopped at the National Volcano Park. We spent time on an overlook, in awe of a huge blackened volcano that had been active and destructive in the 1950s. Fortunately, it behaved while we were there.
7. A small shopping center near where we stayed had a grocery where they made the best poke bowls I’ve ever had.
We felt so fortunate to have this chance for a temporary respite from the real world’s horror show. I'm happy to report that the hummingbirds were delighted to see me again with sugar water in my hand as I headed to the feeders.
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