On Friday, February 6th, we changed rooms. As the condo folks promised to move our things, we packed everything up and left for the day.
We headed north through Waimea so we could look at the lovely Waipi’o Valley, the Valley of Kings.
On a clear day you can see Maui. It was clear. Sure enough, there was Maui.
We grabbed a couple of sandwiches in Honoka’a, a cute little touristy town and had lunch in the park. It was quiet there if you ignored the male doves attempting to charm the females.
Later on, a man in a yellow shirt, a can of beer and a ukulele, settled down with a friend to drink, talk and strum. Took a stealth shot of yellow shirted man. He was enjoying the day.
After lunch, we took the old highway 19 that runs south of the new highway between Honoka’a and Waimea. Small, narrow, with lovely views of Mauna Kea, a horse and a wild turkey.
We drove all the way down to Kailua-Kona’s old town. Wandered around and reminisced. Kona was the one larger town that we had gotten to know a little when we were here before. Much had changed. Much had stayed the same.
Returned home, checked out our new digs and that pretty much wrapped up the day.
Now for yesterday….
If you ever come to the Big Island, you really should treat yourself to the experience of a trip up to Mauna Kea at sunset. I’d recommend taking a tour to do this. After the visitor center, the pavement runs out and the road is unkind to rental cars. (I saw a beautiful red convertible bucking and weaving up the 12% grades. Felt so sorry for that car’s brakes for the downward trip. ) I also recommend a tour because you learn more about the telescopes up there at the top, the history and the sacredness of this mountain, and you’re shown stars. We went with Hawaii Forest and Trail (www.hawaii-forest.com). We used them to see Pele’s home at Volcanos National Park. These people are naturalists, historians, geologists, guides and they love what they’re doing. Our vehicle had four wheel drive. Our brakes did not burn on the trip down.
Mauna Kea. 13,796 feet high. Clear. Cold (sub-zero.) Windy (fifty-two mph.) And the most sacred place in the world to the Hawaiian people. It is where Father Sky meets with Mother Earth and Her children (all Earth’s creatures) are born. You could feel that sacredness. It’s like no other place I’d ever been. See for yourself…
Offerings are made here…
This part of the mountain can only be walked by the Hawaiian People, unless invited.
After the sunset, we went down to a parking lot where our guide set up his telescope and showed us such wonders! He gave us the Hawaiian constellation names and accompanying stories. I saw comet Lovejoy. She really is blue! And the Andromeda galaxy, our closest neighboring galaxy. The Orion nebula, shining Venus, Rosy Mars (Mars would hate to be described as ‘rosy,’ couldn’t help myself.) We even saw Jupiter and its striations, although I couldn’t make out the red spot. As the moon began to rise, we came home. (I should mention that we were very fortunate. Due to winds more than 55mph, the mountain had been closed for the past 4 days. It’s not always that windy. Keep forgetting it’s wintertime.)
Since Mr. Al and I are winding down our adventures, I’m winding down my travelogue. We leave in four days and will be spending those four days doing not much of anything. However, if something exciting happens that I deem blog-worthy, I’ll be sure to share. In the meantime… Aloha Peeps!
Chronicles of Cammy, my Fool's Journey and Travelogue 
I am in awe of your new camera and artist’s eye! Some of these pix are going on my screen saver.
Please, be my guest….and thank you!