November 9, 2009: Hawaii - Day Two

Day Two started very early - like 6:00am early - because it was 9:00am in Utah. We got up and made some breakfast and then went for a walk around the condo grounds to see what there was available. It was beautiful, but got warm and muggy quite quickly. After we got ready for the day, we headed up through Waimea to Honoka'a, where we went first to Waipi'o Valley.


Waipi'o Valley is probably my favorite place on the Big Island of Hawaii. It's beautiful, peaceful, and very sacred. So when we pulled up and saw the large group of teenagers...well, let's just say that I wasn't extremely happy to see them. We took a few pictures of us together, and then came the moment that we didn't expect.

Dave and Me - Waipi'o Valley

All of a sudden the group of teenagers lined up and started singing a Hawaiian chant/song to the Valley. It was absolutely beautiful and so cool to watch the transformation. We stayed and listened and when they were done, a guy in dreadlocks (that later served at Kristine's wedding I think) led them all in stretching and yoga moves.
On the drive back to Honoka'a, we passed by this street sign. For those of you that read the NieNie Dialogues, you will know why I stopped and took a picture.
We shopped on the main street in town (which is not called Main Street, but I can't remember the name), and stopped to eat at Simply Natural. We had spicy tuna melts and you could be the biggest tuna/fish hater in the world and still love these sandwiches. They are incredible.
Dave fell in love with Pass-o-Guava. It's a pretty good fruit drink made in Honolulu so it's legit. Meaning, it's not a Hawaiian drink made in El Paso.
After our dining experience at Simply Natural, we went over to Tex Drive In for a malasada. Malasadas are Portuguese donuts that you can either have plain or with a filling such as raspberry, strawberry cream, chocolate, or bavarian cream. They are bliss.

After Tex, we went and shopped at Hula Moon and as usual, Kathy was there to take care of me. I bought an outfit for the reception (which I later changed), and just had a fun time trying things on. Kristine met us there to hang out for a few minutes, and then we drove up to her house so I could show Dave the view. From Kristine's, we drove down to Hilo to visit my cousin, Jeanne. We only stayed for about an hour and a half because we had to drive all the way back to Waikoloa Village where we were staying, which was about an hour and a half drive. We did stop and get What's Shakin' Smoothies for dinner, though! We just got smoothies - but they were oh so good.

After arriving home, we watched tv for a while and then went to bed early - still dealing with the time change.