Hawaii: Day 2

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting Day 2, so I'm posting this instead of doing my homework.  If I fail grad school, it's all your fault.

Hawaii Day 2 began with the Kitchen Charm working in full force.  This charm I speak of has a unique effect on rental car employees, an effect that makes them want to give us awesome cars for no extra cost.  *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: I have yet to see this charm fail, and strangely the only thing this charm requires is showing up* That is how we got this baby:

We took Jeep (that's what we named it) through the wilds of the Big Island.  With the top down and the sun shining and the hair blowing in the wind, it was the perfect way to begin the Hawaii experience.  We drove from Hilo (*Interesting Fact/Word on the street: hilo is Hawaiian for rain*) on Highway 19 through the north side of the island towards Kona (*Interesting Fact/Word on the street: Kona is Hawaiian for sun*).  We were happy.

And we looked cool.

And we stopped A LOT to take pictures.  *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: Do you know that the Big Island has 11 of the world's 13 climate zones?  The only 2 missing are arctic and tropic (twist!)*

We found a gorgeous, peaceful cemetery on a hill by the coast. 

There was a grave covered, not by flowers, but by baseballs.  I would like my grave covered with something I love, just like this guy.  *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: I love donuts*

This picture was taken right next to the cemetery and it is one of my favorites of the trip.  I like how the junky car is below a Hawaiian Artifact sign.  I like how in Hawaii, deep green plants grow on even rusty engines.

I like how cats take naps in such a picturesque scene.

I also like trees that look like they grow upside down!  *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: these flowers are hallucinogens*

They are also pretty.

Back to the scenic drive, just look at the gorgeousness that is Hawaii!

Once we got through the jungle road, we found ourselves in the country.

I believe, and I think I'm save to say my travel companions would concur, that the happiest moment of Day 2 was discovering the small country town with the Same Same But Different store.  Same Same But Different is a phrase we have used in our apartment for eight months and it involves Adrienne, a t-shirt, and an inside joke.  Who would have ever thought we'd find it in Hawaii?!

We also found a merman, which was cool. (Merman, cough cough, Merman)

We also found our way to Akaka Falls.  We took this picture for the Kaka Kitchen family legacy. *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: the first letters of the first four Kitchen children's names spell the word Kaka*

Here is Akaka Falls from the trailhead.

And here are some pretties along the way.

You can't tell from this picture, but these leaves were down in the gully away from the trail and they were probably twice as tall as me! (no short jokes please)

There she is, as close as you can get to her.

There she is again, in Adrienne's sunglasses.

There she is again once more.

And here I am.  *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: I was having a random grumpy moment in this picture.  Just trying to keep it real.*

After Akaka, we were headed straight for the beach!!!  But decided to take a pit stop at The Parker Ranch.  *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: Parker Ranch is one of the oldest and largest ranches in all of the United States and legend has it that it is where the concept of the American cowboy began.

*Interesting Fact/Word on the street: John Parker, founder of Parker Ranch, is Adrienne's great-great grandfather.  He married someone akin to a Hawaiian princess, so I guess that makes Adrienne Hawaiian royalty.

By this time, we were getting pretty hungry.  The only thing we could find was this place.  *Interesting Fact/Word on the street: it wasn't open.  

So we googled the best restaurant in all of Waimea and we found ourselves at Tako Taco.  *Interesting Fact/Word on the Street: Elton John ate there too.

I want everyone to whoa for a second and take a minute to remember way back at the beginning of this post.  *Interesting fact/Word on the street: whoa is Hawaiian for stop.

Remember our jeep?  Our bright, shiny Kitchen charm jeep?

Remember how perfect it felt?  Arms out the window riding the wind waves, legs stretched out in the sunshine, accidentally covering the whole jeep upholstery with shimmer power from the sunscreen?

Well, we ended up stopped at construction for quite some time.  In a sudden downpour of rain, we pulled the roof back on and tried our best to attach it back securely.  When we started driving again, the rain blew the roof off, snapping the pole in two and causing quite the bend.

We spent a good deal of the afternoon drive scrambling for souvenir hats to protect driving glasses, and huddling under wet towels.  *Interest fact/Word on the street: it rains more often than you think in Hawaii, especially when you have no roof for your car.

Jeeves was sad.  She didn't want to lose her jeep.  But we had to switch cars or die of pneumonia.

*Interesting fact/Word on the street: Kitchen charm still works, even when you break the first car.

Introducing....Jeep 2!!!! (That's what we named it)

To the beach, Jeeves!

Our second rental car guy, Fong, recommended this white sandy cove.  He said we would thank him later.  Adrienne has a thank you card in the mail.  This was by far the best beach we visited our entire trip.

Adrienne and I did a photo shoot:

While Kelly talked on the phone:

*Interesting fact/Word on the street: just because I told Kelly to get off the phone and come enjoy the beach while we were there, does not mean I love the beach more than I love the family (ahem, Morgan).  I even wrote a message in the sand to prove it.

We wrote more messages until we realized that's not the cool thing to do in Hawaii.  

 The cool thing to do is spell words with white rocks.  Messages were all over the place.

Hawaii rocks!  (haha, get it?)

So we all used rocks to spell code names of our future husbands:

I loved this beach.

Please take special note of the following picture.  It is a preview for an upcoming video.  I can't say too much about the video, but I will tell you one word to describe it: epic.

Even when the clouds came out to cover the sun, I still loved this beach.

One of the main reasons we came all the way to the other side of the island was to see the Kona temple.

Because we love to see the temple.

Cool palm tree, eh?

We went down the street to eat at The Big Island Grill (recommended by the always lovely Julie Morrison Wright whose family ate there for her wedding dinner).  I'm going to use the word best again.  This is the best stir fry I have ever had in my life.  The gravy was insane. Thanks, Julie!  

*Interesting fact/word on the street: don't get the potato and macoroni salad side dish.  There is a reason there are separate salads for each of those ingredients.  And certainly never pair that side order with a side of french fries.*  

Coconut ice cream pie with a macadamia nut crust and hot fudge?  Yes, please.  

I have one word for this dessert: ALOHA!

After dinner, we drove home and were greeted by this salamander on the kitchen ceiling.  He hung out there in the same spot the entire week.

It was a magical day and we fell asleep to the magical sound of koki frogs in our peaceful treehouse room.

*Interesting fact/word on the street: I have not shared any pictures or information about the beautiful family and home we stayed at.  I promise I'll share more for Day 3!