After The Great Volcano Disappointment of 2009 we spent the next day and a half in Kailua-Kona. The weather wasn't awful, but it wasn't great. That is, it didn't rain on us (for once) but it was pretty hazy out. We didn't get full-fledged sun until Sunday, late morning. Of course we left on Sunday, late afternoon. We got back to Oahu, picked up some pizza on the way home, got to the house and collapsed into bed.
Zac had to go to work Monday morning and I had errands to run, so Monday was more of a practical day. The two most important errands included dropping off some more paperwork for a job I applied for and also picking up Toivo from the kennel.
Yes, for the first time in the seven years I've had my one-eyed Finnish Spitz I had to kennel him. We couldn't bring him with us to the Big Island and I didn't want to impose on the (few) friends I have out here. Once again, Big Military comes to the rescue. MWR runs a kennel about 10 minutes from where I live. Morale, Welfare and Recreation. Aptly named - they're the military group responsible for all the "fun" things that you might want to do and some of the support things that make your life easier, like a kennel for your pet. I was really nervous about taking Toivo to a kennel but when I went to drop off the monetary deposit a few weeks ago I was really happy with what I saw. The kennels were nice and big, made out of chain-link fence. One dog per kennel, unless you brought two that you wanted kenneled together. They were open on all sides (except the roof) for lots of fresh air. There was a sheltered area in the back of each one that provided relief from rain if needed. It all looked well-kept and the other dogs (and there were many - I'd guess 50-60) looked happy.
Toivo ended up spending parts of five days there during our trip. You can only drop off and pick up your dog from 10-2 each day. Since we flew out at 8am and came back at 5pm, I had to take Toivo in the day before we left and couldn't get him until the day after we arrived. He seemed no worse for the wear. When I got him that Monday morning he was happy to see me, as much as I was happy to see him. One of the employees told me that they had let Toivo out with some of the other dogs to play (as they do with all the dogs there, unless instructed by the owners). Toivo had a couple of play dates with the old-timers dog group and the little dogs group. He did very well with both, I was told. [When I dropped off Toivo they asked about his temperament and I told him that because of his eye that he wasn't too keen on really energetic young dogs that wanted to tackle him.] I was really, really impressed by the MWR kennel and I would take Toivo there again in a minute if I needed to. Kudos to those folks.
So by Monday's lunchtime, I had run my errands. Megan and Paul decided that we should head out to the beach. The weather was glorious, so even though I really just wanted to sleep on the couch we all headed out. We decided to try a beach that none of us have ever been to, Barbers Point. Bad idea. We found it (after some poorly marked street signs made that tricky) in the middle of an industrial park. It was bizarre. You drive past the automobile junk yard and then it opens up into a beautiful view of the ocean. So as you stood there, listening to the waves, in the background you had the noise of the car compactor smashing cars. That wasn't very calming. Also, there was really no sand to sit on, and swimming was impossible, because the beach was really rocky. We decided to head somewhere else, but my lack of knowledge of the location of beaches meant that we were limited as to where we could go on the side of the island we were on.
I drove us to Nimitz beach where there was plenty of sand, but the water was still a little rocky for wading/swimming. Especially since Paul had sliced open his foot back on the Big Island. (We had just gotten out of the kayaks on our first time out and he stepped on a shard of a bottle that some jacka$$ had left, broken.) His foot hurt like a son of a gun and he didn't want to open it up again stepping on a rock or coral. So we all just laid on the beach, reading, dozing, watching the waves, for a little more than an hour. We headed back into town and had supper.
The next day was Megan and Paul's last. Their flight home didn't depart until midnight, however, so we had a full day left to enjoy things. Zac went to work again and Megan, Paul and I decided that we would head out to enjoy some snorkeling at a popular snorkeling spot. After breakfast we drove out to Hanauma Bay. We were excited - the weather was beautiful and we had lots of fun snorkeling on the Big Island. We came around the corner to the entrance and saw:
"Hanauma Bay - Closed on Tuesdays"
Are you kidding? Damn it all. This is one of those times had I just looked online, I would have found this out. But I didn't even think to check online before we left. Why would I? I don't really ever think of beaches being 'closed'. It's Nature. Nature doesn't 'close'. Our hearts sank. We decided to keep on heading up the coast towards Kailua. There is a nice beach there so we thought we'd give it a shot. The drive was gorgeous, but as we got closer to Kailua it got a little overcast. By the time we got to the beach, it was gray skies. Megan looked out across the water and said, "That is rain heading towards us." She decided not to get in the water, but Paul and I jumped in, determined to salvage some sort of beach time. We were in the water for about 30 minutes when the rain came.
The three of piled into the car and decided to grab some ice cream at Baskin Robbins as a consolation prize. We walked up to the door. Baskin Robbins was no longer there. They had moved somewhere else in Kailua. They just hadn't taken the sign down. Of course. Because that's they way this trip went.
We drove home on H3 (always a pretty drive) and once we got home Megan and Paul finished packing. After Zac got home we all got dressed up (some) and headed downtown for supper. Paul wanted to go to Duke's, so at least that was one thing that we could do right. We had a great final meal outside on Waikiki. We lamented the things that had gone wrong over the last eight days and toasted survival and family. Finally it was time to take them to the airport.
It was hard to say goodbye. Even though the trip wasn't stellar it was great to have them here. I miss them. I used to see them every two or three days. I hadn't seen them since August. And who knows when I'll see them again. I cried. It's hard to stay than it is to go. That's the way it seems anyway. So we sent them off with a loving Aloha.
And who knows? Maybe five or ten years down the road these stories about our 'bumpy' visit will be funny. Maybe.
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