We started the day already tired as Don was up most of the night. Upon ariving in O'ahu the first day, he thought his allergies were bothering him. At least that's what we were hoping. Every day his cough got worse and he finally ended up with head congestion as well. The doc said the new med he's on for his rheumatoid arthritis would most likely take a hit on his immune system and boy was he right. Last night the cough medicine and Musinex didn't touch it, so he was exhausted by this morning. The trooper that he is, he wanted to continue with the plans we had. So after having breakfast at the condo, we jumped in the car and leisurely drove north in search of Hapunu Beach which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the island.
Right after we left Kona and went north on Hwy 19, the wind started blowing. Then the scenery turned to dry, arid lava rock everywhere. I can't believe there would be a "beautiful" beach anywhere near here. And coupled with the car being blown and tossed around, I was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea.
Thirty miles later we came to the Hapunu Beach State Park turn off and followed the winding road to the parking lot. The wind was still blowing which created some magnificent waves crashing onto the beach. The park was beautiful, with scattered Macadamia Nut trees throughout. I held my visor, Don held his sunglasses, and we ventured onto the beach. Not surprisingly there were actually surfers out on the waves. I've noticed the locals live for these waves. The park was beautiful, had everything you needed: restrooms, showers, picnic tables, and a snackbar. And although we did bring our bathing suits, we only stayed about 1/2 hour because it was such a struggle to keep the sand out of our eyes.
We then jumped back on Highway 19 and continued heading north and then followed it inland to Waimea, home of the Parker Ranch, the largest working ranch in Hawaii. I can see why - if you didn't know better, you'd think you were in Texas or Arizona. We even saw cactus! We stopped for lunch in Waimea and had what else? Mexican - lol. After doing a little shopping we decided to forego returning to Kona via Hwy 19, so we took Hwy 190 which cut through the mountain where we were able to see the Mauna Kea volcano in the distance. This saved us quite a bit of time, and the drive was much easier as the wind wasn't as bad. But the scenery looked just like the desert!
I was so happy to arrive back at Kona and civilization :) We did a little shopping at the Kona International Market Place where they had many local artists and craftsmen displaying their wares; then back to the condo to rest.
Time for dinner! On the way, we stopped at CVS Pharmacy where we spoke to the pharmacist who suggested a combination of over-the-counter meds for Don's cold. She was so helpful. Everyone here is so nice - and so happy all the time. We stopped for dinner at Bubba Gumps right on the ocean. Nothing could beat eating shrimp on the ocean and watching another beautiful Hawaiian sunset!
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