Home again

Hello everyone, I'm back again after two days of hard office work in Honolulu.  Even though I'm back Nicole still has to work but she put me in charge of finishing this post. 

The first night I was home Nicole served up these homemade pot-stickers. These yummy snacks were filled with shrimp and veggies and fried to fatten me up for my next trip.  I had been eating a lot of shrimp and fish on the fishing boat but Nicole's dinner was still a welcomed change.

Saturday morning I wanted to go to Hilo for the farmers market so we got up extra early, like 9, to get started.  Nicole is making me do an early morning  photo shoot with her before we went out for the day.

I knew it was going to be a bit chilly so I wore a long sleeve shirt but Nicole decided on jeans.  She spent the morning pulling up her jeans so they wouldn't get wet while walking down the flooded pathways in the farmers market.  I however enjoyed walking straight through the deepest parts.  I thought the farmers market was really cool that day.  The constant rain brought everyone under the dripping tents and the dim lighting made for a surreal atmosphere.

That's me standing in some water in the less crowded souvenir part of the market

I bought a thing of sticky rice to try, there like .50 cents.  It's like this sweet goo they steam in taro leaves and I'm not even sure if there's rice in there.  I think they taste pretty good and they remind me of something that I can't quite place. Nicole could not be convinced to try this.

Frozen at 1:04 in the morning, I think.

After the market we went to try to get pupu's but the bar food didn't start till the bar opened.  So we had to settle for a fish sandwich instead.  Across the street from the restaurant was this memorial clock that had been set up in memory of a tsunami that had swept through this area taking many lives.  The clock had apparently froze when this tsunami hit it and the people recovered it after the flood and set up as a reminder

Reading some plaques.

We had planned on going over to Kona and then to her parent's house to cook dinner, but we had been wandering around the market far longer than we thought.  So we postponed our Kona trip and headed over to get cooking.

Along the way there are plenty of cows to moo at.  Pulling over and doing so will cause you to get a lot of stares from cows and some will even wander over to see what is wrong with you.

Horses don't like it as much as cows

After dinner we returned home with a couple rented movies and hung out for the night.  Nicole scored this awesome lei she was given when she started work.  I very much enjoy wearing this large and very fuzzy lei around the house.

On Sunday we went to the Pahoa farmers market.  This market is much more lively than the Hilo market.  They usually have people making music and lots of food.  Plus a lot of arts and crafts, jewelry, some fruit and veggie stands, and a bunch of plant stands.

Small selection of their fruits.

After the farmers market we sped home and dropped off some things we bought at the market and then headed to the other side of the island.  Along the way, some where around Captain Cook, there is the best fruit stand I have ever found, and I love fruit.  So here they have just about everything

you can find on the island.  

There are many plants that make some sort of less popular fruit and these fruits show up randomly in the markets.

Good advice.

This place used to let people take tours of the garden, which I'm sure is probably amazing.  But too many people have gone through their garden and have disrespected it and now no one can go through.

They will also sell you the best 100% Hawaiian coffee. 

Photo shoot at the fruit stand.

Yummy white guava

I picket up a weird looking lime, a purple lilikoi, a bag of dried jackfruit (flavors juicy fruit gum), coffee, a white guava fruit, and some  sort of Japanese tomatoes.

The purple lilikoi is actually quite good

One of the many large spiders at the fruit place.  Some sort of golden orb spider would be my guess.

The fruit stand has a beautiful place to go and chow down on your recent purchase.  Nicole found many of the plants quite lovely.

Isn't this one awesome.

Sunset on our way home

Saddle Road

I love working at Daniel Theibaut in Waimea, but the drive is what some people would call CRAZY. It takes about an hour and a half to get there and there are 2 options: Highway 19 which goes along the coast North-West, or Saddle Road.

Saddle Road was built in 1942 by the Army to get from one side of the island to the other, and it's the only road that goes in between the 2 major volcanoes of the island: Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. They needed the road asap and built it FAST, leaving it for many decades a complete nightmare where only 4WD could get by. Over the last few years, a lot of work has been done and I have come to appreciate it for it's speed and California Highway feel. 

It is one of the prettiest drives ever. At one point during the drive, you can see Mauna Kea to your right, the MASSIVE Mauna Loa to you left, Kohala straight ahead, and Hualalai off to the distance in the West.

My camera can in no way do this road justice, but... I tried.

This is the beginning of the drive as I'm leaving Hilo, this is to show how in just a few short miles while ascending to nearly 14,000 feet the temperature dramatically drops and I usually have to turn on the heat.

Saddle Road quickly leaves blue skies behind...

and becomes covered in grey, fog, vog, and rain.

 This picture is obviously bad, but I think it shows it's at 64' F.

Lush greenery turns to old lava flows and harsher grey skies.

Just past Mauna Kea you begin to spot blue skies again.

As the mist clears, Mauna Loa, known as the Long Mountain, shows itself.

Mauna Kea to the right being left behind.

Just past these mountains is where Kohala, the extinct volcano, born 500,000 years ago lives. 

If you look closely you can see the edge of the island.

Saddle Road is notorious for Wild Turkeys, pheasants,  Ne Ne's, and Sheep. I ALWAYS see plenty of the turkey and pheasants, unfortunately Ne Ne are endangered and I have only seen a handful since I've been here.

Once you make it to the beautiful town of Waimea, the sky is clear enough to see the massive telescopes on top of Mauna Kea and maybe even snow. 

And then this is just for our enjoyment:

Kikaua Beach

On Friday we had to go to Waimea for a second job interview for me (I got it by the way), so we went West to check out Kikaua Beach. This beach was my favorite so far, super calm water protected by reef and rocks. The water is like bath water but there wasn't a lot to see snorkeling, definitely a better swimming spot.

 I LOVE this picture. The asphalt was so hot and Tim refused to wear shoes, so he would stand in a small spot of shade and wait until I was ahead of him, then would run as fast as possible to catch up and stand in another shady spot.

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My Grandpa took this picture of the sunrise out at my parents house, about 30 miles North of us.