Day 67– Sep 4, 2005, Sunday: Cruising with the Bells

The family at Akaka falls

Below is Jess, Jonny and Matt next to some crazy rain forest tree.

Today we decided to rent a car and cruise the island since we hadn’t gotten out of Kona yet (except for our outreach). We went in halves with the Bells on a minivan and hit the island. We started off by driving north up to Waipio Valley on the other side of the island. It’s an awesome lookout into a deep valley with a black beach. We decided that the hill was too steep for our kids to climb down into, but the kids had a great time rolling down the grassy hill at the lookout.

After that we headed south and stopped for an awesome grilled burger at a local stand. Very tasty. Ruth and Donna scored some cheap clothes at the thrift store (girls have to wear dresses in Africa and guys need long pants, so the ladies are loading up). Jonny fell in love with a matchbox car at the antique shop that had a pricetag of 97 cents on it. I told him he could have it, and then I found out it was actually $3 because it was an antique. “It was bought at walmart in 1998!” I exclaimed. But I couldn’t disappoint my boy, so I got suckered into it. Jessy is still on the hunt for the perfect toy to spend her tooth fairy money on.

We then headed to the Akaka waterfall near Hilo. It drops 420 feet. Really cool. It was also a nice little hike. Perfect for my kids. I’ve been trying to keep the boy off my back as Jonny’s over 40 pounds now and my back has been getting really tired of carrying him. I like short hikes these days. After that we just cruised. We drove up through Waimea and up to Kohala to show the bells where we did our outreach. It was then that I realized the gas light was on and we were in a tiny Hawaiian town on a Sunday night and all the gas stations were closed. We headed south toward home, hoping to find some gas. After about 20 miles we came around a bend and there was gas and a great little Mexican surf restaurant. We had an awesome dinner. It is so nice to eat quality Mexican food. My tummy is now nice and full.

Below is the view from Waipio Valley lookout. Awesome!

Below is the kids running down this crazy steep grassy hill. They ran up and down it at least 15 times.

This is the reason they loved to run down it. Head over heals....rolling...grass stains...That's Jessies bottom you see there, with jonny ready to roll from the top.