March 14 - Kona

I called Mom over our pulled-pork omelet and macadamia-nut scone at Lava Java. Mom and Dad were touring a bird sanctuary on Sanibel Island. Here, little brown birds hunt our table, landing on chair backs and buzzing my nose.

No coffee refills here, apparently. Free wifi, though. I checked email and then Chunlin worked. Hotel wifi didn’t work last night or that morning.

And the waves kept coming. Three extra-large waves, then it went calm for a moment.

Kailua Pier, the only place for boats to dock. Next to the pier, a tiny beach where the Ironman starts and ends. Swimmers took to the ocean while we watch. They swam out along a string of buoys and back.

North of the pier, a larger, more sheltered beach for small boats.

We crossed the street to the King Kamehameha Hotel to see the giant marlin -- it’s not the same one I remember seeing as a kid.

Back south, 9 o’clock. Hulihe‘e Palace. The gate was open, so we entered the yard. We didn’t go in the house, though. No photos were allowed inside the house of old furniture, plus there was an entrance fee. We walked around the yard, instead.

South through a shopping mall village, we were stopped for a coffee free tasting. Chunlin doesn’t like Kona coffee, apparently. We bought dark-chocolate-covered coffee beans. Chunlin likes Kona coffee that way. Who doesn't?

Back at the hotel, we fought the wifi modem. 10 a.m. Felt like 3 p.m. Busy morning.

Ours was a corner room with a huge L-shaped balcony. I booked our next two nights in Hilo at a bed and breakfast. The few hotels there were full Saturday.

We hit the road south toward Captain Cook and Kealakekua Bay. Don Ho sang a song about this place.

Big crashing waves. One risk-taker sat braced against a big rock, letting the waves engulf him to the chin. A goose wandered around the park.

Bougainvillea, bougainvillea, bougainvillea!

We headed back to Kailua, back to the hotel, and then out to dinner on the town again.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel and watched _Person of Interest_, because it was a Thursday, after all, and that's what we do.