July 19

Of the pictures listed below, there are stories that go along with. The first two pics from the 18th have to do with our hike on the previous day. We hiked down and up that steep grade hill. 25% grade for 1 mile. I can’t imagine driving down it, but it was well worth the hike. The first and second pictures from the second post of pics, the one with joel and I and the overlook are also related. In that second picture, can you spot the sandy beach? We hiked to that from this overlook and back again. It took us around an hour to get down. While down below, we swam in the cool freshwater creek, played catch with the tennis ball and paddles in the water, tried to catch waves by body surfing, and saw wild horses! They are said to roam the valley freely. There are sections barricaded off down there as well as it is a burial site for kings. Our muscles all hurt so much that they twitched and trembled and we walked backwards and sideways, and created our own switchbacks on the road. We even took a picture at the top of the 5 of us, seen in the second posting, 3rd picture.
Back to the top is a picture of most of what we did yesterday. This is Laurel in her snorkeling gear. We spent 3-4 hrs at the beach yesterday snorkeling with the fishies, Joel went kayaking for a bit and then Aaron and Joel went out to catch waves while body-boarding. I think we all got a little sun. Update! Yes… I am peeling. Grrr. It isn’t stopping me from going out in the sun though. I just put on sunscreen. Yesterday morning, we went out to the market and the accompanying Hilo downtown stores and got some souvenirs. Laurel is the feature of the next picture. After beach time, we also went shopping and went to Hilo Hatties, a shop, and Laurel got to pick a pearl. She picked an oyster with 2! Joel in the 5th pic is showing what they planned on doing last night. Having a little island fun, making pina coladas and some island brewed beer with flavors of liliquoi. Down again to the second posting of pictures, is me sitting at the counter. I’m cutting up mangoes. On our way back from Waipio Valley, that gorgeous place above me in the picture, we found about 20 lbs of mangoes. That has been a fun thing about being here for sure. I’m turning them into lovely mango slices to go on cereal, ice cream, or just for munching. The 10th unexplained picture is a ½ way through the sunrise here yesterday.
It’s been a whirlwind having the family visit. I fell asleep at 9:30 last night as I was wiped. I think they might have lasted varying times from 10-midnight. We watched movies and played spades. Depending on when we all make it out of bed, we may head to Kona or it might be something else. We’re all sore yet again.
People are starting to wake up here. It’s now 7am and we’ll decide what to do. Catch you later :)