Hawaii day 3

July 26

Today was to be our long-distance driving day, as far as that is possible in Hawaii. We set off from Aaron's Cottage at a reasonable hour. While preparing to leave I chatted with Aaron's father, Alan; a wonderfully affable fellow. He introduced me to a student who is boarding in one of the other rooms. We talked about the disappointment I'd had trying to book an excursion over the phone to the top of Mauna Kea. They told me that the neighboring B&B, Arnott's Place, also offers such tours and that I should try to book one with them by just walking right next door. Jo Jo at the booking desk is a bubbly teenager who was really excited to meet an Israeli when I approached her desk. Sure enough, they offer such tours, and for Razelle and me they were willing to add a second vehicle, and give us a discount price, no less, because Aaron's mother Penne is their bookkeeper. Razelle met Jo Jo and was convinced by her that it was worth the risk when Jo Jo mentioned that they took up oxygen tanks for whoever needed them.

Razelle wanted pancakes for breakfast. I programmed the GPS to take us to the nearest pancake house in Hilo, Ken's House of Pancakes. The parking lot was full, it is so popular, but one car started pulling out as I approached, so apparently my luck works here too. Inside, we found a really huge humming family-run diner. We were seated and handed a menu. My Gawd, the number of choices! Ken's never closes, and you can get everything there from chop-stick fare to chili; stews to sundaes, pancakes to pork pies – and they have a nice selection of vegetarian dishes. Razelle ordered their 2X4. This is two scrambled eggs and four pancakes. She thoroughly enjoyed her meal. I ordered Ken's Famous Macadamia Nut Pie, but they hadn't made any that morning so I passed on breakfast. I'd eaten a little something at Aaron's Cottage before we left, so I wasn't hungry. I did nibble some of Razelle's pancakes and they were indeed scrumptious. The other patrons in this place were of various degrees of corpulence. It was amazing to see how much food these people were able to pack away. The largest portion Ken's serves is called a sumo sized meal. Whenever anyone orders this, they ring a loud bell and shout out "SUMO." Very interesting and very educational for someone who, like Razelle and me, has lived outside this culture for so many years. We were amazed that some of these people could fit into their booths.

We had three objectives for this trip. One was to see a family-run vanilla plantation and factory; two was to visit a family-run Kona coffee plantation and processing business, and three was to drive back across the island from Kona to Hilo on the Saddle Road and maybe stop at the visitor's center at the 9000-foot level of the mountain. We drove along a scenic "tourist route" off the coastal road and discovered the Hawaiian Tropical Botanic Gardens. It was a place that appealed very much to me, but not to Razelle; and, besides, it wasn't entirely accessible for her. We drove on, but talked about me seeing it the following morning before our excursion to the top of Mauna Kea in the afternoon.

Our GPS was programmed to take us to the vanilla factory along the most picturesque sections of the north shore of the Big Island. I drove down a steep road to a small village, but the vanilla factory wasn't there. I was directed elsewhere by a local, but the vanilla factory wasn't there either. I gave up searching after a guy on a lawn-mowing tractor directed me to a third location and it wasn't there either. We drove on.

The farther west we drove along the coastal highway the more amazing the scenery became. Lots of construction though, and one of the signs referred to repair of cliff faces above the highway in preparation for the next earthquake. Oh, is that so? The road then cut inland across a plain of dried grass and prickly pear cactus. This was a shadow desert on the leeward side of Mauna Kea. It contrasted dramatically with the tropical environment we'd traversed up until now. It was very windy here when we stopped for gas. Only a short drive further on and we were in Kona coffee country and the air was thick with fog. We found the road leading up and up ever higher onto the slopes of the mountain where this coffee is grown. In the fog I made a wrong turn (my GPS had announced my arrival at my destination before I'd really reached it so I relied on my memory of this road from Google maps). I reprogrammed the GPS and reached the plantation where "Mountain Thunder" coffee is grown.

 Yes, Success! It was 3:40 PM. We sat at a picnic table and I sipped free coffee (Razelle had tea instead, made from a native Hawaiian plant they grow up there commercially). We watched a video clip from a TV show called "Dirty Jobs" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzYNNtIZu0o) that had been filmed here. At 4:00 PM the last guided tour set out. Me, myself and I were the only participants (Razelle stayed where she was and enjoyed her tea). It was very informative and because I showed an interested, more technical than the usual tour. Razelle and I were the last customers of the day in the shop on the premises. We had a warm and wonderful time talking with the proprietor. He sells his coffee all over the world, including Israel, and even has a Kaf-K heksher (certificate of Kashrut) on display in a prominent position on the wall above his products.

We drove down off the coffee plantation mountain and headed for the Saddle Road. The sun was getting lower in the sky as we climbed ever higher toward the pass between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, the pair of (usually) dormant volcanoes that formed most of this island. The fog we'd experienced earlier below again met us part way up, then cleared up entirely above a certain elevation. High above, on the top of Mauna Kea, the white domes of the astronomical observatories glowed in the pink and violet light of sunset. I can understand why this place was chosen for those observatories; the air was so sharp and clear up here. The road in the middle of the island was a pleasure to drive on, but at either ascent/descent the road was in bad shape. We reached Hilo in the dark, again after entering fog and rain in Hilo. We pulled into Ken's House of Pancakes. This evening I tried their vegetarian chili: too much mesquite for my palate and not enough tomato. Their French fries, on the other hand were delicious.

Another full day in Hawaii came to an end; a day spent sampling most of this island's different climate regions. We returned to Aaron's Cottage in the dark, satiated from Ken's cooking and from our experiences on our Hawaiian road trip. Notch up another good day of exploring Hawaii and, in the process, American culture, too.