Friday part 2

As we drove into Hilo, we stopped at a little place called the Cafe 100 we had read about. None of us were incredibly hungry so we got snacks (I had a decent cup of chili...Howard had an Orange Bang...which was kinda like an Orange Julius) and headed on up the road to our bed and breakfast. It was a nice little drive up the hill. All along the sides of the roads were macadamia nut trees (full of nuts by the way), banana trees, just all sorts of plant life. We definitely weren't on the desert side anymore. We got to our bed and breakfast and wow...talk about beautiful. It had rained the night before so lots of water was flowing over the Kulaniapia Falls.

It was gorgeous! We were greeted by the owner's wife, she showed us around then we checked into our rooms. The place is completely "green." The power they use is generated from the waterfall. All of Hilo collects rainfall and purifies it for their water source. It was just incredible. It made you want to go home and try to invent cool ways to make your own home more green...oh wait, we live in Texas and not next to a giant waterfall. Anywho, we checked in then went off exploring. Down a beautiful path to the waterfall. Along the way we saw more sleeping grass...wait, I think I forgot to tell you about "sleeping grass." When we were at the coffee farm, our little guide showed the kids what he called "sleeping grass." You would touch it and its leaves would fold up. Then about ten minutes later, it would open again. We found all sorts along the way down the path! Banana trees, beautiful flowers...it was gorgeous!


We hiked down to the bottom of the waterfall, looked around then meandered down a past to see another series of smaller waterfalls.

There was a deck they had built out over the water you could sit for hours on and just listen to the sound of the water, birds etc. Ahhh...so relaxing! Huge bamboo...bigger around than I have ever seen. After looking around a bit, we all headed back up to the top. I headed back up to the room. I rinsed off to cool down then began to unpack/repack my bags while Ryan took his shower. I had to get everything ready for us to go home the next day. Our snorkeling equipment was the hardest to pack. Not so much mine, but Ryan's snorkel vest. He'd somehow filled his vest with water! How do you pack that...he worked a bit getting some of it out then left it for Krystal to cart around for a couple days to see if it would dry out anymore. After we had all rested for a while we all loaded into the cars and headed back down into Hilo for dinner. We had heard great things about a place called the Hilo Bay Cafe. It was in a strip mall away from the water. Once we got in though, the hostess informed us they were full for the night. It looked fantastic, but I don't think they liked us. We had heard tourists aren't greeted as warmly on this side of the island...and it is true! We loaded back in the cars and headed off to the Puka Puka kitchen (at the recommendation of the guide book).

It was along the ocean....well, kinda...you could see the ocean from where we ate, but definitely not on the water like we had been in Kona. Talk about a small place. We filled it with our little group. I ordered the chicken gyro. It was wonderful! What a neat little place to find! Wesley had big fun eating his dinner too...he took his peanut butter and spread it all over the table. No one minded so long as he was happy! After dinner we then went on the hunt for Tropical Dreams Ice Cream we had heard so much about. We walked up and down for about an hour unable to find it. Sweet Kayla was exhausted so we decided to load up and head back to the inn. Along the drive, there were absolutely no lights. We stopped along the road and turned off the cars and looked up. It was gorgeous!!! Beautiful stars...I can't imagine getting to live there and see that every night! We got back to the inn and both kids were sound asleep. HH & KK took them upstairs and put them to bed. Rps and I walked down to the parking lot trying to see stars. All the lights were on motion sensors so we got as still as we could. Silly lights wouldn't go off so we walked back. And what do you know, as soon as we walked past the sensor, the lights turned off. Oh well, we weren't walking back down. Larry and Rita were sitting on their balcony watching the stars too. Ryan and I finished up our packing then headed back downstairs to the lobby computer to try to print our boarding passes for the next night. Drat! You have to wait until exactly 24 hours prior to boarding to print them. We decided we could stay awake for another hour. We looked at baseball scores for the first time in a week...WHAT!!! Rangers no longer in first place!!! Then the news a bit...then just sat on the couches flipping through books. Then someone else joined us. He was a guy...can't remember his name so we will call him Gary. Gary lived on Oahu, but was worked monitoring the sulphur dioxide levels coming out of Kilauea. He had to wait up until after midnight to make sure his equipment was working. He told us stories about how he and the owner of the inn co-own a glider. They apparently take out tourists on rides sometimes even. Too bad he didn't bring his plane with him this trip. We chatted with him until we could check in, printed out our boarding passes then said goodnight and headed to bed. Both of us were so exhausted we were asleep before our heads hit our pillows.