I made us breakfast of smoothies (Bananas, Pineapple, Star fruit, Papaya, Milk) and we ate some Malasadas, too. They are not quite as lovely as when they are fresh from the fryer at Tex's Drive-in at Honoka'a, but I still like them. ha. (It's a donut! what's not to like???). Mike had gone out in the morning before breakfast to pick more oranges off the trees to juice. We've been drinking lots and LOTS of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Mike's been really good to pick the fruit and juice them for us. Kay does have lots of citrus fruit trees in her yard and in the rental house yard next door that she owns.
We determined that we had room for Berenice to purchase one case of chocolate -covered macadamia nut candies to bring home, and some cans of nuts, so Gayela and I went to town. But not until after lunch. I made tuna sandwiches for lunch. That was the end of our $5.35 loaf of bread. (Food's pretty pricey here). We had chips and sandwiches and rootbeer for lunch because the orange juice wasn't quite chilled yet, I cleaned up the dishes and then Gayela and I headed into town. It's about a 15 minute drive to the closest place to shope, I think. I've never really timed it. But one DOES have to travel that very windy and steep Nap'o po'o road for some of those miles.
But first I had to make a dump run. This morning before Kay left to go man (woman?) her selling booth at the Farmer's Market, she'd asked me to please take all our garbage, and the garbage and recycle that she'd set out by the gate, out tot he dumping station. It's a quarter mile down the road. So I did. I had to hunt high and low to find some trash can liners so I could portect the seat of the car. The trunk in our car couldn't accommodate such a round-ish parcel, so it had to go on the front seat. Flies and all!! Yikes. I tried to let them all out of the loosely-tied rather stinky bag, but for the recycle bag, I just trapped them all in and took them along for the ride. I was glad there was another car there at the dump, because it wasn't initally very clear where to put what stuff, so I asked them. I did realized as I dumped one bag of trash trash that there was a person (dump employee) in a little hut who was there to direct people. I heard him yelling to a truck driver where to put their yard trash (green stuff). There are many of these "Solid Waste Transfer Stations" all over the island. You dump your stuff into a large Matson Shipping Container-sized metal container, then it's compacted down. Those are the containers that our friend, Doug Barton, hauls around. He showed us a video clip of one of his hauling trucks attempting to lift one of those onto the truck for hauling. It was SO HEAVY that it lifted the front of the truck (cab, driver, and all) clear up into the air). Trash day on the Islands. I was back before 10 minutes had passed.
I didn't know how many Longs Drugs stores we'd have to hit to find what we needed, but luckily the one at the Keauhou Shopping center had a case, and had some nuts, too, so we were on on way again quite soon. I stopped (Gayela waited in the car) in at the KTA grocery store to see what I could find to take to the Nakamotos on Sunday Night. (I got desserts--no real food. We are so "mainland"). I also made a spontaneous purchase of a small container of sushi. It just looked so good. I do love California Rolls, and they were about the same price as my Smith's store in Cedar City! So I brought some to go with our Saimin noodles I planned to serve for dinner. I picked up a newspaper for Mike. I think he's kind of been going through withdrawals from papers, news and Sudoku puzzles. But that's OK. He still has his Dr. Pepper. ha.
Our afternoon was VERY laid back and relaxing. Such nice weather, a cool breeze if you sat in the right spot. Berenice was perched out in the breezeway, just in case the Carls came by, saw the car missing when Gayela and I were gone, so she could catch them in case they came back. I did call them later in the day. Joanne answered, and basically said they were very busy and to have a nice vacation! I don't think Berenice is going to get to see them this trip. She's still talking about going to see them on Saturday. The Carls have not been to Church in years and years. But they do correspond with her and they had said (in an early December note to Berenice) that they looked forward to seeing her. . . I'm sad to see Berenice so disappointed. Perhaps they will stop by. One never knows.
I decided in the late afternoon that I was rather tired of just sitting around, so I took a walk around the neighborhood, to at least dip my toes into the water. I walked around the rocks, waded a little. I finally was able to see that there are, indeed, yellow tangs in the water there. I saw crabs and snails, so that was comforting. Oh, and I took a photo of some sea urchins, too. I was beginning to think the beach was totally devoid of sealife from my previous walk. I sat down there and watched Kayakers coming in after a day (or an afternoon) of paddling and snorkeling in the bay (me, tomorrow!). I asked one lady, as I was walking back to the boat ramp area, if she kayaked or paddled regularly at home? She said, "No." I just wondered how dead my arms were going to be after paddling across the bay and back. She said it wasn't really hard, and, Yes, she could FEEL her arms and may be sore tomorrow, but it wasn't too bad. So, we shall see how this old lady fares tomorrow! ha ha. Someone ELSE may have to haul suitcases around in the airport when we leave. But that's not for a few days, so hopefully I'll be recovered by then. I walked the rest of the way around to the shore at the end of the road, watched some snorklers get into the surf from that rocky shore. It's tricky, very dangerous and there are warning signs all around. Those two guys obviously knew what they were doing. I'll bet it's gorgeous out there. There were several people out on the bay, on stand-up-paddle boards, some on kayaks, and just some swimmers. But compared to Kailua Kona beaches in town with all the people, it is not busy or crowded. There were few people there. It is so isolated. When I went to the dump earlier in the day, there were many MANY cars parked on the street out in front of Kay's and further down the road, so I'm guessing there were more people in the water earlier in the day. My walk was from about 4 to 5:30. I also attempted to photograph the local flora and fauna.
When I returned from my walk, it was time to fix dinner. I summoned up memories of an old film called "Ramen Girl" and did my best to fix some yummy and beautiful bowls of ramen or Saimin noodles. And we had left-over tuna sandwiches and sushi and start fruit, too. Saimin, Sandwich, Star Fruit, Sushi...an "S" themed dinner for the evening. The ramen did turn out pretty. I had two tiny corn cobbettes left overs from what Kay brought down with her Chili and Rice dinner the previous night, I had some (as in 3 slices only) bacon that I cooked and crumbled, some thin-sliced ham luncheon meat that I cut in skinny strips, broccoli florettes and cauliflower and carrots from a California Mix frozen veggie pack. So, with all those things arranged on the noodles, it was attractive and edible and really quite tasty (because of the bacon, you know).
Then we played cards till bedtime. Gayela taught us how to play Kings in the Corner, and since Mike and I knew very few card games, that's what we've been doing. Michael Wilson stopped by and visited for a bit, too. That is the most I've ever heard come out of that man's mouth. He is very quiet. Soft-spoken, too. I'm sure Berenice didn't hear anything that he said. He was just talking about one of the dogs getting out and chasing a cat, having a missing cat, etc. Nice fellow. Kay is so pleased that he IS such a nice fellow and is quick to say that he treats her well. Kay didn't come in from her work and errands until after 9 pm. She was done with Market by 5 - ish , but then went shopping at WalMart, etc. Then she had to load/unload her van for Market tomorrow. Such a busy lady. WE are such a contrast as we just laze around on vacation mode.
I made reservations for dinner out on Saturday evening. This is our gift from Damian and Tandy for Christmas. We're going to "Bubba Gumps", and its right on the ocean. Should be nice!
Again, I'll have to add photos when I return to the mainland and have wifi and can find/download photos. I took some of the shore while I was walking. Rocks and water, but it will give you an idea about the "Beaches" here. Not your typical beach, by any means. ;-)
Look closely and you might be able to see some yellow fish.
Rocky shores.
Sea urchins in the water.
The water is so lovely here.
Front of the apartment/shed.
Mike and his mom relaxing on the back porch area.
Just relaxing for a few minutes in the backyard.
There are lots of tiny snails on this rock. I sat here for quite a while watching kayakers, crabs, waves.
I later walked around the bay area again and saw these cute little birds.
Looking straight up into a cluster of hanging trumpet flowers.
Trumpet flowers.
I just love this swing in the yard. Usualky their gate is closed so you cannot see, but on this day it was open and pretty inviting, don't you think?
I dont know what these white flowers were that hung from a vine, but they were pretty.
A vkew from the lava where I went to dump our 5 gallon bucket of compost. Mike kept picking and squeezing tbe fresh oranges daily, so we always had lots of wonderful fresh juice.
No comments:
Post a Comment