The Three Coconuts

Saturday morning, 4:45 a.m.........still tired from our day at the volcano, I got up and started our pot of 100% Kona coffee like I have done for the last 8 days. It's still dark but short term history tells me by 5:35 I can safely be on the bike and riding. I decided last night that I would pack as much as I could into a short amount of time today.........thus the title to this post. "The Diesel" has pretty well taken the week off of running due to a sore back and hamstrings and has only ridden once. She and "the Genius" however have swam almost everyday.



So at 5:35, after a PBJ on wheat toast, juice, coffee, and a bottle of H2O, I was out the door. I decided to ride through town and out the Queen K one last time and watch the sunrise over the mountain. I thought about our week and how special it has been to experience this as a family. There is something powerful about this place that, I believe, will keep calling us back for many years to come. I rode out and back for a total of 1 1/2 hours, threw on the shoes and ran to the pier and back, another 30 mins. I was back to the condo and finished by 8:00. The girls were up and ready for one last swim in the bay. We all ate a little something, went and returned the bike at the bike shop, and headed down to the pier.


Everyday we have seen some of the same locals and some new ones showing up for their morning routine. Everyone is pleasant and says "Good Morning". It's goggles and a swim cap for some, snorkel, mask and fins for others. This place is an aquarium. For someone who has followed the black line in the bottom of a pool for many years this is truly paradise, coral reefs, sandy bottoms, countless types of fish and other creatures, and for the lucky ones the occasional sea turtle or dolphin. You never get bored swimming here in Kialua Bay. I wore baggies everyday so I could put our new waterproof camera in my pocket and always have it ready for those Kodak moments. We did our usual swim out to the 1.2 mile bouy and back. It was a perfect morning.


At 10:15 we were back at the condo. We cleaned up, packed up, and loaded the Jeep. At 11:05 we said goodbye to our home for the last 8 days. We dropped off our snorkel gear at Snorkel Bobs and went into town for lunch. We found a little family owned Sushi place hidden behind some tourist shops and decided to try it. It was good and surprisingly inexpensive. Then it was off to do some shopping. Julie and I are endurance athletes but nothing we do ever prepares us for shopping. We hit most of the shops and the farmers market.



We got all the necessary gifts to take home and a few personal things. We stopped at one particular surf shop on Kaukini, next to McDonalds. Julie and Tyler caught them having a big sale and racked up. A quick stop at Borders and then it was time for an early supper before heading out to the airport. We went back into town to an Italian place, loaded up on pasta and salad. Plane food is bad. Now it's bad and they charge you for it.


As we pulled up into the rental car return, something happened. It was like a train coming at you that you could not stop. A kind of darkness that just sweeps you up a carries you off and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. And for those Harry Potter fans, the Dementors has arrived.


For the last 8 days we have been on Island Time, relaxed, going at a pace that suits the beautiful people of the Big Island. We have been 6 hours shy of EST and out of touch with the rest of the world. We opened the doors to the Jeep and immediately shifted gears. Not by choice but by necessity to keep from getting eaten up and swallowed by the rest of the world. Like cattle, we were herded, directed, moved from one corral to another, poked, and proded. After a thorough physical by the TSA and baggage gone through (they found a potentially threatening jar of honey that we picked up at the last minute and forgot to shove in a checked bag) we then were subject to the Agricutural Inpection Police. How fitting for a bunch of cattle. Of course I have to eat about every 2-3 hours and so the earlier visit to the farmers market was a perfect opportunity for carry on food, five organic apple bananas and 2 mountain apples. I don't have to tell you what happened but I was SO PI$$ED OFF I proceeded to eat 3 bananas and 1 mountain apple on the spot. Julie ate 2 bananas and Tyler ate the last mountain apple. We could not help but to laugh once we finally past inspection. What really got under my skin was you could purchase at the airport 3 Maui pineapples for $33 in a carry on box but you can't carry on a banana.........whatever. These are the same pineapples that you can by at the farmers market for $3 apiece but not be allowed to carry on. Sorry..... it's time to get off my soapbox.

United Flight 54 left Kialua/Kona at 9:10 p.m with "the Diesel", "the Genius", and me onboard. Plane changes in San Francisco and Chicago allowed us time to get up and move around. We even picked up some awesome sourdough bread at the SF airport and a turkey bagel sandwich at the Great American Bagel in Chicago. The Three Coconuts know food. Other than that things went pretty normal. Props to United. All flights left on time or early and same with arrivals. Better yet, luggage made all connections. We slept on and off the entire way and finally reach J-ville at 4:30 Sunday afternoon. I could easily fill up a book trying to tell of all the fun we had and memories we made, but I will not bother. No words can ever discribe the emotions and feelings of the last 8 days. Mahalo to Mom and Dad always taking care of the farm and to the Big Island for allowing us to experience her beauty and power.


Aloha!


The Three Coconuts............HEEYYY!!!!!!!!!!........stay tuned more to come!



P.S. "The Genius", a fine criminal mind in training, got the last laugh. See photo below..... the coconut made it to Florida :)