June 18

We are scheduled to do a horseback ride in Waipio Valley today. At least we thought we were. Our ride was scheduled for 11:00. We had a leisurely morning and I headed out for a three miles run. So humid but so beautiful. Ran out to the end of the road where you could see the 2000 foot cliff that has been our view every morning. Such a privilege to run here. We had our requisite coffee and headed down the road to our meeting place. Found out that we had signed up for the shuttle tour and not the horseback ride. Oh well. We adjusted quickly as David and I are good at doing. The shuttle ride was incredible. The guy giving the tour had grown up in Waipio and still lives there. These are sacred lands and was the home of King Kamehamema. There was once 10,000 people living in the valley with a whole town. It was wiped out by a tsunami. Today, about 100 people live there farming taro and they are committed to preserving the valley. The beauty there is beyond belief. Waterfalls, wild horses and green jungle everywhere you look. We enjoyed ourselves so much. After we finished there, we had lunch at Gramma's Kitchen. Probably our least favorite food but it was ok. Grabbed our swimming stuff and headed back to Hapuna Beach State Park for the afternoon. Today is warm and sunny and we spent a couple hours in the beautiful water. Cleaned up and drove out to Hawi and Kohala out on the tip of the island. It was desert the first 20 miles or so and then became very beautiful. Lots of farms out here and cows and horses everywhere. We were looking for a place to eat dinner at this point. Not much in Hawi or Kohala. More small old towns without many services. We headed back to Waimea over the Kohala Mountain Road (I think) and David started doing his race car driving on the winding road. I was quite glad when it ended! Every tourist on the island of Hawaii must have been in Waimea. The restaurants were fully booked everywhere. We finally landed at a restaurant called Dom De Louise. No table seating but they let us sit at the bar. AND we had the best Italian food ever. So delicious. I had a pizza with goat cheese, figs and carmelized onion. Unlike anything I've ever eaten and so good. Finally full and satisfied, we drove back to our place and started getting ready for the return home the next day. Hard to believe this vacation has come to an end. We both feel like it is the best vacation to Hawaii we've ever had. So much soul food and sheer enjoyment. Hope to be back!