HAWAII



DAY 2 – Saturday


After a good night’s sleep, we were ready to face a new and wonderful day in our new home, Kona, Hawaii. We managed to squeeze a fruit and juice breakfast out of the resort for just over an hour of listening to all they had to offer. At first we were hesitant, but after they described some of the tours, activities and services they had available to the guests it sounded pretty good.

Once we were finished with our “breakfast” we started to plan out what our schedules would be; snorkeling, hiking, and touring around the island were definitely at the top of the list. First thing we would have to do was to rent a car. I got on the phone and called around to the different rental agencies for a rate comparison. National car rentals had it; we could pick up the car at the airport. Hmmm. We had just spent $40 to get a shuttle from the airport to the resort, and now it looked like we would have to do the same to get back to the airport. I knew we should have made arrangements for the car before the trip. Not to fear, Virginia said she would go over to the concierge and see if they had any transport to the airport. She talked to the office asking if they had any shuttle to get us back to the airport to pick up a car, but they said the resort had no facilities for transportation. One of the ladies at the desk graciously offered to take us up to the airport after she finished her work shift at 5:00 pm. “That would be great”, said Virginia, “Do you have room for the four of us”? “I have a truck, and if you wouldn’t mind sitting in the back, that would be fine” said the clerk. Traveling in the back of a pickup is a standard mode of transportation here in the islands, but Virginia was a bit skeptical so she declined the offer. “Maybe you could talk to Louisa. She gets off work at the same time and perhaps she could take you”. So Louisa it was. Virginia talked with Louisa and she gladly offered to take us all to the airport when finished with her work shift.

Five o-clock came and we all went over to the office for our ride to the airport. Louisa brought the car around, a nice big SUV with room for eight people. We all crawled in and started off for the airport. Louisa was no stranger to the roads, or the attractions; she was just like a tour guide. We were truly blessed.

Once we were on our way, Don, who was seated in the back seat leaned forward and asked, “Is that a GPS system on your dash”? “No” replied Louisa, “it is my meter. This is my cab”. After an awkward silence Don sheepishly replied “Is it running”? Well, no it was not running, Louisa was doing this “just for us”. We were to find later that “this is just the Hawaiian way”.

We learned much these first couple days; about the area, the activities, and the many things to do and places to go, but most of all we learned about what a loving people the Hawaiian people are.

Aloha