15 September

Our first day in Hawai'i began at 5:30 am in Oakland. Paranoid as Tony is about missing flights and fresh from running for his last one, he insisted we arrive at the airport 2 hours early. So, we drove to ARC and walked to the MacArthur BART station to catch the 7:08 train. After catching the bus from the Coliseum station to Oakland International Airport, we arrived at 7:30 to find our plane was delayed an hour for "crew rest." After two hours of poking around the airport we took off for an uneventful flight.

We landed around 1 pm Hawai'i time (4 pm PDT) and were treated with an old-fashioned staircase for disembarking. The Kailua-Kona Airport is the first we've been to that is entirely open-air. From the gate to the exit we could feel the humid breeze from the ocean. We claimed our luggage and made our way to the taxi stand, sidestepping a cockroach 3 inches long. Our taxi driver gave us all sorts of tips and driving directions. For example, when shopping for souveniers, go to WalMart or Costco for the best prices. He dropped us off at our chosen car rental office 15 minutes south of the airport (Enterprise, ask for Mel's taxi for a $15 flat rate to get there). We had the option of renting a four wheel drive Jeep for a little more, but Tony didn't think we would need it.

We took off in our little (blessfully air-conditioned) VW Jetta for Al Giebel's condo in South Kohala. The condo is conveniently 10 minutes from the main highway, however 30 minutes north of our rental car office in downtown Kona. We found the place without too much trouble, unpacked our things, and started cleaning. The condo is something like a family time-share, though it is owned entirely by Al. It may be some time between human visitors, but the bugs come and go daily. So, we vacuumed, swept, and mopped their little carcasses away. Afterwards we sat down to plan our dinner and activities for our first full day in Hawai'i. Hawai'i, The Big Island Revealed by Doughty and Friedman, 3rd Edition is a great resource and was our Bible for the trip. Our second source of information and our reading for the first night were the two guest journals written by previous visitors to the condo. Al bought the condo in 1997 and it has seen many visitors since. Each added something they found useful for the next visitor to enjoy. Next

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