Big Island, Big Fun, part II: Hilo to Pepe'ekeo

Since Mother Nature is currently proving that slush is a verb (as in, "it's so windy that it's slushing sideways out there"), it seems like the perfect time to get back to travelblogging my trip to Hawai'i. Picking up where I left off:

Day Two was Tuesday. Thankfully Dawn was feeling, if not 100%, at least 65 or 70%, which is still a passing grade, and being the tough little trooper she is, we headed to the airport and flew the puddle-jumper from O'ahu to the Big Island. We arrived in Hilo and discovered that because of some mix-up or other, we were getting a free upgrade from our economy rental car to an SUV. Great, we thought, more room for all our stuff. Plus now we can go on some of the roads listed in the guidebook as '4-wheel-drive only'. Yeah, more on that later.

We planned to camp two nights on the island, and we needed a stove. Dawn's guidebook- which, incidentally, was published in 1997 and was withdrawn from the Hennepin County Library for being too outdated for our standards- listed a rental place, and also an outdoor store. Maybe one of these fine establishments could rent us a stove! The rental place was nowhere to be found on the 2008 streets of Hilo, so we stopped in at the (relocated) Hilo Surplus. Here is a transcript of our illuminating exchange with the lady behind the counter:

Dawn: Excuse me, do you rent camp stoves?
Lady: No.

By the look on her face, you would think we asked her if they rent out trained monkeys to set up our tent for us. Moving on.

Down the street at the former location of Hilo Surplus, there still seemed to be a lot of surplus-looking equipment in the windows, and a guy on the sidewalk outside who seemed to belong with the place. We tried another approach with him.

Dawn: Excuse me, is there any place in town that rents stoves?
Guy: No, there's never been any place like that. There's a law against rentals on this island.

Ooookay then. No stove rental for us. But we did discover 6 papayas for a dollar at the Farmer's Market, so Hilo can't be all bad.

We set out along the scenic Onomea Drive, stopping occasionally for scenic...scenery:

Onomea Bay

...until we got to Akaka Falls.

Which direction are those Falls falling?

Oh yeah. Thanks.

We continued on up the coast a bit to Pepe'ekeo, stopping for a smoothie at the What's Shakin' Smoothie Shack, a place much touted by Sarah's guidebook (copyright 2007) as having the best smoothies around. We were not the only tourists to take this advice, and the little shack was blending along at a leisurely aloha pace, so one smoothie and an iced tea took about 45 minutes. It might have been, say, 38 minutes, but some guy named Gary took Sarah's smoothie. Man, you stand around waiting with people for most of an hour, you think you have a bond, you know? Maybe the beginnings of trust? And then they snag your smoothie as if it were theirs- which it wasn't, Gary, weren't you listening?- hop in their rental car with their wife and 1.7 children, and take off. But the smoothies were actually quite good, and the bathroom featured interesting poetry, and one of us (whose rear shall remain anonymous) discovered a new form of body art applied using wrought iron patio furniture.

Upper right corner: "This June I would have married / But an ocean stepped between / I hope no sultry so-and-so / Has landed my Marine!"


Talk about your sultry so-and-sos!

I'm out of time. Next time on Big Island, Big Fun: the conclusion of Tuesday, when we discover a disturbing Big Island tradition, and test our SUV's off-roading capabilities- on a road.