Ohanas at the beach

Sunday afternoon, we pulled Allison away from her school work and  went to Samuel Spencer Beach.  It's only a 15 minute drive away.  Its a beach that we didn't visit on previous trips to the island.  Its a smaller beach, further away from the typical tourist areas and doesn't get as crowded as other beaches to the south, like Hapuna, even on a Sunday.  It  has some gorgeous huge trees with over hanging branches right over parts of the beach which give you a break from the sun when you want it.  I noticed that the majority of people on the beach were local families (ohanas)   playing with their kids.  Barbequing at the beach on weekends is obviously a big thing for the locals from what I observed today.  Nice atmosphere.

Samuel Spencer Beach

It was nice to go swimming too and once again, as Ally put it, "taste the pretzel flavored water".  I wasn't expecting to see sea turtles at this beach but we had one pop his head out of the water 6 ft away from us.  Next time we come to the beach, we won't leave our snorkel gear at the house.  In fact, I think we'll just store the gear in the car's trunk from now on.

On Monday morning Ann and I parked the car at the Parker Ranch Shopping Center and walked to an area on the southern part of town where we were told it would be a good place for a jog because it wasn't so hilly.  It looked like a good spot, complete with sidewalks so we could stay off the road and so,  away we went.  The plan was that Ann was going to run a mile one way and then go back to the car completing her 2 miles and wait for me as I was doing  5 km.  I realized that the run back was going to be uphill all the way but I didn't think it would be that bad.  I was so wrong because I was sucking wind so bad on the way back that I had to stop and walk a few times.  Using google maps, I figured out that I had actually dropped 200 ft in the first 2 1/2 km and had to climb that 200 ft on the way back.  That 200 ft combined with that fact that we're at 2700 ft above sea level which, I think, is 200 ft higher than Mallaig and a strong wind coming off the mountain, meant for a slow time of 24:00.  Those were my excuses, and I'm sticking to them.

Later on Monday morning, Ann and I drove to the Costco in Kona to buy Allison a printer/scanner for her homework.  We also checked out the K-Mart and Target which were nearby.  We also spotted a Macy's and since Ann had never been to a Macy's, we went there too.  To me, Macy's is just the American version of The Bay.   Once we were done shopping, we drove to the Kona Pier right in the heart of Kona because I wanted to get oriented with the location of the starting point of the race the I might run in a couple weeks.  I located a couple feasible free places to park on that morning and then we did the hour long drive back to Waimea.

 Tuesday morning I made the girls and myself bacon and eggs for breakfast.  And then, while they were busy with school work, I drove for 12 minutes out to the Waimea Country Club.  I got there shortly after 8 am and was surprised to see that there was barely anyone there.  I was told that on weekdays, I don't even need a reserved tee time at this time of the year.  I got a big bag of driving range balls for $5 and had the whole range to myself.  I talked to the management later and negotiated 10 rounds of 18 holes with a cart for $450.  I told them that I'd be back later this week to do a round, and if I like it I'll get the 10 round package.  You might not be able to see the ocean from here but it sure looks nice looking down #1 fairway.

Hole 1 tee box at Waimea Country Club

I was told by a local that the mats are only used when its raining since they are under a covered roof.  Otherwise, it's ok to hit from the grass.....woohoo!

I took this photo from the front deck of the house.  What is it?

After lunch, Ann and I went for a hike up the hill from the house, into the Parker Ranch pasture land.  There was a sign that said no trespassing but I noticed that the cows which were there a few days ago were moved to a different pasture and so we ignored the sign and went for a beautiful walk up into the lush green hills above the town of Waimea.  When we were up there, Ann started singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music".  That made me laugh but it also fit the moment.  We sat on the grass half way up this hill and looked down on the town to our left with the ocean in plain view ahead of us.  Surreal.

The hills are alive, with the sound of MUSIC!

Taking a break.  It's a steep climb.

Nice view of the ocean in the distance

Looking back towards a part of town and a cloud covered Mauna Kea in the distance.  Usually we can see the big telescope observatories at the summit when the clouds aren't there.