We had a great time! We landed right on time on Tuesday, but we had to wait around for our luggage. Apparently, they weren't too fast moving it from one plane to the other in Honolulu, so our luggage arrived on the next flight.
After we got our bags, we went to pick up our rental car. We got in a Hertz shuttle, as Josh said that's where we needed to go. We got there only to find a very slow moving line. We even missed the sunset waiting for our turn. After 40 LONG minutes standing in line, it was finally our turn. The guy checked the system for our reservation, and couldn't find us for some reason. Josh promptly got the print out of our reservation from his backpack and handed it over. Three seconds before this guy saw it, I saw it, and I had to shake my head... The guy turns to Josh and says, very politely: "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting, sir, but this is Hertz, and your reservation (pointing at the big letters on top of the print out) is with Budget". Awesome. Forty minutes, missed the sunset, waiting at the wrong place. Needless to say Josh didn't enjoy the walk to Budget (You understand why I had to give you so much detail on this, right?)
But hey, we got our car! Here it is:
We then made our way to Sharon's rental condo, and proceeded to go out with her to dinner. We went to Bubba Gump, which is a very cool Forrest Gump (the movie) inspired restaurant. Good food, too. We ended up going there again the day of the race.
The next day we headed towards Hilo, where we stayed for 2 nights. This Island is basically like 4 places in one: Kona (West side) with its beaches and resorts, the North side with its green plains, Hilo (East) with its rainforest vegetation and awesome banyan trees, and the South with its mix of green and black, from the lush vegetation and seas of lava flows.
Josh got us a great book, Hawaii The Big Island Revealed. If you ever go anywhere in Hawai'i, get one of these guides, they're awesome and you'll find some places you wouldn't know are there any other way. We enjoyed the Hilo side, and we got to drive, hike and snorkel in some wonderful places. Definitely fantastic guide, for a fantastic Island!Also thanks to this book, we went to the best restaurant in Hilo, and had an amazing meal, that's definitely one of the best meals we've ever had. The place is called Hilo Bay Café, it's in a shopping center, between Walmart and Office Max and doesn't look like much from the parking area, but Oh my, the food is excellent! If you're ever in Hilo, you HAVE to go there, and at the very least have their
(This is in Volcanoes NP, with the current vent in Kilauea. Awesome!)Friday afternoon we made it back to Kona, ready to follow the race. The big day we all woke up at 3:30 am. We were still on Pacific time, so it wasn't a big deal. Josh and I watched the beginning of the swim while having breakfast at Lava Java's, next to the shore. If you ask me, that's the way to do it. You get to see all those people swimming away, while you sit in the shade. Nice!
After breakfast we walked to the transition station to wait for Sharon to go by in the bike.
(Not the best pic, but the only one we have of the bike). We had hours to spare before seeing her again, so we went snorkeling (with sea turtles! Josh has a great story about that!), had lunch, took a nap (or I tried, anyways), and then walked to the front of the condos to see her run by. She decided to walk for us, and she looked really good and happy, definitely in good spirits!
We saw her again on her way back, but she still had a long road to cover, running in the dark between lava flows. Long story short, she is now a Kona Ironman! It took her a little over 16 hours to reach the finish line, but she did awesome and got that medal! And who are we kidding, none of us would do what she did, willingly! On purpose! Here she is, feet away from the finish line:
We're very proud of you, Sharon! We think you're crazy for doing this, but love you just the same! And it was very exciting to be there cheering you on. Thanks for the chance to do it!That's all I've got! Enjoy the pics!
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