Big Island, Hawaii day 3

Merry Christmas . . . or I guess I should say Mele Kalamake from Hawaii

We sure are loving being in Hawaii and it sure does not feel like Christmas.  Even though Santa did not find us in the hotel last night, I did bring a few small gifts for Colin to unwrap.

. . . and then it was time to hit the road!  Today we headed north to Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site.  I was amazed it was open on Christmas Day but the Ranger told me they are opened 365 days a year.  Now that is a first for me!  There was an easy mile loop trail that we took . . . no one in site while we were out!

We loved finding the coconut on the beach . . .

Again another beautiful day . . .

. . . we hopped back in the car and the plan was to drive 270 to the end of the road.  I was amazed at how quickly the scenery and weather changed.  It was cooler and raining; where did the sun go?  We did see a rainbow though . . .

We made it to the end of the road and parked in one of six spots.  We started a hike down and about 20 feet in I slipped and almost fell.  It was raining and muddy and very slick so we turned around and went back to the car.  We stopped to enjoy the view . . .

. . . we headed back the same way since it was the only way.  We took a break to visit Kamehameha I . . .

 . . . the sign above was all over the island giving great information about historical or tourist places.  We walked across the street for a snack and of course Colin had more vanilla ice cream.  It was nice to just drive and enjoy the scenery.  We stopped at Hapuna Beach but oh my the entire island was there.  There were hundreds of cars so we just headed down the road to Puako Beach.  It was not crowded and found a spot easily.  No the beach wasn't as nice at Hapuna but it seemed to satisfy Colin and was beautiful . . .

 

We met a really nice family that were searching for shells.   The mom stopped and chatted and shared her shells.  Everyone has been so friendly and nice.  We headed back to the hotel to relax and hang out.  I was sitting on the balcony watching the mongoose run around and 'play' . . .

I have never seen a mongoose in the wild!  Colin really wanted to rent a kayak and take me on a 'tour' so off we went.  Meet my tour guide . . .

. . . he had a blast showing me around the lagoon . . .

The hotel had a nice Christmas buffet but it was $80 per person . . . no thank you so we went down the street and had dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill . . . it was yummy!  What a wonderful way to spend Christmas Day!