June 9, 2007, approximately twelve noon: arrived on the Big Island of Hawaii, picked up rental car, headed into Kailua-Kona in search of condo and possibly food. And alcohol.

This is certainly not what I was expecting: large fields of black lava rock surrounded by stretches of dry scrub brush and punctuated by bright flashes of colour from flowering bushes lining the highway. When I picture Hawaii (or even look through the two photo albums we have – one from my parents’ trip to the Islands after their second wedding, and the second from the trip my mom and I took when I was in high school – I see lush foliage, white sandy beaches and the colour green. There is little to no green here. I am getting a little depressed as I drive in stop-and-go traffic (due to a highway widening project) in a ginormous monstrosoty of a car, but I remind myself that I’m just tired from the long flight, and all will be well as soon as I’m settled into the condo DeeDee and I are sharing.

One thing I notice straightaway about Kona is their lack of proper street signage. Twice I miss the street I need because it wasn’t marked – the street I was driving on was marked, but the cross street I needed to go down to get to Alii Street where the condo was located was not. Once I was on Alii, I manage to overshoot the resort because the shrubbery was blocking the name. Gah!

By this time I wanted nothing more than to check in, take a quick shower, then relax a bit before exploring then returning to the airport to pick up DeeDee, but it was not to be. The room wasn’t ready and wouldn’t be until 4:00 p.m., so I basically had three-and-a-half hours to kill. I continue down Alii drive until I come across a small shopping center that had a Long’s Drugs, a grocery store, a couple restaurants, a few little shops and the cinemas. I ate a quick lunch at the sports bar there (the name of which escapes me), then ran to Long’s to pick up some wine and post cards.

I continue driving around checking the place out. There are a few little parks and beaches along Alii, more vacation rentals and homes for sale than I think I’ve ever seen in one place, and a couple little touristy-type shopping centers. Finally I see a small Farmer’s Market, and pull in to see what they have. It’s very nice, but as I said, small; only about five to ten stands, mostly handmade items, but some other things that were possibly made in China. I make a mental note to return with DeeDee.

Speak of the devil: she calls while I’m looking at some lovley hand-carved items. She’s in Honolulu. I check my watch and see it’s nearly four already. Where did the day go? I leave the Market after hanging up with Dee, and head for the resort where I immediately check in, get the key, park the car and head up to the room, which is, by the way, very nice!

It’s a two bedroom, so DeeDee and I will have our own space, and each bedroom has it’s own bath. There’s a good-sized living room complete with sofa-sleeper and comfy chair in front of a large flat-screen TV (hidden in an armoir, of course). We have two decks (or I guess they’re called lanis): one off the living room and the other off the master bedroom. There is indeed a full kitchen complete with fridge, dishwasher, stove/oven, and microwave. This place even has a washer/dryer in case we need to do laundry!

I have little time to relax, however, as I need to run back out to the airport to pick up DeeDee. I’ll skip over the two snafus - me waiting at the wrong terminal and one of Dee’s bags not arriving – and get straight to the good stuff: a quick dinner of shared nachos at the Hard Rock Cafe along with the first of our foo-foo drinks, and watched a group of people play volleyball.

I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet that I’m in Hawaii. Perhaps tomorrow …