My room in Kona. The house we rented was really cool. Four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the main floor, plus a little bedroom/bathroom suite with its own entrance. That room was a little musty, so we only used it the first night when we needed all five rooms. Garrett and I chose the two rooms connected by a bathroom, which worked out nicely. I really liked the little sitting area outside of mine.
On Sunday, the first full day, I set out with my oldest friend and his wife who I finally met for the first time. We had lunch with my cousin who I hadn't previously met who showed us some interesting spots on the Hilo side of the island.
Our ultimate destination was Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Our timing was good, because we got to see the steam vents, the lava tube, an overlook trail, and still got to the volcano before it was dark. It's best to see it then and watch the view get brighter as the sky gets darker.
It's a long way back to Kona from the volcano, but thankfully we were able to find a nice buffet in Hilo about an hour before it closed.
The next morning, we were visited by one of the neighborhood feral cats.
There's a big bird feeder at the house, so there are always tons of finches around.
The main activity that day was a visit to a coffee farm, which we visited in 2010, but I could swear I took some photos anyway. But I don't see any. We had dinner that night at Lemongrass Bistro, which I'd go to quite often if I lived in the area.
Our final full day on the big island was a deja vu for me, because I showed Garrett and our friend Melissa some of the same stuff my cousin showed me on the first day, and then we went up to the volcano.
I recommend the place where we stayed highly. You have to put all your food in the fridge or a sealed container due to ants, but that's going to be the case in probably any house around there. As this was our second trip to Kona, it's not high on my list, but there are still things I'd like to do there. Specifically, a nighttime visit to the observatory, and a trip to the seahorse farm.
