Driving over to Hilo on Saddle Road with some nice view of old lava and the ocean on the western side.
What's Ogii excited about?
Goats.
They all like to stand on rocks.
A lot of rain.
More goats.
A plane landing in Hilo.
Our first stop was Two Ladies Kitchen, which is very popular.
One of the employees came out to give samples to everyone in line.
We were the last people before they closed.
Some of their options.
Prepackaged bites.
I'll get one for my coworkers.
And then we'll get a few for ourselves.
Huge trees.
Nice mural.
We were staying overnight at the Hilo Reeds Hotel. No A/C and wifi only in the common areas. I'm guessing many guests have complained about those.
Bathroom.
Bedroom.
Balcony.
Nice view.
Including of the pool.
Then to Francis Wong Stadium for Relay for Life.
Some of my coworkers.
At the Kaiser booth.
Ogii testing the games.
The prizes.
Opening walk.
Cancer survivors.
Kaiser volunteers.
It only took a few people to man the booth and we had a ton of volunteers, so we were able to walk around and check out the many other organizations.
Some were selling food.
These snacks were really good.
Others had games to play.
Me shooting.
The mechanical bull was popular.
Ogii in a wanted poster.
More games.
These guys had great outfits.
Dancing lessons.
There were a few food trucks.
We had BBQ for dinner.
This guy put a lion mane and lights on his dog.
A dunk tank.
In he goes.
The Kaiser volunteers.
Afterwards we went to the Palace Theater.
For Cabaret.
It was pretty good.
Extreme Exposure has some great photos of lava.
The hotel lobby.
With a live feed of the volcano.
Lots of info on the island.
Ogii with some flowers.
Huge trees by the parking lot.
What did Ogii spot?
A gecko.
The front of the hotel.
The pool.
We went to Ken's House of Pancakes for breakfast.
They've been around for over 50 years.
Inside.
They have many pictures of people who finished their sumo specials.
And famous people.
More.
Their booths have a removable upper section so if you have a big group, you can turn two smaller booths into one larger one.
Three types of syrup.
Our food.
Fun mugs.
With aloha at the bottom.
We don't see many pigs around Kona, but we've seen a few around Hilo.
Buy some outdoor folding chairs. Although these are $45.
There are the $10 ones we're looking for.
Ogii testing them out.
This massive tree fell down.
Fly swatters with a section to scoop up the flies at the hardware store.
There's a Ben Franklin in Hilo.
With many booths filled with items from local artisans.
I like how the "l" in "aloha" is a palm tree.
A mini Glo Worm.
Ben Franklin is connected to Daiso.
Which is a Japanese store.
With prices in Yen. Thankfully they have conversion charts scattered around.
I want this little electronic screwdriver.
And a sunshade for the RAV4.
Google says it could be smaller or larger.
So I'm not sure if I should buy the jumbo...
... or super jumbo.
We both found some stuff we wanted.
Ogii out front.
People playing soccer.
Another large tree.
This banyan tree was planted in 1935 by Amelia Earhart.
Truck with a cool paint job.
And another.
There are many coves over here.
This one has many palm trees.
These look like a few small islands.
Reserving parking spots for their friends with chairs.
Many people online said Richardson Ocean Park had good snorkeling, but there were some large waves.
Ah, we're at the Leleiwi Beach park next to it.
This area also has large waves, so let's keep going east.
Bright birds.
An enclosed area.
Fishing.
Baby birds.
That looks like a Muscovy duck.
This area had other snorkelers and smaller waves.
So we went in here.
There were a fair number of fish.
I like these guys with the electric blue stripe.
Yellow ones.
A sea cucumber.
And a couple of turtles.
They were over by the rocky edge.
Eating algae off of it.
Although the waves kept pushing them around, so they had to keep swimming into it.
Taking a breath.
Ogii with them.
Us.
A few clips of the turtles.
Yota.
Grabbing pizza for lunch.
Nice artwork.
Old car.
You can see Manua Kea on Saddle Road on the drive back home.
Some of the telescopes on top of it.
Nice signs on a bridge.