10 February 2006

Hilo morning

The weather this morning reminds me of my first day in Hilo...
We arrived in Kona the previous afternoon and awoke at 3am, ready to face the day. It was Ironman, so all the roads on that side of the island closed at 5am. It sprinkled off and on all the way over to Hilo. We speculated through the dark what the area would look like in the light. We saw the stop signs in Waimea that read, "WHOA". It struck me as funny. Most people would probably imagine Texans having signs like that, since we all wear cowboy hats and ride our horses to work. Preconceived generalizations are a powerful thing.
Anyway, we pulled into Hilo and headed for Ken's for breakfast. The banana mac nut pancakes were delicious, and we tried all the different syrups on them. The portugese sausage was absolutely fantastic, as well. And, of course, POG to wash it all down. It was sprinkling and overcast when we went in. It was pouring when we left. My sweetheart pulled the car up to the door so I wouldn't have to be absolutely soaked. I had originally planned on watching the sunrise from Coconut Island, but it was too overcast. We drove over to Lili`uokalani Park. The rain had stopped, so we walked around. There were several people out for their morning walk or jog, all with umbrellas in hand. The bay was gray, but it was still beautiful.
So as I sit here at my desk, listening to IZ, looking out at the hazy, drizzly sky, I can almost smell the air. Hey, let's go to the produce market tomorrow and pick up some mangoes and orchids.