Arrival

Upon arrival in Kona, I met JP, the guy whose house I am sitting....he had a white plumeria lei for me. It smelled divine....and what a sweet thing to do! As Jim says, you have to buy them now, but it is still a great idea. I got one when I came in High School in the early 80s...wonder if that was pre-arranged, or it was still the traditional thing to do?

We went to get my rental car, and then I followed JP up the not quite dormant, but currently sleeping (shhhh) Hualali volcano to his house overlooking Kailua-Kona. It is a lovely little house - all wood floors, and japanese touches, like the open garden in the middle of the house, and the sliding paper doors. My only issue is the number of mosquitos, roaches and ants.....he says the geckos and spiders take care of them, but not enough for my tastes.

Saturday morning, here is what waited for me for breakfast :-). JP took me on a little orientation tour of Kona, then I took him to the airport. His son is getting married on the mainland, and his paramour lives in CA too, so he is making a trip of it. I bummed around the house after he left getting acclimated, went to the grocery store and stocked up....milk and dairy products are definitely OFF my diet this month = a gallon of milk runs about $5!

Here is the reason JP gets a house-sitter: He is a myna, and his name is Raffles and he is quite a little bitch, and shits more than a bird that size ought. I think he is on strike cuz he doesn't like me - he has snapped at me a few times and caught me once. And I even fished a cockroach out of his dinner dish...ungrateful little canary!! JP says the geckos and spiders take care of them, but there are a lot of ants and roaches and mosquitos, and the geckos can't quite keep up....

On Sunday, I took KK's advice and headed to Hapuna Beach, which according to everyone and every book, is the best on the island, and some say best in the states...I don't know if I would go that far, but it was lovely and the water was perfect. I did toast my tootsies a little too much = of all my body parts, who knew my feet would be the most virgin?! I wear flip flops and sandles a lot at home, but nope, they are on fire now...owwwieee....there will definitely me no topless bathing for me!!

More to come.....stay tuned....