December 24, 2011
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Woke up to the sun lighting up the tops of the trees surrounding the house. Good day to drive the Saddle Road (Highway 200) from Hilo to Kona. The road cuts across the interior of the island between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. It was considered one of the most dangerous paved roads in the state, with many one-lane bridges and areas of marginally maintained pavement. Most of the road has now been repaved and widened with a maximum elevation of 6,632 ft. and is subject to fog and low visibility. But not this day. Blue skies and crystal clear view of the telescopes on top of Mauna Kea. Quite windy, though, once we crossed the summit.

The Saddle Road junctions with Highway 190 on the Kona side. This was where we had parked to catch our shuttle ride to the Mauna Kea summit the Sunday before. Our destination was the Keahou Beach Resort in Kona for some drier and sunnier weather, which we got. After checking in and having lunch, we explored the tide pools right off the back retaining wall. It was there that we saw green sea turtles floating and foraging languidly in the pools, lifting their heads above water occasionally for some air. Saw colorful fish and sea anenomes. Too cool.

We caught the 4:40 open-air trolley to have dinner at the Kona Brewing Company 8 miles north on Alii Drive. Huge tourist scene, but we did cruise by the Kona Pier, the starting line for the Hawaiian Ironman. Kona Brew Pub... good pizza and the home of my favorite beer, Pipeline Porter. Caught the shuttle back at 7:40, in time to listen to live Hawaiian music at the resort bar, AND watch an older Hawaiian woman get up from the audience and, inspired by the music, dance the hula for us. It was a special Christmas Eve... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Log entries: December 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 and 31
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