Denise Goldberg's blog

Friday, January 29, 2010

Dark, narrow, winding

Late Thursday night

Headwinds continued to push back at the plane as we crossed the Pacific Ocean, pushing our landing in Kona back by about 20 minutes. On the ground, we waited for stairs to be rolled up to the plane - two sets, one forward, one aft. walked down the rear stairs, treated (!) to the smell of jet fuel before the air cleared to reflect the tropics.

There was a method to my dressing madness today. I wore two shirts, sleeveless under long-sleeved. I needed my layers (including a layer of light fleece) for the plane, but a sleeveless shirt was called for by the nicely warm temperatures here.

Driving, south... following the instructions send by the Aloha Guest House - my home for the next two nights - I turned onto Old Tobacco Road south of Captain Cook, just before milepost 104. It's a single lane mostly unpaved road, winding through fields, past a couple of houses, all dark. I somehow managed to turn left instead of right at the last intersection. Luckily, someone came out of the house and was able to point out my faulty direction-following. Phew! Home for the night.

I came into the house and found a room with my name on it. What a wonderful room - and I can't wait to see the view in the morning. Instead of picking a room, I opted for this B&Bs Internet special. The rooms here range from $140 to $280 a night. The special? The 123 special is $123 per night, and the hosts assign the room. I was assigned the Halawi (also called the Horizon) room. It has a canopy bed right in the window, with a view of the coast (ok, ok, I think it has a view of the coast, but it's too dark to tell right now!). Do you want to see it? Click here.

I managed to nap for a few hours on the plane, but I think it's well past bedtime. It's midnight here, 5 AM at home...

It's time to sleep.