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HALLOWEEN IN HILO
Scary sights in Hilo's KTA grocery store on Halloween. DRIVE TO KONA
We spent a couple of days in Kona and drove over the Saddle Road to get there. The Hilo side of Saddle Road has been in good shape for a while, but the area up by the Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA) is now a brand new 4 lane road that bypasses the base.
From afar we saw what looked like Stryker tank firing practice.
Once past PTA and driving towards Kona, the road degrades considerably.
On the way to Kona we stopped in Waikaloa to try out Macaroni Grill in the Queens Marketplace.
The Queens Marketplace is relatively new, so it was interesting to see what stores had moved into the mall.
The shopping mall was empty - even Starbucks was empty.
We went to Macaroni Grill - great food, but not great for the waist line.
The Queens Markeplace has a new gourmet food store.
While in Kona we checked out the new places to eat at the Kona Commons.
Genki Sushi - where sushi (along with fried foods and multi-layered cakes) swishes by on a conveyor belt - is our favorite.
There are a lot of new stores in Kona Commons.
We visited the new Targets and nearby Island Naturals.
While in Kona we swam in the new pool at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach hotel. When construction is complete, the place will be nicely updated.
In Kona, a huge group of people were fishing in the ponds in front of the hotel. Kailua-Kona's shallow bay attracts a lot of tasty reef fish.
AROUND HILO TOWN Things are always changing in Hilo. Island Naturals, which used to be located next to Borders, moved to Hilo Shopping Mall and revitalized the place.
Kope Kope coffee shop, also in the Hilo Shopping Mall, often features entertainment.
The "Gathering Place" has opened in the Prince Kuhio Mall with space that can be rented for community events or private events .
And the recent increase in cruise ships arriving in Hilo has created lines in front of Wal-Mart while the visitors await a bus back to their ship. It is sad that folks pick Wal-Mart as their Hilo destination of choice - but a free bus ride must be too good to pass up.
HILO OCTOBER INTERNET AND TWITTER MEETUP
This month the Big Island Internet Society (BISS) met again at Big Island Pizza and where everyone was treated to fantastic pizza and great company.
THE HILO LAWN CHALLENGE
We often talk about the lawn maintence challenge in Hilo. We had a week of rainy weather making it impossible to mow. Below is only one week of lawn growth. The shrubs, trees, and leaves are a constant task in Hilo; something to consider when thinking of taking care of acres in the Hilo area. Lawn care is something we find overwhelming in Hilo.
TRIP TO KONA
While Hilo struggled with vog, Kona was clear and beautiful. We visited Kona to visit the new Target store and other places we hadn't tried yet.
Here is a view of the shiny new Target store in Kona where the prices are considerably lower than what we pay in Hilo.
Just wondering how they could possibly sell this many gallons of milk.
We waited for coffee behind a huge queue of Kona Ironmen getting reved for their morning bike practice.
We loved the Genki Sushi place.
The price is the color of dish and we ate and ate and ate.
We drove some of the neighborhoods in the Kona area struggling with foreclosures.
HEAVY VOG IN HILO
The vog has been overwhelming in Hilo this week. Most of us have burning eyes, sore throats and can sometimes taste the sulfur. It is unusual for Hilo to be afflicted with the vog, even though it is quite close to the volcano. But the lack of tradewinds combined with the heavy emissions are creating the problem.
Previous September 2009 Hilo Log posts
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