Kailua – 15 mi, 400’ elevation gain
We were still on mainland time (3 hours earlier than Hawaii) so we got up early, meditated, then headed for our 8:30 plane from Honolulu to Kona. We thought we could find some food at the airport. Ha ha ha! Settled for 2 cinnamon rolls and 1 bottled orange juice for $10. A little later we saw our first rainbow. Ah. Vacation.
We flew in a 717 (you read that right) to Kona. They are cute little twin engine jets. It was mostly cloudy over the islands, so we didn’t have much of a view, although we did see Waikiki as we flew east. Caught a cab to our friends Mary Anne and John’s condo in Kailua. The cabbie told us they’d been getting more rain than they’d had in any summer in 20 years. That didn’t bode well for a cycling tour.
The condo is right on the 18th hole of a very nice golf course. The view from the lanai is seen left. That’s where I set up to put together the bike. Nothing got bent or broken this time, but the rear wheel required a bit of truing, which took some time. When I finished, we had a couple of umbrella drinks and relaxed.
Later we took Clio out for a shakedown ride. Immediately found out I hadn’t tightened Sheila’s handlebars enough. She had to hold my saddle while we were climbing our first hill. A quick adjustment, then we cruised into “downtown” Kailua. Spent some time talking to a woman who turned out to be a timeshare salesperson. We thought she was a tourist information clerk. She tried to convince us to spend 2 hours of our trip getting a sales pitch. I don’t think so!
We located the local health food store and stocked up on supplies. Then we headed back. About half the time we were riding, it was raining. Just spatters, but it was so warm it didn’t matter. It was like riding in a sauna. We did need to do laundry and take showers when we returned.
Wildlife report: From the lanai we saw Myna birds, saffron finches, zebra doves, wild turkeys, a yellow-billed cardinal and neon green geckos.