Last night, Christmas Night, was one of the best meals I think I’ve ever experienced. Peter Merriman, owner of Merriman’s in Waimea, definitely outdid last night with his prix fix meal of butternut squash soup amuse bouche, goat cheese salad with the freshest baby greens, and marinated opakapaka on a bed of whipped potato purée and delicate asparagus. Not to mention, my (two!) lilikoi margaritas with some sort of spicy but sweet sugar rim were straight from heaven, I’m sure. We had a fabulous time celebrating the holiday together as no less than 6 ladies complimented Casey on her outfit (thanks, mom!). Even the diner behind us who thought it cute to ring his (very loud) jingle bells in a small but fancy restaurant every other minute (maybe to remind all the diners it was Christmas?) could not dampen our holiday cheer!

It was a good thing our dinner reservations were at 5 pm last night. We were graced the entire trip home with a gorgeous last 30 minutes of light before night took over; all the light being contained in this “light hole ” miles and miles away over the ocean. It was as if clouds had surrounded the last little bit of sunlight visible from the island and contained it until the day was officially done. The light hole slowly grew smaller and smaller until it finally faded into black as we pulled into our driveway. By the time I got in my jammies, it was barely 7. Yet I could not keep my eyes open. Upon waking up at 5:30 this morning, it dawned on me that I had just slept for 20 of the first 37 hours on island. After the last few months of craziness, I think my body finally realized it could rest. So it did.

This morning, after our beloved coffee run, an hour walk with Mike, and another delicious Konanental breakfast, we piled into our rented Tahoe and headed south. We actually headed southeast on 190 to try a different route toward Kona and it was so worth the extra 15 minutes. The vista views were spectacular as we watched the change in climate zones from Mauna Lani to the “Coffee Zone” as they like to call it. We had a nice tour of Hula Daddy Coffee Farm, where even Casey got to try some amazing coffee for the first time.

By the time we finished our tour, and spent a fortune in their gift shop, found a great little lunch place called Laulima Food Patch. Once again, we hit the jackpot! Absolutely delicious!

After lunch, a mad search for Huli Huli chicken that was planned for dinner delivered no chicken but did lead us to the famous Hot Malasada Food Truck so that wasn’t all bad.

After a few more towns and a few more stops, we finally broke Casey. Tears and complaints of a hurt tummy finally forced us to head home before finishing our errands. She miraculously recovered the second we walking into the condo. No surprise there…