Day 12 Thursday 

I walked down Ali’i Drive from my hotel. I was headed to check out the Marriott and the lagoon in front.  It has a sandy beach and some rocks to snorkel around. I saw a bunch of colorful fish.

I noticed a couple of changes since my 2017 trip.   Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant is gone. Scandinavian Shave ice was temporarily closed until further notice.  Bummer, that was my favorite place for shave ice. So I waited at Ululani’s for them to open.  I needed my shave ice fix lol.

On the way back I stopped at the farmers market and got a butter avocado. It’s so huge! I cut it open but it was still crunchy.  Oh well, all I really wanted was to see the seed. It was regular size lol.

I had to wear my hiking/water shoes today because both pairs of sandals gave me blisters. All this walking today has given me new blisters in different places lol. I didn’t think I was going to make it back to the hotel. So I stopped and bought some slippers and said goodbye to the hikers lol. Ahhhh, so much better.

Went back to by the hotel pool and it started to sprinkle. Half the people hogging the good lounge chairs got up and left. Thank you rain gods lol 😁

Last night here.  I have to get packed up tonight and decide what to take and what to leave behind lol. That means a very difficult game of Tetris😂

Day 11 Wednesday 

Checked out of the Outrigger and went to take my rental car back to Enterprise. I decided to rent another car through Turo for the remaining two days. Basically, you’re renting somebodys car from the island. I dropped off the Jeep at Enterprise. With Turo you  can choose any car, not just a Jeep and it’s a tiny bit cheaper. I looked at the app to see where I was supposed to pick it up. The car was parked out in long-term parking, which was a ways away from Enterprise. I had to walk  a half mile to get there. The sidewalks were covered with little round tree nuts so I opted to walk in the middle of the road rather than slip and knock myself out.  I was dragging two suitcases and wearing a backpack so I think I got my workout in lol.  

I rented a 2022 Subaru Forester.  You would think that would be fine for the year but it was very rough to start and it ended up dying at a stoplight. I’m not talking about the auto shutoff. It completely turned off. I had to put it into park to start it back up all while people were honking for me to go lol. Then, I looked down at the gas gauge and it was missing one bar. Which meant  I didn’t start out with a full tank.  Annoyed, I sent a message to Turo about the fuel level and the car shutting off and they said they never heard of it dying before and to put what gas I think I used when I filled it back up.  Great, now I have to do math😂

I checked in to the Royal Kona Resort.  This is where I stayed in 2017. My first solo trip to Hawaii.

They were very nice and stored my luggage until my room was ready.  While I was waiting I drove to Waikiloa and checked out the Queen’s Marketplace and surroundings. It was a fancy resort area that we drove by on the way to Mauna Kea. I ate my go to Starbucks lunch. A pink drink, grilled cheese sandwich and a lemon loaf. By the way I have eaten that five times so far lol. I’m not a big fan of trying new restaurants or waiting for my food. Its a huge waste of time plus you never know what you’ll get. I can order on the app and just pick it up lol.

My room was ready. I am on the fifth floor. I have a corner room with a wrap around lanai. There are big windows on both side walls.  I have an ocean view and a mountain/parking lot view😁

The hotel is ocean front, not beach front but it does have it’s own little lagoon.  I took a dip in it and swam around.  The last time  I was  here there was a turtle in it.  

I swam in the pool and got to see some whales just off shore.  They were breaching and waving their fins. I should have brought the binoculars.

I watched the sun set from my lanai.  It was on fire🔥