2010-2-25  hanging out on the East side, waiting to hear Tim and FAith made it safely to the Big Island---

On our 7th day here, we woke up eager to track Tim and Faith's flights to the Big Island. Seems they got to Dallas, Texas, OK, then the problems started. First their flight was delayed 20 minutes, then 30. They finally left about an hour after their scheduled departure time. Therefore, they missed their Hawaiian flight from Oahu to Hilo. Talking to Hawaiian, they said they wouldn't put them on the last flight because they won't be checking in 45 minutes before that flight, even though the plane is scheduled to get in there 40 minutes before that flight. So that pretty much ruined my day.

I let Ken have the day off from driving a lot today.  We just puttered around the East side and checking flighttracker.com every hour or so.

We did go check out Wailua Falls.  We hadn't been there in awhile. I was surprised to see the "no vendor" signs up. Last time we were there we actually bought a painting from one of the vendors. They have done a lot of work to the viewing area since we were last there. Although you can see in this picture that some people think you need to get closer! I couldn't believe this young man was walking around so close to the top of the falls with his very young daughter. You can warn people of danger, but not everyone will heed it. They actually even got closer to the edge then this. At one point the man even picked his daughter up and was carrying her next to the edge. Then he would wave to the onlookers.

 look to the middle top of this picture you can see the guy holding the girl and they're sitting on the top of one of the waterfalls!  Risky?  Crazy?  Stupid!!!

 I use to sew a lot and make a lot of crafts.  Now I just take a million pictures and spend countless hours photoshopping them!  But I still enjoy wandering around craft and fabric stores.  This one in Kapaia (by Lihue) is really neat!  What a collection of Hawaiian fabric!!!!  They even have comfy benches on the porch for bored husbands to sit on.  I happily spent an hour or so here, too.

 We also like to go to the lighthouse by the Lihue airport.  Looking out to the ocean there, we often see whales, dolphins, and turtles.  It's also kind of fun watching the airplanes fly over the lighthouse.

 It's also on the side of Kalapaki Bay and Nawiliwili Harbor.  We use to talk about how neat it would be to take this cruise.  But we always end up on Caribbean cruises.

 We even checked out Lydgate.

 Probably ate at Brick Oven Pizza for dinner.  They have a buffet twice a week and we really enjoy it---great pizza, great wings, pasta isn't bad, lots of salad.  They even have a couple dessert pizzas.

Ended the day with a nice view of the moon!

Fortunately, all turned out well for the kids getting to the Big Island. As soon as the kids landed in Honolulu, they made a mad dash to the interisland gate and made it just in time to be allowed on the last flight to Hilo tonight. What a relief! 

Hard to believe we've been here a week already.  Seems like we just got here!