Yesterday morning I woke to the sound of crashing waves, and today I woke to roosters crowing. There's a resident flock of wild chickens (& roosters, of course) that live at Macadamia Meadows Farms. Charlene said that the birds subsist by eating all of the bugs in the orchard - and all of the bugs around the house. No pesticides needed, all natural bug-eating fowl!
Breakfast today was waffles with fresh macadamia nuts, honey, and a little whipped cream. Plus fruit, juice, and coffee. Yum!
My riding day started with a wonderful downhill, which unfortunately didn't last too long. The first 10 miles of the day were the downhill followed by some flat to rolling miles, all with the same headwind that was my friend yesterday. I turned off to visit Punuluu Black Sand Beach, which of course was about a mile downhill. How could it be anything but downhill? So I had to climb back up to join the highway again - but it's such a beautiful place that it was worth the extra elevation gain.
Today was definitely a long, slow day. Only 42 miles, but an elevation gain of 4300 feet. The grade wasn't bad - sections of 3 to 4%, sections of 1 to 2%, along with the occasional 5 or 6. It just didn't stop going up - about 25 miles worth of up. It probably didn't help that my legs were pretty burnt from yesterday... It's very helpful that there were signs marking each 500 feet of elevation gain. I rode from sea level to a high of 4024 feet. (The extra couple hundred feet of elevation gain were from the rollers earlier in the day.) There were times when I thought I should have arranged for someone to deliver my gear to tonight's B&B, but of course I made it under my own power. I feel really good about the day, but I was really glad to be finished. The hill would have been much easier on an unloaded bike. But then again, what hill wouldn't be? No surprises; I knew what the terrain would be like going into this trip!
My friend the headwind continued as I started up the mountain. Then it disappeared for quite a while. It turned into a tailwind for a couple of miles, then a headwind again as I continued up and up. About 6 miles from the end it started misting. I was still too hot to even think about grabbing my rain jacket. The mist got heavier, and by the time I finished I was pretty wet. The temperature was still in the 60s - it had been in the 90s, in the sun probably 80s for real earlier - so while I was starting to get chilled, I wasn't there yet. My hot shower at the end of the day definitely felt good today!
And didn't I say I wasn't going to forget the lip sunscreen on my eyebrows to create a sunscreen-stopping dam? I forgot again - sunscreen sliding into my eyes again today. Three riding days so far, and I only remembered once. I've got to get better at that!
The scenery just continues to change. Today I saw green at the start, an awesome black sand beach, big trees, lava with sparse trees, and green hills. I even saw a cactus that looked like Mickey Mouse! Sorry I didn't get a picture...
So far all of the Hawaiian dogs I've met have been pretty well-behaved. They bark, but no one has chased me yet. That's a nice change of pace, hope it stays that way.
I wonder if there are wild pigs on this island. At one point I saw an animals butt and back legs, and heard it snorting and thrashing around. There was a fence between me and whatever it was, but it didn't look like farm land.
I arrived at Aloha Junction B&B - my home for the next two nights - to find a closed gate with a sign that says "please honk". Oops. I don't have a horn on my bike! (and if I did it would likely be a kid's horn, and that wouldn't have worked either). I tried yelling "Hello" and "Aloha", but that didn't work. So I pulled out my cell phone and called the house. I knew there was a reason for carrying my cell phone. That worked. My bike is living in a sheltered spot underneath the house, and I have a very comfy room. The hosts actually live in a separate house, so the guests pretty much have the run of this one. There's a fully equiped kitchen that we can use, a comfortable living room with a gas fireplace, and a jacuzzi outside. They also have a computer that we can use, and a phone line. Looks like I can finally get some journal entries uploaded. The pictures are going to have to wait though, since it's only a dial-up connection.
It's cool and somewhat rainy out tonight - sometimes rain, sometimes just mist - and the house is nice and cozy. It feels very comfortable here, and right now I'm feeling pretty lazy - another good choice of a place to stay! I could see just hanging out for part of tomorrow. I'm planning to ride around the crater, and I was thinking of doing a hike too. I'll see what tomorrow brings from a weather standpoint, and from an energy or laziness standpoint.
For dinner tonight I ordered takeout from local Thai restaurant - spring rolls, and masaman curry with tofu. That probably wasn't the smartest move because I was fighting with a queasy stomach for part of the day (glad I had Pepto Bismal with me) - but it tasted great, and so far my stomach is still behaving. I'm glad I opted for medium spice - it was just right. I'm used to spice on the East Coast being too mild, and I've ordered stuff hot when I've been on the West Coast and had it be almost too spicy. This time I asked. He said medium was about a 5 on a heat scale (who knows what scale...) and hot was an eleven. Medium was perfect, glad I asked for a change.
As I walked out to pick up my dinner, the gaggle of geese that appears to live here started running across the lawn and then across the driveway. I started to laugh as I listened to their feet slapping against the pavement! I'll have to try to get a picture of them tomorrow - they were pretty funny looking.
