3/1/14

Day 4: Uncle Norman Saves the Day!

Thursday started out a little rough (trouble in paradise, AM I RIGHT?!) but turned around pretty fast and became amazing! I started at my dumpy hostel in Hilo, waking up to a flat tire. It must've been a slow leak so I opted just to fill it, get away from the hostel and its distractions (mostly talking to people) and see how far the leaky tube would get me. When I was bent down refilling it, I pulled some muscle, approximately in the lower old man back region. The tube didn't make it too far and I opted to try to patch it outside an orchid farm 6 miles down the road.



I couldn't find the leak, so I patched two spots that looked like they could've been tiny little holes. Apparently neither was it (or the patches didn't stick) because it was flat again after another few miles.

At this point I talked to, believe it or not, my uncle's uncle, Norman. Norman is an artist living in Keaau, 5-10 miles South of Hilo. He offered lunch, a hot shower, and even a car ride with my bike. Having had a tough morning, not really feeling up for climbing 4000ft with a pulled back, and reminding myself that I actually AM on vacation, I opted for the detour to Uncle Norman's.

I made my way another few miles, refilling the stubborn tube every once in awhile, to Norman's home set back in the trees outside Keaau and into what turned out to be an absolutely fantastic day! His house was a really neat two-story home with great balconies on both the front and back, ocean and volcano views (when clear), and full of artwork, collectibles, and relics that should probably be in museums. He grilled me a pork tenderloin and broccoli lunch, we both had much-needed naps, a driving tour, dinner out, and I heard more amazing stories than I could ever relay in this blog post. On the driving tour, we saw the southeastern end of the island. It included the warpath of a recently-active volcano (primarily 1980s) that took out 8 miles of road on the southern coast and all the houses that went with it. Also on the tour: a black sand beach, a designer friend's beautiful modern home (with a lava field backyard!), and many educational asides on vegetation. At dinner I had a delicious coconut-encrusted ahi - and a LOT of it. Back at the home, we relaxed and I had the privilege of playing an acoustic guitar from the 1940s! That's pretty old for a guitar! Still sounded wonderful.

Here's some of pictures!


Rough road to Norman's


Front yard


Giant turtles! (Not the kind I expected to see, but more delicious and less endangered)


The beautiful, the illusive: Moji


Lava lava lava






What's your backyard look like?

Overall, a disappointing morning turned into an amazing day! A thousand thanks to Norman. More details on our adventures to follow.

Stats:
Dist: 13.47 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes
Avg speed: 10.95 mph
Max speed: 24.71 mph

12 comments:

  1. We talked to Uncle Norman last night, and he thoroughly enjoyed your visit. So glad it worked out well for both of you. We're routing for you from Marseilles!

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  11. Great! Your post is amazing and interesting. These animals you can see it every day in the family or through the media. Thanks for share! Reading: cool pictures of animalse

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