Touring with Jody, Ron & Joy

I spent last night in Keauhou at the Kona Coast Resort with Jody, Ron & Joy. Ron & Joy have a time share condo and they did a swap to stay at this one for a week or so. On Sunday they go to another one in Punalu'u. Joy made us breakfast from various leftovers that went well together. It smelled so good I ate it all before I thought about taking a photo! Auwe!

We decided it would be best for Ron to drive their car up to Waimea and then we would all get in to my car for a tour of the north end of the island. We stopped at Parker Ranch Center for a bathroom break and to check out the Parker Ranch Store. The markers for the bathroom are patterned after Hawaiian petroglyphs with a paniolo flair.


Then we went to the Parker Ranch Headquarters. We started at Pu'uopelu, the main "modern" residence for the Parker family; it was in the family since 1879. The original Parker residence was Mana Hale, which was built by John Palmer Parker after his marriage to  Kipikane, granddaughter of King Kamehameha I, in 1816. There was a very informative video about the history of the Parker Ranch showing in Mana Hale, I will have to see if I can buy a copy at the Parker Ranch Center. The ranch is now run by the Parker Ranch Foundation Trust, which also does a lot of charitable work in the community.

Pu'uopelu, no photos are allowed inside the residence.

By the time we were done touring the Parker Ranch grounds it was time for lunch, so we went to the Paniolo Country Inn which was on the way to the Kohala Mountain Road junction. Just inside the entry was a metal cut out of the famous photo of the Parker Ranch paniolo; it was also depicted in one of the murals in the Parker Ranch Center. 

L to R: Joy, Ron, & Jody.

Silhouette of Parker Ranch paniolo.

The mural of the Parker Ranch paniolo at the Parker Ranch Center.

The menu had a Western theme and also included a great page of information about the paniolo and included a bunch of the local brands.

 

Ron ordered the Ahi Sandwich, Jody had the Teriyaki Plate with Green Bean Fries, Joy had a vegetarian Taco Salad, and I had the Bacon & Avocado Burger; it was made from local beef but the waitress did not know which ranch it was from, she also didn't know what kind of avocado it was.

Ahi Sandwich with Potato Mac Salad. (Photo by Ron)

Teriyaki Plate with Potato Mac Salad & Green Bean Fries. (Photo by Jody)

Vegetarian Taco Salad. (Photo by Joy)

Bacon & Avocado Burger with Coleslaw. It came well done; it would have been much better if I had only remembered to ask for it medium rare.

As we were getting ready to leave a rooster came by the car and was really keeping an eye on us. Later it became obvious that he was checking us out to make sure his family was safe. They had been on the other side of the hedge but the local cross country students were practicing and ran by on the sidewalk, forcing them to the parking lot side of the hedge.

Watchful daddy rooster; he looks like the Ricardo the Alamo rooster!

The flock goes on its merry way foraging at the edge of the parking lot.

Since it was such a sunny day, we along through the Kohala Mountain Road. It would have been perfect if it hadn't been so gusty. We stopped at the house to drop off my luggage and I gave them a quick tour of the house and the yard. The Aikane Nursery had planted the new Murashige avocado tree and the new Fairchild mango tree; I can't wait to see what they are like!

L to R: Jody, Ron, & Joy on the front porch.

We were running out of light so we headed to Kapa'au to see the original King Kamehameha statue. We also stopped at King's View Cafe for some Roselani ice cream. Then we went to the end of the road to the Pololu Valley lookout. Since we were rather late there were only a handful of cars parked at the turnaround; it was kind of nice!

When I got back to the house I found that I had a text from Curtis. He sent me a photo of Dad and said, "Shaved and looking forward to going to Kohala." Yay!

(Photo by Curtis)

Happy Birthday to Alison, Jackie, & Mary!