0500…pretty much my normal wake up call these days but today it seemed especially early. I stayed in bed an extra ten minutes listening to the rain, the coqui frogs and the birds. We will all miss these sounds and as we have been counting down the days until we will be at home with family, we have been trying to savor each morning’s musical offerings. This being our last with really no time to enjoy it. The shower was good too. The catchment water and off the grid propane water heater…pretty much everything except a scant bit of electricity is off the grid. We have loved that too. It maybe why the people who live around here tend to be the independent out side of the box kind. Our bags were all packed two roll bags, two car seats, and 5 back packs! My mom’s check bag was just the right size to fit Chad’s coconut opening machete that we had feared we would have to leave behind. That baby has opened at least 20 coconuts since we have been here maybe more. I am guessing a job change is in its future, but with so many good memories with it we wanted to take it with us. We made it out of the house a whole hour and a half before we were supposed to meet our car guy and it would take at the most a half hour to get down to the airport. The perfect amount of time to get breakfast and not feel like we needed to rush. The kids were beaming and so happy for 0600. We called to wish Aunt Suzanne a Happy Birthday, with three hours of time difference it being later there than in Hilo I’m pretty sure we were up before them. But Hadassah and Elijah’s bed head and sleepy morning faces were as adorable as ever!!! We just can’t wait to get our hands on them. Last time we were home long enough to spend more than a day with them Elijah was 4 months old and now at 18 months he looks like a little man not a baby anymore.
We still got to the airport a little early. No worries the baggage check is outside, most of the airport is, so we checked our bags and waited for Dado to come get the car.
Once past the security check point we took a foot/ITO carpet picture. Honestly I’m surprised Hilo airport even has carpet. I would guess that it would be hard to keep it from molding in the humidity here.
The first flight was an island hopper so it was short. We had a long layover as long as we could get. It wasn’t enough time to do Pearl Harbor, but we couldn’t do an assignment in Hawaii and not see the capitol building.
The taxi ride there was uneventful and not too long costing about $30 one way, we never did see a visitor information center so we didn’t do an official tour. The chambers were basement level with the public parking where we were dropped off. Ground level was mostly open to air, instead of a dome there was a huge open skylight.
In the pictures on line it had looked like it was two stories but it is six. One below ground, five above. The mosaic in the middle was fun too.
There is definitely an Asian influence in the design. Including pools and koi.
We found the liberty bell and walked the beautiful grounds.
We only walked around maybe 15 min. Because we were a little nervous about making our mainland flight. It was a good thing we were so cautious. We called the same cab company we used to get to the capitol building and we went to exactly where they dropped me off, then called for them to come and pick us up. They said 8-13 minutes, about 8 minutes later a driver with a thick Indian accent called to say he was there (no sign of him). I explained where we were, the public parking lot under the Capitol and the turnaround where we had been dropped off. Even mentioned the street name that drives down to it. He said ok and hat he was on his way. We waited about 10 more minutes with no sign of him so I called the cab company again. I told them exactly where I was and they said ok, we will turn our guy back around (like what!!! He left! Seriously we are telling you exactly where we are!) soon he called me again saying that he can’t get into the underground parking because he doesn’t have the right permit. He must have been going to the employee lot I guess…. But he wasn’t understanding me still. I ran above ground there was no sign of him so I called the taxi company again. Do we wait above ground or underground where we said we would be. Since he couldn’t figure out how to get to the public parking we stayed above ground. They said he was two minutes out soon a gray minivan pulled up in front of the main entrance (no parking and barely a turn off) it is illegal to jay walk and no crosswalk close. We grabbed eachothers hands and ran. It was our guy. I guess what made his so frustrating is they just dropped us off there. I wasn’t as nice as I could have been on the phone as we were nearing an hour of trying to get a taxi there that was supposed to take 13 minutes at most with making it to our connecting flight in the balance. I apologized for getting short and we made it back with plenty of time. Mom hadn’t really been up to the adventure so she had stayed at the airport with our carry ons to expedite our return through the security check point (can be a challenge with three little kids). We all got to our gate with time to eat lunch before loading. Tieryn, Uncle Jayson’s sister, and her husband were on the same flight as us. They had been vacationing in Kona and we had noticed via FaceBook that they were headed back to PDX today too. The kids recognized them right away. They told them how excited they were to see Cyrus and were told that he was helping to take care of their yard while they were on vaccation. This lead to a good 20 min. Conversation about Cyrus and hoses and Cyrus and horses. You can’t tell these kiddos have been counting down the days until they get to play wih their horse obsessed cousin. The next flight was sixish hours so we settled in.
We packed our last four Musubi for the road/flight. 
Hannah took a 5 min. nap and Eve slept the last hour no rest for us grow ups but I am realizing more and more that rest will happen some day maybe when I die until then there is stuff to be done.
The kids were so antsy the last thirty min. I’m glad that the lady next to Caleb was a grandmotherly type because anyone else would have been annoyed by his inability to sit still purely due to excitement. We recognized Grandpa’s face right away and are so glad to have made it home! I’m sure the reality will set in soon. As for right now I feel a bit disoriented. 205 doesn’t feel familier and it being after midnight is pitch black outside, but for as much light as is in the Portland area we can see the stars out (Hilo is usually so cloudy you can’t see them). It was an adventure finding food that late for dinner. It is good to be home. 
Owens Endeavors 