Made a short stop @ Mona Loa Mac Nuts. Had some coconut macadamia nut ice cream for a late lunch snack….

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This is on the south east area of the big island, south of the Lava Trees State Park. I got a nice 720P HD video of the crashing surf & surfers after the life guard patched up my bleeding knees. He was very friendly and we appreciated his assistance.
Seems my balance is still not so good. I slipped and fell on the lava pebbles trying to get a photo about 1,000 feet further south. Landed on knees, hands & my Droid X right on the sharp lava rocks. Ripped up both legs just below the knee caps. Bled for awhile, but no serious damage. Left one is bandaged, as it was small enough for his largest bandage, but the right one is wrapped in gauze, as it is about 3″ square of small cuts & scrapes.
As for the Droid X, I am using it for this post!! I thought the screen was cracked, but it was the just the tough screen protector (not from Verizon), and only a very minor ¼” scratch actually in the Gorilla Glass Screen…. I am glad I bought the screen protector and that the Gorilla Glass is TOUGH!! (Certainly tougher than my knees. Hands sore, but undamaged.)

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Closed for renovations…. This is a panorama of what we could see plus the collapsed lava tube leading into the park.
We bypassed Volcano Park since we took the helicopter flight on Sunday. Not enough time to drive Chain of Craters Drive and do other things we want to do in the Hilo area…

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The morning got off to a slow start…

We stopped at the Hertz office in the hotel because we were getting a burned oil smell through the air vents every time we stopped with the car running yesterday.  The man @ the hotel changed our car, upgraded actually, from a Ford Escape to a Buick Enclave. They also did not make us refuel or charge for the ¾’s tank of gas we used in the Escape.

But, we did not get out of the hotel until about 9:45am. By the time we got to the closest McDonald’s, it was 10:08. They stop serving breakfast @ 10am!!! Certainly didn’t feel like a hamburger for breakfast.

So, we hit the road headed for Hilo. I knew of a great bakery from the web we would pass by. I just didn’t realize it was a 80 minute drive from McD’s!! But, it was worth the wait. We picked up a half dozen of Malasadas (Hawaiian Sweetbread Donuts), 1 each of: plain sugared, guava flavored, strawberry filled, chocolate filled, papaya frosted and bismark style (custard filled & chocolate frosted). We had to get a second papaya one and saved the four unfrosted for later….

The place is called The Punalu’u Bake Shop, right on Route 11, about 3 miles west of the turn off for Punalu’u Black Sands Beach Park, on the mauka side of the road.

After eating, we had a few feathery friends join us for scraps. This was the only one I got a picture of. Then we hit the road towards Hilo once again.

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Cloudy again, but we have become used to it on this trip…
What to do today??
I think a trip over to Hilo might be a good thought. I don’t think we will be stopping at Volcano Park, as anything we will see from the ground will be the same as 2007’s visit and a let down after the helicoter flight on Sunday.
However, there are things on the Hilo side we have not seen, so a nice drive for today around the island!!

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