cheez

kuliʻouʻou ridge-pu'u 'o kona loop trail
When my alarm went off some time past 4 am, I groaned, knowing I had only myself to blame. I'd gotten it in my head to do the kuli'ou'ou ridge trail to see the sunrise, an idea that didn't seem nearly as enticing now. Somehow, I dragged myself out of bed instead of hitting snooze, got dressed, dragged myself into the car, drove. I arrived at the trailhead a little past 5. Decent timing, since the way up was supposed to take around 1.5h and sunrise was at 6:30. 

( hiking alone is kinda nice )

We landed around 11am local time. I was tired, but not too much. Actually, I was feeling better than I'd expect to after a plane ride. Oahu's airport is interesting: a lot of walkways between the different buildings are outdoors, and within a minute of exiting the gate we'd stepped into balmy near-noon heat. I'd forgotten what humidity feels like. I'd say the humidity of Oahu in October was a gentle reintroduction, nothing crazy compared to the muggy summers in Asia, but at the same time, still far from my ideal.

(Not that this is saying much... I am a weak creature—I only thrive in the temperature range of 55-70 F, and I don't know what humidity is.)

I was lucky enough to watch my roommate rent a car (lucky, since I'd be renting my own car for the first time later that day, and was feeling stupidly nervous about it. Logistics psych me out), and luckier still that he'd offered to drive us both around for the rest of the day. Especially this day, when our first stint on the road was a 40 minute drive out to the other side of the island. 

Even on this drive, I thought, this place is beautiful. Stupid beautiful, the kind that slaps you in the face. We passed by lush and green mountains, emerged from a highway tunnel to see a sweeping emerald blue sea.

The drive still felt long, but not so long, like this.


( fucking delicious, take me back )
 

( traversing the coast )


( poke time )