hilo random fact-oids

I have finally recovered from jetlag. Either there must be some time warp between the Islands and the Bay Area or I'm just getting old. There is no other explanation for why a 3-hour time difference would throw me that far off track. I've been exhausted since I got home. I only feel back to normal today because my folks took MyFK for a sleepover last night. This morning I slept in until 10am.

Every morning my head swirls with the various points of interest that came up during my trip, but I can't seem to organize them into a coherent outline. The next couple of posts will probably be a shameful mish-mash about our performces, sites seen in and around Hilo, gimpy travel crankiness, an accessibility review for other Hilo-bound gimps, an accessibility review of our performance venues for the entire tour, and some odd Random Fact-oids.
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Off we go....

That's a bouquet from the Hilo Farmer's Market (Wednesdays and Saturdays at the corner of Kamehameha and Mamo streets). It's chock full of wonderful local produce, as well as treats and trinkets made by local artisans. You might not get to see many of them if you are a gimp, though. The market is primarily inaccessible...and I'll bet the city doesn't even know it (now that I've googled the market and I see there is a feedback button, I'll drop them a note).

A wheelchair can cruise the circumference of the market, but the stall "floors" are unpacked layers of that really chunky 2-inch angular gravel. It is all too easy to get bogged down in that stuff. I was in a manual chair aided by a strong helper buddy, and we couldn't push me through it. I got so stuck that I had to exit on crutches and have the chair carried out to the solid dirt perimeter. I did manage to make it through on crutches. I have no idea if a power chair would have fared better. Perhaps.

More pleasant memories of the farmer's market (like coconut ice, fresh lychees, and a new fruit for me "jaboticaba") leads me to Random Fact-oid #1: If you are in Hawaii, you absolutely MUST eat a pineapple.
It’s nothing at all like what we get on the mainland. My friend Michelle impressed this upon me before I left, but I thought she was exaggerating. She was absolutely correct, and it tasted like I was eating flowers. Being the resident trained chef (I can cube a pineapple faster than you can find a container to put the chunks into), I sampled many. My favorite was the white pineapple variety. Yum.
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Hilo is quite charming. It feels old and weathered, but not uncared for or rundown. It's clean. It feels like a favorite pair of well worn shoes. It feels lived in and loved.

The town of Hilo itself was surprisingly accessible. I didn't run into any corners without curb cuts and I don't reacall having trouble getting into any shops or requiring assistance. That was a pleasant surprise. On the Venice Beach leg of the tour, many street corners and shops had me bitching.

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The Hilo Bay Hostel where we were lodged however, as charming a place it may have been, was not accessible.
It occupies the 2nd floor of a historic building that has no elevetor and a whole lotta steps. Once I got up into the building (with much assistance) the place was relatively accessible. The rooms, the common room, the kitchen....all good. I could get into the bathroom with a chair, but there was no stall big enough to pull the chair into the stall with me. I was able to use the shower room, but the showers are stalls with a very small seat for a very skinny butt (ie not mine), and there are no bathtubs.

Staying at the hostel pushed many buttons and kicked up several major thoughts and issues about having a disablilty that I will get to in the next post or so.
But screw that. I don't want to do that now.
Back to random fact-oids!
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Random Factoid #2: Cocunut syrup tastes a lot different than it looks.

(teehee)

I can't imagine a trip to Hilo being complete without a trip to Ken's House of Pancakes. We ate there often as it's one of the few places open late (24 hrs, actually). We'd go there after rehearsals or performances. If you order anything "Sumo-sized" they ring a big bell and the whole restaurant whoops it up for you. It kind of reminded me of going to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour as a kid. (fully accessible, but when crowded it might be hard to be seated anywhere but near the front of the restaurant if you are in a wheelchair).

My favorite spot to eat, however, was Bears Coffee.



I wish I would have thought to take a picture, but the image on the t-shirt I brought home caputures the details finely. If I lived in Hilo, this would be my local hangout. I miss it already. Especially the eccentric owner and the souffled eggs (they scramble them using the steam wand of an espresso machine). Oh, and the place is fully accessible ;-)
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This is Rainbow Falls, just a few minutes outside of downtown Hilo.
It is completely wheelchair accessible to the viewpoint shown in these photos.
Can you see the three teeny tiny white dots on the rocks at the top of the falls? There is two on the left and one on the right? Those are people. I tell you that just to give you size perspective, and to point out that there is a way to get up there and do a little swimming in the river.



Just over my right shoulder in this photo, there is a foot-path to the top of the falls. It has many stairs. Many. The stairs can be avoided by heading up the main road and looking for a small footbridge that allows you to meet the path again at the top of the stairs. I'm stubborn (or stupid) and took the stairs. I was able to navigate up to the top of the falls using:
a) Underarm crutches
b) The help of a strong friend at the rear ready to give me a wedgie with my overalls if I fell, and he was also willing to hold crutches while I did some bouldering.
c) Jean overalls. Lava rocks are VERY unkind to one's bumm when bouldering. If you are going to boulder, wear something sturdy. My jeans held up fine, my bathing suit did not.
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Random Fact-oid #3 : The jungle is not the forest. (quote compliments of Princess April, Dandelion Dancetheater member)

This is a true statment for many reasons...folliage, scents, creatures, etc etc...but one thing noticible to me with Hawaiin jungle was the lava rocks. I was thrilled to discover that lava is not at all slippery when wet. Usually crutches plus a damp, slick surface equals one major drag. And Hilo is the rainiest city in the US, so I was worried. As it turns out, lava rocks (and walkways paved with lava bricks) were some of the best surfaces for crutching I have ever encountered.

My brand new crutch tips didn't like the lava so much, though.

I think that happened crutching through tide-pools, which I'll take up in the next post, too.

Keeping the above photo in mind, think back to what I just wrote about jeans, bouldering, and bumms.
Heed my advice.
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More tomorrow....