When we arrived at Kona Airport, it was 5:35 PM. It was overcast and didn't seem like a very good day for stargazing. Bummer! Our reservation with Star Gaze Hawaii was at 8 and we had to be at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort tennis courts at 7:45 PM. We didn't have much time to waste. 

Matt stopped to use the restroom and I went to catch a shuttle to get the rental car. It seemed like every company except Enterprise was coming by. While I was waiting, I saw Matt cross the street. Great! We could take the shuttle together. I looked to see if the Enterprise shuttle was coming and when I turned around Matt was gone. Where'd he go?

A few minutes later he called me. He had taken a different shuttle to the rental car area. He said all the shuttles took you to the same place. Grrrrr!

Enterprise gave me a choice between a Nissan Versa hatchback (exactly like the one my dad was driving) and a Nissan Versa sedan. I picked the sedan with hopes the backseat would have more room than the hatchback.

It took about 30 minutes to get back to Paniolo Greens. Fortunately, mom had made spaghetti for dinner. So, we heated it up and ate. While we were eating, I called Star Gaze Hawaii to confirm our reservation and to ask about the weather. They said the weather might delay the start time, but we'd definitely be seeing stars later.

The five of us got into my rental car and we quickly realized the backseat was less roomy than the one in dad's rental. Fortunately, it was only a 15 minute drive. When we got to the Hilton, we weren't sure where to park. I was tired, frustrated, and grouchy. I called Star Gaze Hawaii and spoke with Wayne (the owner) and he gave me instructions. We actually had to pay for parking in the Hilton lot. Parking was turning out to be an unexpected hidden cost of visiting Hawaii.

At the tennis courts, we were greeted by Wayne's wife. They had two large telescopes set up for viewing and a father and son were working with Wayne.

Mrs. Fukunaga worked with us. She started with the telescope positioned so we could see the brownish stripes on Jupiter. Wow! What a spectacular sight!

There was no way for us to capture exactly what we saw. I found this image on a British website for the Society for Popular Astronomy. It was taken by Robin Scagel. In the process of looking for pictures, I found a bunch of amazing images, but this one was most representative of what we actually saw.

Mrs. Fukunaga surprised us when she used a high powered laser pointer to show us things in the sky. She explained that she is able to use this device because there is no air travel at night.

The gentleman and his son left and we were able to use both telescopes for a while. Eventually, a third party showed up - a group of four. One of them kept trying to take pictures using a cell phone. The flash of white light was messing with our night vision.

If it had only happened once, I probably would have been more understanding, but it happened multiple times. I was cranky and they were ruining our experience. The third time it happened, I couldn't help myself - I just let out a "Really???? That's so rude!" After my outburst, Mrs. Fukanaga went over and explained to them why they needed to stop. Apparently, not everyone understands the concept of how bright light effects night vision.

Over the course of the hour, Mrs. Fukunaga repositioned the telescope multiple times showing us some pretty cool things, but I don't remember everything we saw. In retrospect, I think I would have had a better experience if we schedule the star gazing on a different night. It had been a long day.

When we got back to the condo, Matt and I decided we'd spend the next day hiking out to the green sand beach and exploring the southern part of the island. We asked Price to come along, but he was still sunburned from earlier in the week. By the time we went to bed, it was after 10:30.

What a day! It was amazing how much we'd seen and done. I fell asleep thinking about our skydive. Only three states left!