I'm back! After the rainy luau we had Friday night, we decided to leave Saturday unplanned. We didn't do much except relax and be lazy. Sunday consisted of church, which was crazy because the preacher and his wife went to LCU and we met 4 or 5 other people who were Texas transplants (which is a lot considering the church had about 20 people), and in the visitor book just a few lines up one of the ministers from our church in Lubbock had signed his name. Small world.
We also went to Hapuna Beach on Sunday, which was our second visit. It is a great beach and I hope we can go again before we leave. I didn't take pictures though because I didn't bring my camera. They warn tourists about leaving valuables in the car (or with your stuff on the beach) at these places, and I would be soooo sad if my camera got stolen. Yesterday we got a 4WD vehicle and visited Mauna Kea, which is the world's tallest mountain from its underwater base. I was feeling the altitude change as soon as we got to the top. Its actual height is something like 14,000 feet, and it is supposedly the best place in the world to look at stars. There are observatories all over the top of it. It was SO awesome!
The landscape at the top was like another planet. So barren, and we were just towering over the highest clouds in the atmosphere.
Take me to your people. These are what the observatories on top look like. They are some pretty weird buildings.
Chad and me on the summit. Special thanks to Dave, the guy who rode to the top with us, who took this picture. Interesting guy--he owns a backcountry ski touring company in Vancouver, and he had joined a sailing expedition from Vancouver to San Fran, then to Hawaii, then back to the mainland. It had taken them 23 days to sail to Hawaii. He was just stopped over for a couple days in Hawaii before they went back. Anyway, he didn't have a 4WD vehicle which the road to the top requires, so we gave him a ride from the visitor's center.
This was cool...a lake at the top of Mauna Kea fed entirely by permafrost. Supposedly the largest lake of its kind.
Just another view...I think this one is from the car on the ride up.
Later yesterday we revisited the luau, and this time it was dry for us. I got this picture of the sun setting and also the video at the bottom of the post. 
Today we drove to Volcanoes National Park and hiked the Kilauea Iki crater trail. It was a really great hike. It started off in the rainforest and we got to hike IN the crater, with steam vents all around us. It was a surreal landscape. I tried to get some pictures but it was really misty and windy and the lens of my camera kept getting little drops all over it, so these will have to do. 
Here's Chad walking at the beginning in the rainforest.
The plant life was amazing. Ferns and other plants everywhere, but most of them have Hawaiian names so I can't remember what they are.
Okay, this is a view of the bottom of the crater from the trail we were on, which was much higher and I guess you can't really tell that from the picture. That plume is steam from a crater vent. Pretty cool huh?
At the bottom of the crater.
More lava.
The plants still figure out a way to grow. 
Enjoy!
The landscape at the top was like another planet. So barren, and we were just towering over the highest clouds in the atmosphere.
Take me to your people. These are what the observatories on top look like. They are some pretty weird buildings.
Chad and me on the summit. Special thanks to Dave, the guy who rode to the top with us, who took this picture. Interesting guy--he owns a backcountry ski touring company in Vancouver, and he had joined a sailing expedition from Vancouver to San Fran, then to Hawaii, then back to the mainland. It had taken them 23 days to sail to Hawaii. He was just stopped over for a couple days in Hawaii before they went back. Anyway, he didn't have a 4WD vehicle which the road to the top requires, so we gave him a ride from the visitor's center.
This was cool...a lake at the top of Mauna Kea fed entirely by permafrost. Supposedly the largest lake of its kind.Just another view...I think this one is from the car on the ride up.Later yesterday we revisited the luau, and this time it was dry for us. I got this picture of the sun setting and also the video at the bottom of the post. Today we drove to Volcanoes National Park and hiked the Kilauea Iki crater trail. It was a really great hike. It started off in the rainforest and we got to hike IN the crater, with steam vents all around us. It was a surreal landscape. I tried to get some pictures but it was really misty and windy and the lens of my camera kept getting little drops all over it, so these will have to do. Here's Chad walking at the beginning in the rainforest.The plant life was amazing. Ferns and other plants everywhere, but most of them have Hawaiian names so I can't remember what they are.Okay, this is a view of the bottom of the crater from the trail we were on, which was much higher and I guess you can't really tell that from the picture. That plume is steam from a crater vent. Pretty cool huh?At the bottom of the crater.More lava.The plants still figure out a way to grow. Enjoy!
4 comments:
You guys in that crater reminds me of an episode of "Man vs. Wild." Cool video.
Oh, and the kids thought it was Chad in the video.
That's hilarious. So they can't recognize me in a baseball hat, but they think the really tan guy twirling fire is Uncle Chad?
Wow, random thoughts - Mauna Kea was an ammunition ship in the US Navy - the Hawaiian state baton twirling championship must be fascinating - and you have a great eye, with that beautiful fern picture (you're Mom will probably remember that I used to love shots like that - still do!).
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