An Epic Adventure

Oftentimes with the Dear Sweet Lovable One, any adventure is equal parts fun and disaster. This time I think the fun far outweighed the disaster.

We spent 15 days in Hawaii, and there were a couple of tense moments, like when I found out I should have rented a car before landing, or driving on a demanding road in darkness, or ants . . .

There were so many awesome things we got to do.

Helicopter tour of the Big Island

Cinder cones and lave flows in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa

Looking down into the liquid glowing crater of Kilauea.

Lava flowing into the sea from a lava tube.

A super tall waterfall in one of the northern valleys.

The northern coast with waterfalls all over the place.

A picture of us with our intrepid pilot Marco.

Zipline

Hiking

 Read the sign . . .

Snorkeling

There s no way to look classy in scuba gear.

Interesting rock formation.

Waves crashing at the Place of Refuge.

Bright yellow fish in the water.

 A cave where locals would trade with sailors.

 A cinder cone that apparently looked like Madam Pele

Dolphins!

Sightseeing

 Driving out of the Kona Airport

 Oh My God! The let us off the airplane!

 Kailua-Kona

 We ended up at the back of a Sunday morning cruise.

 I love roads with trees on both sides like this.

 Desert Hawaii, with cacti.

 Pinkies out, for classiness.

 The roasting room of the coffee plantation. This is a medium roast. Some green beans are in the orange bucket.

Some of  the Mauna Kea Observatories. The odd shaped one was the one we toured.

 Our intrepid tour guide of the Subaru Telescope.

Any citizen of Japan can tour the telescope. Some famous anime artists drew on the Robot. He is very strong, he does a good job moving the infrared lenses, it only takes him 2 hours. *shakes head* The Japanese personify and take their robots very seriously.

 Yeah, this telescope is huge.

 Sunset from where we were staying in Kona.

 Luau!

 

Kailua pig, being lifted out of the pit.

 Moonrise on the road to Hana.

Hookipa lookout, a favorite spot for surfers.

Biking to the top of the Volcano on Maui

 Starting at sunrise at the beach in Paia.

 Our first turn, at the rodeo.

Obviously I am having a much harder time, haha!

 

My sad face.

A very demoralizing sign. 22 miles out of 35 total. I made it to 4000ft, the DSLO made it to 8000, the total was 12,000.

The view at 8000 ft.

Me, after biking down to the car, eating breakfast, and driving up to the visitor center. Much happier!

The Crater.

The DSLO standing at a high point.

Note: Feet above clouds on horizon.

 Fun with mirrors.

 USGS marker

Ridiculous helmet hair, after biking the whole way down.

Hanging out at the beach.

Black sand at Wai'pio Valley

 A look into the valley. Afternoon sun really gets in the way.

Hamoa Beach

The view from where we were staying.

The view across the street.

Koki Beech

So, there you have it.

Take care guys,

Molly : )