Kona to Maui and Back Again

A couple of weeks ago, I took off work to join my friends Barbara/Steve/Megan/Eddie on Maui for the day. Megan and Eddie were on Spring Break from Purdue, and the whole clan spent the week on Maui.

We hiked up to the Iao Needle...

...and saw turtles on Ho'okipa Beach...

(Those are turtles, not rocks!)

...and had an early dinner at Mama's Fish House.

We didn't skimp on dessert...

And then I hopped back on a little 10-seater airplane and was home before bedtime.

Just another lovely day in Hawaii...

Aloha!

!!!!!!!!!! Zip Lining !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeee !!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the fun things to do on the island (for the adventurous) is zip lining.

Some gal pals from Thermo were here last week, and they convinced me to try zip lining with them. We went to a place up at the northern tip of the island (the town of Hawi). 

Nine separate zips. 5 rope bridges. And a final 80-foot rappel to get down from the last tree. Heights were in the 100-400 foot range. Distances on the zips were from 300-1200 feet.
OH! ... and the last couple of zips were in the pouring rain. The rain drops were hitting our eyes like bullets. SO MUCH FUN! 

Enjoy the pictures... (PS - If I can do it, YOU can too!)...

Autumn in Kona

Now that the VOG is virtually gone, we are having the BEST weather!

Typical Rainy Afternoon

Early Morning Moonset

Today is Wednesday, and Sophie can tell you that Wednesday is BEACH day!
As soon as I get off work, we'll head to the beach to pick up trash, look for pretty shells, and MOST IMPORTANTLY sniff every square inch of every single rock on the entire beach.

Aloha, y'all!

VOGless Sunset

Now that the volcano has died down to practically nothing, we are seeing the bluest skies and clearest days in a dozen years. The VOG is virtually gone.

This is my version of a flipbook... if you size your window just right and flip down through these images, you'll see the sunset that I saw last night...

Aloha, y'all!

Hurricane Lane

Its name is so alliterative, it makes me want to smile... like Candy Cane Lane...
But it's turning out to be a big deal. It's gone from a Category 4 to a Category 5 and now back to a 4. And it is veering very very close to the islands. The eye won't cross any island (says me) but a hurricane is hundreds of miles across, so there's plenty of weather on all sides of the eye.

It's unusual for a hurricane to come up the west side of Hawaii Island, but that's what this one seems to be doing.

It's 9AM and we haven't seen any real weather yet, but all indications are that by noon, we'll be holding on to our hats. To show just how worried I am (NOT), I'll be driving into town to get my hair cut at 3 this afternoon. The hairdresser and I were just talking and joked that we might have to spend the night in the salon. Sophie will be with me, so she'll keep me warm and safe.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   DON'T WORRY ABOUT US   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now... the visual aid....

Lava Update

Monday's big lava event was the complete destruction of Kapoho Bay. What was once a beautiful bay (and vacation hotspot) will now be a new peninsula on the southeast coast. The entire thing happened in less than a day.

Here’s the lava when it first entered the water:

And here's the before and after:

Volcano News

Mahalo to everyone who emailed or texted to check on me.

Sophie and I are fine and in zero danger of being pummeled with hot lava. The volcano is maybe 75 miles away on the opposite side of the island, and there's a huge mountain between us. 

We DID, however, feel that 6.9 earthquake last week! Our typical afternoon VOG is maybe a little denser, but nothing I'd notice if I weren't looking for it.

The latest news of the volcano is that a violent eruption is imminent and the bad air from that might make it to the Kona side - much depends on the prevailing winds (Trade Winds, good. Kona Winds, bad.)

By the time you come to visit, this will all be over and we can go see the cooled lava fingers that are currently hot little fissures spreading across the Puna District. As dramatic as this seems NOW, this is typical for a volcanic island. After all, this is how the island was formed in the first place.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army and plenty of other organizations are looking after the displaced people, but many pets have been left homeless or lost in all this commotion. Sophie's daycare, Paws, has been taking food and supplies over to the Puna district. If you'd like to help, check out the Puna wish list on Amazon:

Amazon Wish List 

Aloha!