The Great Outdoors

For better or worse, we just bought a pop up camper and now it seems the suitcase will be packed more often. It’s not that I have lots of leisure time on my hands. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The camper is meant to save money when we travel some distance from our house to do shows. For instance, this weekend is the two day event in Meredith, NH. Instead of spending more than $100 each night to be near the venue, we spent a fraction of that in a campground. That’s the plus side of our new purchase. The down side is extra prep work before we leave, extra setup and tear down time during the event and we have to make sure the canvas is dry when we pack up for the trip home. Oh, there’s one more plus side to sleeping out of doors. It’s listening to the rain tapping on the canvas above our heads.

Later...

While waiting in Honolulu for our plane to Dallas, which was delayed ( go figure ), I happened to notice that it was getting dark outside. I glanced out the window “mauka” which means towards the mountains and noticed a double rainbow. Sadly, I couldn’t get outside to take what would have been a gorgeous photo and had to settle for trying to take the photo through the dirty waiting area windows. Still, it gives you the idea.

The Peace Of A Garden

Travel day. Everything is in the car and we have hours to kill before arriving at the airport so we head down Banyan Drive which is aptly named and made famous because famous people have been coming to this part of Hawaii for more than one hundred years to plant these trees. We drove this road because at the very end of the road is a beautiful park named after Queen Liliokialani. Everywhere is evidence of strong Oriental influence with gazebos shaped like pagodas, graceful winding streams with stone arched bridges and topiary shrubs. Even the palm trees have been shaped to resemble bonsai. It is an exquisite place to loose ones self in contemplation or just to have a picnic. We spent more than an hour waiting for this one bridge to be clear of people. Everyone, including me, wanted a photo here. But, unlike me, those people wanted a photo of themselves on the bridge. I just liked the bridge.

Vacation Nearly Done

The Big Island, also named Hawaii, has many botanical gardens and they all boast of being the most beautiful or having the most numerous specimens. Some even claim the largest number of acres under horticultural care but there is one that is unique. The World Botanical Gardens are fairly new and could use a few more staff members to keep the more invasive plants in line but the mesmerizing beauty of the triple falls know as Uma Uma make up for what the cultivated beds may lack. Theses delicate veils of white gently cascade over time worn lava and gather into shallow pools before continuing the journey oceanward. Carl and I observed the lighting change as the sun played hide and seek with the inevitable cloud cover that gathers over the interior of the island each day. This play of light changes the mood of the pools along with the surrounding cliff side vegetation. There are several carp in the more distant pools and from our perch, high above the valley floor, we could see just one meander along the surface of the lowest of these basins. How he ( or she ) got there is uncertain. It is possible that when the water was high, this Oriental symbol of fortune was washed away from his brethren. Without intervention, this unfortunate one is destined to spend the remainder of its’ days alone. If you get a chance to visit the World Botanical Gardens, you should know there is an admission fee for the self guided tour and viewing of these beautiful falls. I can’t say if it’s worth the price of admission but I can tell you that after meandering through the rest of the gardens we went back to photograph the falls a second time. Enough said!

End Of The Earth

About ten years ago, Carl and I spent a week in Kailua-Kona. Both of us are scuba divers and the area boasted a type of night dive unlike any other, a chance to observe manta rays feeding up close and personal. Our dive boat took us a short distance from the harbor and we anchored just off shore from this beautiful resort, the Kona Reef, where they shine huge spot lights into the water. The light attracts plankton and the plankton attracts the manta rays which in turn attract divers. It was an incredible experience, one not easily forgotten, to watch these massive but graceful creatures glide through the water in a sort of ballet while their gaping mouths gather the tiniest of sea creatures as their meal. We can only try to be that agile in their world. The ironic part- the hotel we stayed at last evening was that same hotel of ten years earlier. The name and ownership had been changed but each evening the light still shines in the harbor, the boats still anchor, the divers still watch in awe from the murky bottom and the rays still gather to do their dance. Our trip back to Volcano should have been quick, with only a planned stop or two for the occasional photo opportunity. It was nothing of the sort because along the way there were numerous reasons to stop, lunch, free samples of coffee and mac nuts and a detour to the southern most point in the United States. What’s that? You say we’re in Hawaii and not the Florida Keys. You’re right. The geographical southern most point in the whole United States is South Point, Hawaii and it is a rugged windswept cliff that is constantly pounded by waves. It also happens to be some of the best fishing on the island according to the locals.

Rest And Relaxation

The northern route around the Big Island covers a great distance and encompasses scenery which ranges from beautiful black coastlines with white waves crashing against them to a barren dried up wasteland along the flanks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Originally, our route was to take us up to the Waipi’o Valley and then to continue through the Parker Ranch and returning to Hilo by way of the Saddle Road, a windy narrow twisty path hastily installed in the shadow of the two great volcanoes by the military as a means of getting from one side of the island to the other quickly. We’ve driven this road before and there’s nothing quick about it. It’s a test of man and machine, of nerves and mechanics, and at the last minute Carl decided once was enough. So the route was re figured to take us to Kailua-Kona instead. By the way, Kona is the place made more or less famous by the Iron Man Triathlon, and is exactly opposite Hilo with more than one hundred miles between them. The long and pretty much straight road takes you through miles of nothing but lava and just when you think you’ve seen it all, there is more. Off in the distance, large fancy hotel complexes began to spring up, fancy to the tune of $400-$1,000 per night. We drove past these palaces and headed for the other side of town where the rents were a bit more reasonable. Carl had been driving for eight hours and we decided the Sheraton Keahou Resort was just fine. A light supper and an adult beverage was followed by observing a beautiful sunset from just beyond the pool and then we retired for the night. Only sunrises are possible from Hilo and up in Volcano, altitude 3,500 feet, there is usually clouds and evening rain.

Freebies

The word, “freebies”, has a cheap sort of connotation. We didn’t think of it quite that way. Rather it was more like experiencing a taste of what the area had to offer. We started of the day with a very informative guided walk through the Rain Forest. For just over an hour, our guide, J J was a pleasant mixture of gabby and chatty and seemed to know a lot about more than just the native flora. The Nialahue Center continues to reclaim several acres from the onslaught of invasive species being introduced and in turn gives visitors a glimpse of what Paradise was like before we began introducing our “ornamentals”. Every third Thursday a group of volunteers wanders through their little parcel of heaven to rip out what doesn’t belong. Then it was off to the Volcano Winery to sample six of the local varieties which included a Macadamia Honey wine which was tasty enough to convince us that we just had to have a couple bottles along with a couple more of their Symphony Mele ( which means Merry in Hawaiian). The sampling gave us quite a buzz on an empty stomach so the next stop was to the Hilo Coffee Mill where they treated us to samples of three different roasts along with a very informative narration about the growth, harvest and care of the “cherries” from tree to the grind. We watched as a freshly roasted batch of beans came out of the oven into the cooling pan. What an aroma filled the place. Our hostess felt the smell was similar to a burnt batch of cookies and I could almost understand why. The beans are at just over 400 degrees when they are dumped onto a room temperature stainless steel tray and stirred ( not shaken ) for five minutes. The snap and crackle could be heard way across the room. Having learned much about our morning brew, we then headed off to the Pana’ewa Rain Forest Zoo. Sadly, the zoo and it’s exhibits had seen better days so we didn’t stay long. I’m glad we didn’t pay to be this disappointed. The bright spot of the place was a mature Peacock which we spotted as we were leaving.