Hawaii- the Big Island v. 71

Love the Big Island!!  Eleven of the 13 possible climate zones on Earth exist on the island of Hawaii, and I think we experienced all of them!  What an interesting place.  My classmate, Doug Adams' family has been there since the 1800's.  He and Deb (also a classmate), took us to see the family beach house, where we dried off after:

Posing near a "honu" (sea turtle)

And getting caught in a rain shower!

What a lovely place for a family to gather!

About those climate zones....  We rented a 4 wheel drive vehicle to drive to the top of Mauna Kea to see the observatories, and were treated to the last sunset of the day in the US.  Oh yes, we borrowed many layers of warm clothing too!

Lately, we have been encountering large groups of Japanese visitors.  It seems the tour companies have them all dress the same.  Maybe to avoid "lost sheep"?  They like to step out in front of cars without looking.  Hmmm...  glad they wear bright colors.

We discovered "SNUBA".  It is like SCUBA, but you don't have to be certified, and your source of air is a raft above you.  It was beautiful- off the Kona coast

 

One of Bob's lofty goals in Hawaii was to drink from a pineapple.  Accomplished!

We took a zipline tour north of Hilo.  There are waterfalls all over the place!  Becca and Bob enjoyed the upside down tour :).

This was fascinating.  We visited Volcano National Park and learned so much about the Pacific Islands.  Each of the Hawaiian Islands was formed over the same "crack" in the earth's crust.  Since the plates move about 4 inches a year, and activity is varied over millions of years, some of the chain is under water, and some became the islands.  Another island is forming right now- Loihi. I don't think we will see it in our lifetime- maybe in 250,000 years.  These photos are lava from Kilauea, which took out several neighborhoods, and a National Park visitor center.  It erupted in 1983 and has flowed continuously since then.  No volcano insurance on the Big Island!

Deb and I finished the visit with a trip around the Hilo market. Lots of interesting products and foods. Thanks Doug and Deb for a great visit!

Zipping the Big Island