Volcano National Park, Hawai'i

Everyone that goes to this park for the very first time wants to see lava spewing into the air. I know I did when I first visited in 1965.

I was quite disappointed as a 3rd grader. I thought this was the most boring place on earth...and it smelled bad.

We returned each year then through 1973. The park got more interesting of course because of the eruption of Mauna Ulu in 1969.

In 2001 my father and I made this trip. He was a trooper and we did a few trails.
This time around, well large portions of the park were closed due to high sulfur content from the current activity at Kilauea and the activity at Pu`u `O`o.

What really struck me during this visit was the plant life. When you think about it, this is an incredible and exotic area for plants [and animals].

I really disliked the tour buses and the groups of guides with bicycles. Sorry...but they were very annoying! But to each there own.

So I leave you with these photos of plants:
Pukiawe:
Ohelo Lehua:
Uluhe Ferns at the steam vents:

Hapu'u or Tree Ferns at the Thurston Lava Tube:
A'ali'i:
Ohelo Lehua Tree on the side of Kiluea Crater:
...and Pele, the goddess who we decided was responsible for changing the winds so that the sulfur content of the air was dangerous enough to close most of the park after we left...
and...to keep us from viewing the lava flow into the ocean at Kalapana.
[taken at the Jagger Museum]

Kalapna:

Our ride back that night was over the Saddle Road. If you want to experience this road, I suggest that you never do it in the dark as we did.
Thanks to my son, we returned to our house tired, but safe.

The Secret Place

There is a place, a secret place that is not really secret...[but it felt that way to us]

Green and black sand...

Raging surf...

A very nasty road...



And incredible sights.

Am I going to tell you where it is?
No.

This would be a gem you'd need to discover on your own.

Tribute to a drive train:
Unforgiving and desolate landscapes...
Come with a sense of humor, a lot of guts...

...and enjoy the beauty and the beast of the land of Hawai'i...

Sunsets for Dad ~ Forever

All day I felt a bit apprehensive.

Well ~~ all the while I've been 'in charge' of my Father's box of Ashes, I've felt a bit odd.
Not bad odd.
Just a tad bit odd.
As if there was a weight on my shoulders.
In our last visit, he'd requested to come back to Hawai'i.

Around 5pm Hawai'i time, we put the 'box' in the Jeep and jumped in. My son and his wife drove me to the Old Kona Airport Beach.
I wore a 1965 vintage dress that had been made for my mother by Doi's of Kawaihae.
I felt elegant in the dress.
The mumuu flowed around me ... to just above my ankles.

I pointed to the path that Dad and I had used in 2001.
*There,* I said to my son and his wife.
*That's the place, pull in and park by that sign.*
Before Ed and Joy even got out, I found my feet leading me down the path towards the ocean.
To my relief, the tree was still there.
The picnic table still chained to the tree.
I glanced towards the north. Yes, there was 'the rock'. This was the place. My son and his wife caught up with me.
I dropped to the sand, lava, and coral chips...that made up the beach... and began digging with a piece of flat lava that my son had handed to me.

No special words really.
I had none.
For Dad and I exchanged few words here, but simply enjoyed each others company.
The sun was setting soon.
This was the right time, the right moment.
The tide was coming in.
I dug quickly, my son dropped by my side and began to dig also. We stopped.
*Big enough?* he asked. [Thank you Joy for taking photos...]
*Big enough.*
I opened the black box.
The box that had traveled on several airplanes and had waited a long time for its contents to be released.
The ashes looked like ground up lava rocks, with chunks...but nothing very large.

I pulled the twist tie off the bag [it was not difficult to open the plastic box]. I felt the contents through the bag. Felt its consistency.

I touched the ashes.
Yes Dad, had been gone for 5 years.
But.
This was a 'mission'...his final trip to the place where he was always happy.
A place where he always enjoyed the sunsets.
Ed, Joy, and I gathered bits of white coral and made a circle.
Then I laid a Hawai'ian head lei in a circle over the coral.

Everything was biodegradable...no harm to the environment.
I felt a sob pull tight in my throat as I gently patted the sand.
I felt happy ~ yet sad.

I did and didn't want to let go of his ashes...the last physical connection I had to my Dad.
I sat back with my camera and took some photos of one of the most gorgeous Hawai'ian sunsets that I'd ever seen.
This was the right place.
This was the right time.
I said Aloha to my father with my head bowed. ...and then I said Mahalo quietly, and thanked him for being my father. Mahalo Dad, may your sunsets always be spectacular.

Side note~~~
We went to dinner afterwards at the Kona Brewery.
Just before we left the singer strummed up the song *White Sandy Beaches* and *Over the Rainbow*.

Yeah that did it for me...I cried when we got back home and sat on the porch watching the moon rise over the Mauna Loa Preserve.

Hawai'ian night

We stayed up until 1AM 'our' time then dropped to bed exhausted.

I highly recommend Huggo's on the Rocks as a divine place to eat.
I ate a teriyaki burger with steamed rice and listened to the waves dance below us.

I woke up 3am Hawai'an time and at least used the time to download and sort my photos from yesterday.

Now, I SURE do wish we'd picked up coffee last night!
I'm dying for a cuppa!
[back yard]

Traveling...

Milwaukee daybreak.
I watch as our airplane is loaded. The sky is incredibly beautiful. The temperature outside is in the 40’s.

We don’t wait long to board and the sun breaks the horizon as we take off.

It only takes about 20 minutes for me to fall asleep. I’m tired and the engine’s noise lull me into a deep sleep.

I awaken to look down out the plane window.
Well, we are not in the Midwest any more. The land looks dry and brown. I see a couple of fields that are formed in circles. Irrigation I think.

Soon the terrain gets interesting and Ed wakes up and leans over to watch out the window with me.
I point to places and he explains some basic geology to me. I enjoy it, especially when we fly over a zone of ridges.
The southwest, I conclude from the air, is definitely something I’d like to see and explore some day.


We land in Phoenix. A huge city in what appears to be settled in a ‘dry river bottom’ at least 50 miles wide [I think this is what Ed said].
We disembark.


I am impressed by how nice the ‘helpers’ are in the airport. We have to leave the security area to pass on the next concourse. Which means another long line waiting to get searched.
I know the drill.
Sweartshirt off.
Shoes off.
Laptop out of my bag.
Grab my toothpaste and personal items that are in a zip lock back and toss them into a bin.

Ed and Joy had moved on to other search lines.
Everything passes.
The fellow behind me reaches over and dumps my stuff on the table, … I don’t know if he was trying to hurry me or if he is trying to help.
I grab my stuff and scurry to a bench.
The area is surrounded by too many TSA agents to count.
A police officer passes by again with a big black dog. We’d seen him before and wondered if he was a ‘drug’ or ‘bomb’ dog.

I toss my shoes on, throw my toothbrush bag back into my carry on.
I stand up and look around. I cannot see Ed or Joy.
Crap.
A sea of people and TSA agents and I cannot see them.
I glance down at my ticket and realize well…we should probably meet up at our gate.

I remember my little itty bitty cell phone and grab it out of the camera backpack.
I call and leave Ed a message that I am headed for our gate.
I call Joy and speak to her. She is behind me somewhere in the massive crowd and we decide to meet up at the gate.
At the gate, I realize that I must have dropped my sweatshirt where the gent dumped my stuff, or where I sat to put on my shoes.
Double crap.

~~~~
Tonight's sunset was delightful.
I'm looking forward to sunrise.
Rest now...another new day tomorrow.
I fall asleep with the scent of pikake flowers coming in from the tree next to my open window.

Makua kane~Father

Makua kane~Father

My father introduced me to Hawai'i in the winter of 1965.
We traveled relentless hours by plane to a land of mystery...to a 6th grader.

My father was one of those who did not believe in a 'tour-travel package'. We rented a house and took to the Big Island roads with only one thing in mind.
Adventure.

We discovered many wonderful things.
We traveled the Chain of Craters road, whose length can no longer be driven.

We discovered hidden water falls, twisted roads, sugar cane fields...roads where mom would say, *Tom, this doesn't look good!*
We road the Saddle Road.
We discovered friends and how to snorkel.

We played.
We had fun.
We made cherished memories.
And throughout my childhood, we went back...and Hawai'i became my dream land also....

In 2001, I escorted Dad back to Hawai'i.
I got the sense from him that this was where he always wanted to be...a place for him of wonderful and fond memories.
Of happiness.
Of togetherness.
Indeed, I feel it too.

In February of 2005 my Dad told me on our last visit together that he wanted to go back to Hawai'i. He wanted to visit *that place under the tree* to watch the ocean.
He could do that forever.

He died in June of that year.
I am taking him back.

I am revisiting those wonderful happy memories and making new ones with my son.
...and so it continues.
Mahalo Makua kane~~~

I'm Gonna Miss Her

She's packed her bags.
Her camera bag, her clothes thingy with zippers.
I put my Hedgehog toy in it.
She tossed it out on the floor.

I put a pull toy in it.
...on the floor, again.

I sat in it and she yelled at me.

She even cleaned her car and vacuumed it.
Which means I am definitely not going.
She always puts blankets down for me.
She mentioned an airplane.
She says she can't take me to a place called Hawai'i.

Why not?
I borrowed one of her shirts and tried to look human...but I guess the ears give me away, eh?