Life's Laundry

One of Life's Simple Pleasures

After we dined on the best tasting food during our Hawaii trip - we decided to venture down into the gardens on the property.  We'd been viewing them through the upper window during our lunch and I just had to get down and see them up close.

Flower gardening has become my hobby the past 2 years and I so enjoy watching the artwork that others have created through gardening.  This property was no exception.

Here's some of what we saw....

These umbrellas have stone tables under them.  Underneath the floor to the tables is a fire pit where in the winter - they build fired under the tables to make where you sit/eat warm.....what a cool thought.

Lots of interesting texture, color and fragrances.  I loved this place.

The Best Food on the Whole Trip

After our trip up to the top - we were famished.

The concierge had recommended The Kula Lodge for lunch and we remembered passing it on the way up.  We decided to give it a try.

We dined on the most fabulous tasting food and received the best service.  I ordered a black angus burger with all the trimmings and hubby had a brick oven pizza with 4 different kinds of meat and lots of veggies and some cheese.  We watched the cook prepare and cook our lunch through the window from above.  Once the food arrived, we shared.  I've NEVER tasted any pizza like that.  Yum! Yum!

So was the food so good because we were hungry or because it was just good?

Going Down is Different than Heading Up

We took the opportunity about four or five times on the way down to stop and take in the view.  There were some places that it seemed we might reach out and touch the cloud or walk right across the sky.

Here's some of the views that we captured on the way down.

Above The Clouds - Part 5

I debated whether to share this picture because it's a mixed emotion picture....one of those where you "had to be there" and you love the 'memory' but you hate the actual picture.  You know that kind, right?

So this picture was taken up near the observatory that I mentioned in the previous post and hubby says to me, "Go right over there and stand near the edge and I'll take your picture."  For those who might not think this is a big deal - I don't do well with "edges" that have a steep drop off.  I'm paranoid about losing my footing and falling to my death. 

I was as careful as can be getting over to this spot, which we felt would be a perfect picture spot with the clouds in the background and the rock, etc......He promised me he would come over there and help me get back.

He didn't.

He just stood there and laughed at me and kept saying, "dont fall...."

I started laughing at myself and before I knew it, I was doubled over in hysterical laughter.  Other visitors were looking at us and one even asked what was so funny.  We couldn't stop laughing to tell them and we knew they wouldn't understand anyway.

Why do I hate the picture?  Because it makes my ass look fat.  That's why.

Obviously I refused to trust him in any other high elevation places that did not have a building to hold on to...so once we stopped laughing enough to walk - I had him take the picture at the lookout point.

Then we had a woman from Ohio (who we later found out had family that lived within an hour of our home) take our picture together.

Then it was time to head back down through the clouds.....

Up Above The Clouds - 4

Remember the pictures from yesterday of the caldera taken from the lookout edge of the visitor's center?

Well here's the center from the highest elevation:

The building to the far right of the parking lot is where we stood in the lookout area and took the pictures of the caldera.  The building right to the edge of the parking lot are the restroom and showering facilities for visitors and campers. 

After we took in the view and attempted to record the majesty of the view, we jounied on up higher to a military/govt exploratory:

(taken from the visitor's parking lot upward)

No, visitor's can't go inside the compound; however, you can get within 1500 yards and take some more pictures.

Here's what I remember learning about that conservatory:  They have a laser beam that they shoot to a disk on the moon and it measures the distance of the moon to the earth within 3 inches.  That's pretty cool to me. The rest of the "stuff" up there is for weather, military usage, radar and some other top secret stuff.  Hell, for all I know - Elvis and Anna Nicole Smith might be living up there together.

Up Above The Clouds - 3

I've never seen the inside (or edge, for that matter) of a volcano so I had no idea what to expect when we arrived at the top of Haleakala.  By the time we did arrive, I don't think it would have mattered what it looked like because the experience and views on the drive up had been nothing less than spectacular.

Having used a guided audio tour, we learned a tremendous amount about how the islands formed and the difference between a crater and a caldera.  I'm laughing now because I can't think of how to describe it so I'm thinking that I must not have learned it very well, did I ?  :)  At any rate....the inside that you see in the following pictures is of the caldera...not a crater.

Here's what we found when we stood on the lookout edge at the visitor's center:

According to the tour and published information, the width spans about 7-8 miles.

See the shadow of black/darker just on the edge of the rock at the top?  That's volcanic ash and each time the wind comes across the top of the caldera, it picks up a bit of that ash and disperses it wherever it damn well pleases.  A good bit of it gets trapped within the moisture of the clouds and forms the 'vog' that I (think) I mentioned in an earlier post.  Volcanic ash mixed with fog or smog forms 'vog' and it's darker and nastier/dirtier than regular cloud moisture.  On this particular day with the direction of the wind - it was clear and there was no vog.

It's been dormant for quite some time and people actually  hike down into the middle and explore caves, camp for a night/few days.  I'm happy as can be for them to do that - I'll take the heavenly bed at the Hyatt over a sleeping bag or cabin in the middle of the caldera, thank you.

There is a tour bus that comes up to the top at 5 AM so that people can watch the sunrise come over the edge of the caldera.  I recommend this for your very first morning here - since your body will still be on mainland time and you really think it's already 11 in the morning.  Someone drives you up in the dark, you experience the view of sunrise and the light coming over the caldera, you get to walk around for an hour or so and then you are chauffeured back down in the morning light.  This way, you do get to see all the sights but someone is driving the tricky road for you.

I'm aiming to not share more than 3 or 4 images in each post so it will probably take about 3 or 4 more days to share all the images and experiences of this particular afternoon.

Tomorrow - measuring the moon's distance from earth within 3 inches.

Up Above The Clouds - 2

I don't remember how many curves and turns we navigated.  The whole experience was so entertaining and stimulating that I really lost track of the number of times I turned that steering wheel.  We laughed, we talked, we must have said a gazillion times, "Oh, my gosh, look at that" and then kept on going.  I relished in the fact that we were on no one's schedule but our own and had no one to answer to or be responsible for but ourselves.  Everyone should have at least one vacation a year where that kind of freedom can be experienced.

So....I was thinking when we set out that we'd see rocks.  Got that.  I was expecting to see different kind of plant material.  Got that.  I was intrigued by all the different kinds of vegetation and the fact that we were passing through the largest cattle ranch in the western world but silly me....did I ever expect to come around a sharp curve and see this in the middle of the road: ?

or these another 25 yards on up the road?

The brown cow in the first picture was in the very middle of the road.  I had to slam on breaks to keep from running right into her.  How the hell would I explain that to the rental car company?  "Sorry, sir, we turned the corner and ran right into her."

We just laughed as she slowly looked up in that mood of, "is there something that you wanted me to do?" and then went about 2 feet over to the side of the road and resumed filling her mouth with something to eat.  I have no idea how long she had been in the middle of the road but she took her own sweet time to move out of the way.  This gave up plenty of time to snap the photo and laugh some more while we both repeated Little Sister's favorite saying while we are in the car..........."COW!"  It's probably one of those things where 'you had to be there' to appreciate the humor in it - but it was hilarious for us. 

Interestingly enough, this is one of Little Sister's favorite pictures to look at in our Hawaii slide show (which, by the way, she and I look at almost daily).

Tomorrow: It's actually called a "Caldera" and not a crater.

Up Above The Clouds - 1

Side Note:  Today we are at the local hospital in surgery while Little Sister has her tonsils and adenoids removed along with having tubes put in her ears.  If you are so inclined, please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.  As a mommy, I've not experienced any of my children being put to sleep or having surgery.  I know everything will go fine but as with anything - I'll feel so much better when I'm on the other side of the experience.

Now - onto a walk in the clouds.....

The road/drive up to the volcano is winding and steep.  Sometimes the visibility would be miles...and then other times, right out of nowhere, the visibility would be 10 yards (or 10 feet).  The above picture is once such case.  If memory serves me correctly, this picture is taken at about 9000 feet elevation.

We pulled over to the roadside and sat for a few moments, just taking in the magnificent scenery.  I stood still and felt the mist pass right over my skin and when I mentioned it to hubby, all he could think of to say was his standard, "this is the coolest damn thing I've ever seen."

Only after navigating two thirds of the way up the volcano/mountain do you actually reach the state park part.  We paused to capture the following image because I knew that there was little hope that I'd be able to remember how to spell the name of the place that we were.  Hell, it took me 2 days to learn how to say it correctly with the correct accent on the right syllable. :)

Just in case you're wondering..........

Holly - ah - kah - LAH   (the the accent on the last syllable) is how it's pronounced.

Just around the next curve after the opening sign, we found this:

Isn't that just magnificent?  I thought for a fleeting moment that I might just step right off the edge of that ground and just walk right out to the middle of that fluffy cloud and find a horizontal position and look right into the heavens.  But - since it was fleeting and I realized that gravity would overcome any thoughts I was entertaining - I decided to just sit right where I was already and experience a few moments of awe on the solid ground.

Tomorrow:  Interesting roadside attractions that one would never expect to find on the way up the side of a volcano.

I Wouldn't Want To Sit On It

After a lazy morning in that luxurious hotel bed, we finally found our way toward the volcano.  I'm saving the pictures of the volcano until tomorrow but just had to share this with you .................

Left or Right?

Part of the awards package included a rental car for the duration of the stay in Maui.  Ours was a 2-Door sportscar. Plenty of leg room but I found the 2 door version very challenging - - considering I'm used to a mini van with automatic side doors.

So the morning that we decided we would get out and venture up to the volcano......we took a look out the left window (driver's side) and saw this:

And then the right side.....and saw this:

So which do you prefer?

Next: I wouldn't want to sit on it :)