Saturday August 30, 2014 Hawaii Vacation

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Daily Blog -
Anniversay Day!!!
I got up around 4am, had some Kona coffee (3 stars) and read for an hour. Finally got dressed and went to Safeway and bought $50 worth of flowers (5 Stargazer Lilies, 12 White Roses, bunches of purple Statice, 5 Red Ginger and 1 Bird-of-Paradise). It took a long time to arrange and luckily I didn't wake Kathy. Finally I put them by her head in the bed and she woke up a few minutes later. The lilies really stink, according to Alan, but smell great to Kathy.
We got up and had our usual breakfast. Alan - apple, banana, coffee and Raisin Bran cereal. Kathy - English muffin with butter and peanut butter, then Fiber One cereal.
We decided since it was Labor Day weekend and the waves weren't supposed to get smaller until the next day. So we decided we would drive to the Volcano National Park, around 95 miles with speeds of 35, 40 and 55 mph. Google Maps says 2 hours, but actual drive time was around 2.5 hours. We drove along Ali'i highway for a ways and then found a way up to Highway 11.
We drove for 10 miles then saw the signs for Kealakekua Bay. We were thinking of taking a snorkeling trip to the bay (best snorkeling on Big Island), so we took 160 down, down, down, down to the beach (a very winding road). The bay looked perfect for snorkeling, so we left to continue our trip. Back up 160 to 11, then south around the bottom of the Big Island. We passed Macadamia and coffee farms, lava flows that looked like they just happened (nothing growing) and lots of rural Hawaii. We were having a great time and I made Kathy laugh so hard she peed a little in her panties.
One of the top 100 on my bucket list was to see the green and black sand beaches. The green sands were way off the road and then a 2.5 mile hike, so sadly we had to skip that trip. We stopped at Black Sands beach along with hundreds of motor cycles. Apparently everyone rides bikes on holiday weekends. The sand is so black and shiny and the grains were large enough to hurt Kathy's feet (Alan can't feel it). Beautiful beach, huge waves crashing on the rocks. Continued our drive along the country-side with lots of cattle.
We made it to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park around 11:30 am. We stopped at the visitor center and talked to the ranger. Kathy bought lots of Christmas gifts for family. We hiked over to the Sulphur Banks 0.6 miles. Didn't hardly smell, but the gas did affect her contacts.
On the way back, Kathy heard a man say "Shut up you brat bastard". She got really upset. So when she went to the bathroom, I drove back over to where the man and boy were and when the wife came out I told her what was said and she looked at me in disbelief. I don't know what happened, but I hope the man learned a valuable lesson. I did make Kathy feel alot better, so I was happy.
We drove south along the Crater Rim Drive and stopped at Kilauea Iki Overlook, then the Thurston Lava Tube. It was a long, steep downhill walk to the tube and then a walk thru the lava tube and then short walk up back to the cars. I don't understand how it was so far down and only a short walk back up. Weird.
We then drove to Pu'u Pua'i overlook and had lunch. I got a picture of Kathy taking her wet panties off. We had a nice quiet lunch near the craters edge. We got back in and started the drive down Chain of Craters road. We stopped at Pauahi Crater and I jumped over the fence near a crumbling edge to get a photo. Scared a bunch of Spanish tourists. We drove back up towards the visitor center and stopped at the Volcano House (really old national park hotel with a fabulous view). Took a few photos, and then drove over to the Jagger Museum, closest place to few active area of the volcano. All you can see is steam coming out of the small crater hole inside the big crater hole. We took photos and walked around the museum. On the way back, we stopped at the steam vents. They are HOT! I really wanted to wait around until after dark when you can see the glow of the lava on the steam coming out of the crater. It was only 2:30pm so we decided to skip the wait.
As we drove back we decided we would drive the 12 miles off Highway 11 down towards South Point and the Green Sands beach to see if someone would give us a ride to the beach. The last 6 miles of the road is only 12 feet wide (1 lane) and every time you passed a car, you had to pull over. We made it to the Green Sands parking and a Hawaiian lady (big) asked if we wanted a ride to the beach. Yeah! A native born Hawaiian, David, took us in his little beat-up 4wd 2 rows of seats on the 2.5 mile (30 minute drive at 1-5 miles per hour) all the way to the beach. It is a small area of beach 100 yards wide with huge waves crashing. It was just barely green in color, but still beautiful. Kathy sat in the front of the car on the way back. It was really hard for me to fold up small enough to get in the back seat. David charged us $30 for the trip, but I ended up giving him $40. It was so worth the price.
We then drove down to the South Point. Furthest south point in the United States. I have now officially been to the 4 cardinal points of the US. North - Nome, AK, South - South Point Big Island HI, West - Guam, and East - Quaddy Head, Maine.
We took photos of the point and then walked over to where locals were camping and fishing off the cliffs. There was a jumping platform - 45 feet above the ocean and a rickety ladder (made of rebar). I missed a guy jumping. He walked over to a vertical tube with water rushing up and down inside. He said he was going to jump, but never did (probably would have been scraped up badly on the rocks). We watched the sun set and then drove back to the condo arriving around 8pm.
It was a really long, eventfull day and now I am Tired!

Videos -
Punalu'u Black Sands Beach Park
Steam at stinky Sulphur Banks at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Main volcano at Halemaumau Crater
Main volcano at Halemaumau Crater
Steam Vent
Whittington Beach Park (previously Honu'apo village wiped by Tsunami)
Whittington Beach Park
Kathy at Papakōlea Green Sands Beach
Waves at Papakōlea Green Sands Beach
Seafoam at Papakōlea Green Sands Beach
Waves at South Point
Waves at South Point
Man contemplating jumping into a very dangerous Sink Hole
Man still contemplating jumping into a very dangerous Sink Hole

Photo Groups -
Queen Lili'uokalani Race
Punalu'u - Black Sands Beach Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Sulphur Banks Hike
Original Hawaiian homesite at Volcano National Park
Kīlauea Iki Overlook
Thurston Lava Tube
Pu'u Pua'i Overlook
Pauahi Crater along Chain of Craters Road
Halema‘uma‘u Crater and Jagger Museum
Steam Vents
Whittington Beach Park
Papakōlea - Green Sands Beach at Mahana Bay
South Point