Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio

Samuel and Betsy at the entrance to Kenyon College 

Where to start?  At 1 pm EST on August 26, 2018, Steven and I will officially become empty nesters as Kenyon College (gently) boots all parents from their campus.   It's like kindergarten all over again, except Steven and I will leave Samuel and fly 2,000 miles home.

Outdoor dining in the adjacent village of Gambier, OH
(population around 50 when school's not in session)  

Looks old?  That's because it is.   Established 1824.
Lots of Gothic and Greek revival buildings set in a 1,000 acre park.

But wait, you say, what is this place, Kenyon College?  Well, let me tell you what Kenyon College is not.  Kenyon College is not anywhere near Kenya.  (It is much closer to Columbus, Ohio.)  Kenyon College is not big.  (For big, go to Ohio State.)  But Kenyon College is a highly regarded liberal arts college, perhaps best known for the Kenyon Review, and maybe also for the Josh Radnor movie, appropriately called, Liberal Arts.  And oh yeah, Kenyon graduate John Green, who wrote The Fault in our Stars.  And Rutherford B. Hayes, one of those middle presidents. 

Samuel's new home in Gund Hall

*Empty nesting is not earned without some sweat.  It requires stamina to dorm shop, and access to a fully stocked Bed, Bath & Beyond. Microwave splatter cover?  Check.  Mattress topper? Check.  Aquaflops?  Check.  Vornado fan?  Check.  Quick dry towels? Check. That and so much more that must be crammed into your rental SUV.  And you will forget something.  You will run to Walmart. You will buy three hole punched reinforced notebook paper.  You will buy multiple extension cords.  You will still forget something.  But the plane awaits, and  you will let your baby go.   

Hawaii - Driving to the top of Mauna Kea

Betsy tries to stay warm at sunset at the top of Mauna Kea, elevation 13, 000 feet.
Note observatories behind her.
 

Because riding in a helicopter over an active volcano wasn't enough adventure for us in a single day, we also decided to visit the very top of the tallest mountain in the world,*  Muana Kea.  To get there, you really need a four wheel drive**.  So we went to a local car and truck rental shop in Kona and rented ourselves a four wheel drive just for the purpose of getting to the top.  Never fear, if you have a regular car, you can still go to the Muana Kea Visitor's Center, which sits at a pretty elevated 9,000 feet. 

Betsy, Samuel, Benjamin. 
We're just about to get back in our car because it's really cold. 
But look at that sunset! 

The big draw is the sunset at the top, surrounded by otherworldly observatories.  In fact, it's such a big draw, that four wheel buses will take you up for a price and save you the trouble of driving yourself.  I just let Steven do the driving (with a lot of verbal instruction from Benjamin on downshifting.)  You'll need to stop at the visitor's center first, where you'll need at least a half hour to acclimate to the elevation. This gives you ample time to visit the center, where you can buy astronaut food and freeze-dried Kona coffee.  This is also where the astronomers sleep in housing during the day.  A helpful park ranger will also educate you on the symptoms of altitude sickness.  This is no joke.  (Side note: I did have instant Kona coffee, but then I gulped a whole lot of H2O. Hydration is key.) 

The way to the top. source: Cheap Kona Car Rental 

It's about six miles to the top from the visitor center over a bumpy unpaved road, followed by a narrow paved lane to the top. There are no trees or vegetation at this elevation, just a series of observatories and a very bitter strong wind.  We came in the summer, so no snow, but high 30s.  Only in Hawaii, can you go from 9 feet elevation and 90 degrees to 13,000 feet and 39 degrees!  Bring the wool socks. (Or, like the Japanese tourists we saw, book a tour bus that provides parkas.) 

After you watch the spectacular sunset, the park rangers shoo you back down the mountain. No camping!  (Not that anyone would want to.)  As we bumped our way down, the vans filled with graduate student astronomers were coming up the mountain to stay up all night observing the stars. 


On the way back, we hoped to stop at the visitor center again to participate in some star gazing, but the lot was filled with amateur astronomers bent on seeing the Perseid meteor showers.  We did a little star gazing at the parking lot at the base of the mountain.  The Big Island hates light pollution, so we craned our necks and were dazzled.         


*Yes, it is so the tallest.  Measured from the bottom of the sea floor, Muana Kea is taller than Mt. Everest.  So there. 

**And while I shouldn't be telling you this, it is not technically illegal to drive a regular car up to the top.  But really, you shouldn't and the park rangers will give you the evil eye if you do.

Hawaii - Helicopter ride over Kilauea Volcano

Benjamin surveys the recent lava flow of Kilauea.
Just a patch of green left. 

In May 2018, Kilauea got busy again. According to Wikipedia, Kīlauea has been erupting nearly continuously since 1983.  This time, on May 3-4, 2018, two dozen lava vents opened up, followed by a  6.9 earthquake. Nearly 2,000 residents were evacuated from the rural Leilani Estates subdivision and nearby areas.  On May 17th, the volcano erupted at Halemaumau Crater, throwing ash 30,000 feet into the air, and created nearly a mile of new beach.  By July, 700 homes had been covered by lava.  Thankfully, there have been no casualties.

Lava flow, May 19, 2018 (source: USGS) 

Lava reaches the Puna geothermal power plant on May 22, 2018  (source: NPR)

The center of activity, Halemaumau Crater, on August 12, 2018,
as we viewed it from our helicopter.
Still smoking, but quiet (for now).
 

We elected to take a tiny open-door Hughes helicopter over this volcano 102 days after Kilauea's latest burst of activity.  The worst of the eruption seemed to be over, but we could still see a line of steam, and red lava in the caldera itself.  The Puna geothermal power plant was now completely surrounded by lava.  Though only a small portion of the plant was actually covered in lava, our pilot Sean told us the plant will not be reopened, perhaps because it's a lot of work to clear lava, requiring serious heavy equipment.  We could see some intact homes surrounded by lava.  Sean said those residents will be helicoptered back to pick up valuables once the lava cools and the volcano quiets, but the homes will never be occupied again.  Residents knew of the risk to live where they did, but land is inexpensive in the area just for that reason, so many found a home here.

Steam still escaping from vents leading to the crater.  August 12, 2018 

Sean could not fly in too low, because there had been some injuries from lava bombs in earlier weeks, so we hovered around 3,000 feet. 

Waterfalls not too far from Kileaua

As a stark contrast to the lava fields of Kilauea, we circled back to Hilo airport via lush tropical rainforest and waterfalls. 

 

Hawaii - Annie's Burgers in the rain

Relaxing at Annie's Burgers in Kona.
Taro Burger anyone? 

We met up with a downpour after kayaking and snorkeling in South Kona.  If that happens to you (and it will), I suggest a stop for a late lunch at Annie's Burger.  According to their website,  they have been "Voted BEST burger in West Hawaii 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016! Mahalo!"  We found our burgers in an unassuming strip mall off  Mamalahoa Highway.  We dodged the rain and rushed into the relaxation of Annie's.

Betsy checks out the locovore menu.
Open windows behind, with a pleasant tropical downpour. 

Across from our table were huge open windows, letting in the breeze but not the precipitation. 
Rain was never so pleasant.

Hawaii - Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge)

Benjamin stands in front of a model of Hale o Keawe,
a royal mausoleum housing the bones of 23 Hawaiian chiefs

We experienced Hawaiian history two ways today.  We started our day kayaking over to Captain Cook monument, where Captain Cook was clubbed and knifed to death by Hawaiians over a stolen rowboat in 1779.  Now this inlet is peacefully inhabited by snorkelers and kayakers intent on viewing exotic fish (pictures from my underwater camera to follow).

A collection oif ki'i (wooden images of Hawaiian gods) 

After exhausting ourselves snorkeling (and one capsized kayak, duly righted), we returned our rental kayaks and drove the four miles to the Pu-uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park, which, loosely translated, means place of refuge.   A perky ranger from Indiana provided us with a history of the Hawaiian islands and the park, which were sacred grounds for the ali'i (chiefs), and for those brave and lucky "criminals" who were able to make it to this refuge and be forgiven their sins. I put "criminals" in quotes because there were a lot of kapu (taboos) back then and if you broke them, you were up for human sacrifice.  Forbidden activities included eating meals with the opposite sex, or walking in the shadow cast by a chief.  This refuge was also used for the families of warriors during times of war.

Betsy and Samuel on the grounds of the refuge.
Turtles and fishponds nearby.  

Noni (Indian mulberry),
a plant brought over by the Tahitians, now flourishing in the park 

Hawaii - Hulihe'e Palace

Samuel walks through the sitting room at Hulihe'e Palace

At my request, we took a break from snorkeling to view the palace (or rather, grand house), of Hawaiian royalty. Built in 1838 of lava rock and mortar from corals, it contains not a single nail.  Later, it was stuccoed and plastered and guzzied up but the windows and beautiful Koa woodwork remains.

Upstairs sitting room, with "Kahili" staffs

My first impression when viewing the interior was "Tommy Bahama."  What the retail store lacks however is feathered staffs, called kahili, that seem to grace every room in this palace.  Think really large feather dusters.  You can see the two on either side of the couch in the picture above.  These were only allowed to royalty.  The bigger the kahili, the more important the person. 

Princess Ruth's bed, made of Koa wood.  

The most interesting royal figure for me was Princess Ruth Ke-elikolani, who lived in a grass hut outside the house, because she wanted to practice traditional Hawaiian customs.  She was the most powerful and wealthiest woman in Hawaii at the time, serving as royal governor of Hawaii.  She was also surely the largest, at 6 feet and 440 lbs. The royal family had heft back then.  Her bed was moved back into the palace for display.   
   

Hawaii - Kuana'oa Beach

Samuel emerging from the turquoise waters of Kuana'Oa Beach,
with Benjamin behind him 

One of the quintessial beaches on the Big Island is Kuana'Oa Beach, home of Rockefeller's Muana Kea Resort.   You may remember that beach name (if your Hawaian is good) from my posting on our manta rays.  There is where manta rays congregate at night, and people during the day.  One of my guidebooks describes it as "the most beautiful beach in the world."  Hyperbole? Maybe.  But also not far off the mark.  It contains a long stretch of fine sand followed by turquoise and blue waters.  It is so pretty in fact, that when we arrived at the beach, a gentleman had set up an easel to paint it.

There are two ways to enjoy this beach.  The first is to book a stay at Muana Kea resort at $400-$700 per room, or to drive to the free public access parking.  We tried the latter, after the gate attendant warned us there might be no spots left.  We had left early (for us Chesslers) just for that reason, arriving at 9:10 a.m.  You drive for several  miles through a lush golf course to the hidden FREE public access parking at the end.  Steven managed to wedge our ginormous Ford Explorer rental into a spot, and off we went to enjoy the beach. 

Steven at the Mauna Kea's Hau Tree Cafe,
with a view of the  hotel's beach chairs and ocean beyond 

After some snorkeling and just sitting around, Steven and I left the boys to frolic in the surf while we bought a Mai Tai and a famous Fredrico drink at the Hau Tree Cafe on the beach.  kWith a Poke appetizer, it was excellent but expensive, at $52 for three items.  But the view was priceless. 

Hawaii - Manta Rays

Getting ready to see the manta rays as the sun sets over Kuana'oa Beach

Manta rays are big.  They are born big, weighing 300 pounds at birth and measuring three feet across.  As adults they range from 4 feet to 20 feet or more, and every foot is about one hundred pounds of dense cartilage.  (The biggest in Kona is "Big Bertha" at about 16 feet and 1600 pounds. See the video taken of her here, a few years back.) But they are gentle giants.  They only eat plankton and their throats are only the size of a golf ball.  They have no stinger and no teeth. Their only enemies are sharks and misguided humans.  And when they feed, they are poetry in motion.

We went to see them on a night snorkel run by Liquid Hawaii.  A float boat took us out to Kuana'oa Beach, where the Muana Kea Resort shines a light over the beach.  The light attracts the plankton, which attracts the manta rays.  It also attracts a cottage industry of guides for divers and snorkelers that want to see the rays.  But we all seem to manage.  

Benjamin and I getting ready for the ultimate night time snorkel.

It was only be accident that Hawaiian hotel operaters discovered that shining bright lights into the Pacific at night could draw manta rays.  And from there, a new tourist activity  was born.  However, it has allowed regular study of manta rays, and over 200 individual rays have been identified over the years, along with a growing body of knowledge about manta rays.  Done correctly, this type of tourism seems a win/win.

After a very interesting review of manta ray physiology and behavior, and the admonition never to touch a ray, we jumped off the boat in our snorkel gear and gathered around a surf board caged with PVC piping, with lights in the center, to attract the plankton. 

This gives you an idea of the surfboard cage we hung off,
like Superman, except we all had fins.*

Our guide Amy pushed us around while we floated like Superman looking down into the water.  The water was so clear that the bottom seemed close enough to touch.  It wasn't until we saw divers at the bottom waiting for the rays that I realized it was bit deeper (about 50 feet)!   

We started with some ray sightings on the bottom, gliding effortlessly in the turquoise water.  Amy said they can reach speeds up to 23 mph by simply alternately movement of their fins, which resemble wings.  Then Amy moved us closer to the big lights, many placed at the bottom by divers.  And then the show began.  The manta rays seemed completely oblivious to our presence as they tumbled in circles around us, coming right underneath us.  They open their mouths wide and catch the plankton on gill rakers, then expel the water, and keep this dance up over and over.  

Should you do this?  If you can snorkle (and most everyone can), you should do this.  And I recommend you pay the money and let the experts take you out.  This is a unique and extraordinary experience everyone should put on their bucket list.  

---------------------------------------

*I did not take this picture myself.  Why?  Because sometimes waterproof bags for your phone are not waterproof.  We had visited Wai'alea Bay ("69" Beach) earlier that day to snorkel when I discovered my waterproof bag for my cell phone was not, in fact waterproof.  I think the phone's a goner.  Hence, the lack of any camera on this trip.  However, it would have detracted from enjoyment of the experience to have tried to take photos.  My advice: don't.   

**A stinging plankton gave me a fat lip near the end of our snorkel.  It was like an underwater mosquito bite, with no lasting effect.  Samuel quipped that the manta ray probably ate that stinging plantkon right in front of me, so my revenge was complete.  

Hawaii - Big Island life

Sightseeing in Kailua-Kona includes this view of a cruise ship

Herewith some impressions of the Big Island and the State of Hawaii.

I was surprised to see a cruise ship in the harbor at Kailua-Kona, but it mades perfect sense, as tourism is the state's number one industry, followed by the military and then agriculture.  Sugar and pineapple used to be a big deal in Hawaii, but not so much anymore.  Which leads me to my second impression...

They say it's expensive to live in paradise.  I know this already, hailing from the other paradise of San Diego.  But when you are on an island that is 2,500 miles from the mainland U.S. and even farther from Japan or any other point of civilization, it gets real expensive.   I'm told 95% of the goods in Hawaii are imported, mostly by plane.  At ABC stores (a combo of groceries, deli, clothes, and everything needed for snorkeling), all the eggs are from the mainland.  All the milk seems to come from the mainland too.  Apparently, there aren't too many diary farms left in the islands. 

It's dark at night, and you need a really good car, preferably four wheel drive, because you'll inevitably be parking on a boulder strewn road.  On west coast (Kona) side of the island, where most of the tourism exists, you can travel miles between resorts.  And everyone drives slowly here.  Mohala.    

Lava, close up.  But imagine acres of it.  

There is lava everywhere on  the Kona side.  It's like that last lava flow just happened yesterday, though you know it didn't.  (That's on the Southeast side of the island. )  But you can see how the lava flowed down the mountainside.  I haven't hiked through any of these lava fields yet, but looks like it would require steel toed shoes. 

There are cats (feral) and goats all about.  We're renting a condo at the Hali'i Kai resort (beautiful), and the main rule here seems to be DON'T FEED THE CATS.  My first night here one of those cats was sitting pretty in the lava bed just outside our unit, talking to me.   But, I did not feed her.

The place names here are all Hawaiian, with so many vowels it should be illegal.  And they can be very long (like Pu'uhonua O Hananau).  Our Greenwell coffee guide (the 21 year resident of the island) said it took her five years to get used to the names.  It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't so many of them, as they begin to merge in my mind.  But Hawaii wouldn't be Hawaii without them.  

Hawaii and Kona Coffee

Our tour guide stands next to a 118 year old coffee plant at Greenwell Farms 

Kona coffee is pretty famous, and you can only get the real thing from Kona, on the west side of the Big Island.   It's not cheap, but it's the smoothest coffee I've tasted outside of Italy.

We tried some of that coffee at Greenwell Farms, which dates back to 1850, when Englishman Henry Nicholas Greenwell purchased land for farming on the island.  He started by buying and marketing other farms' coffee, but it wasn't until after his death that his wife and ten children started growing their own coffee plants, starting in 1900.  They still buy coffee berries from other farmers, but grow most of it themselves.

Our fiesty tour guide, a 21 year resident of the island, told us it takes 7 lbs. of coffee berries to yield a pound of coffee beans.  A crew of 25 hand picks several hundred pounds of berries a day when the season is on.  We watched a little of the processing action as well.

Coffee plant up close.  The red berries are ready to pick. 

The coffee plants are grown in volcanic soil with natural rainfall, and some fertilizer.

p.s. Just read in the the local Drive Big Island summer issue that next big story in Hawaiian coffee will be along the Hamakua Coast.   

Hawaii, here we are

Kona Coast of The Big Island 

Since the May 3rd eruption of Kilauea volcano, tourism is down on the Big Island. So of course, we had to visit.  And while parts of the Volcano National Park are closed,  there is still a lot to enjoy on this island.

Deplaning at the Kona international airport

We arrived today just before 1 pm, after an easy five hour flight over the vast Pacific. We exited the plane to a blast of heat and humidity that wrapped around us and made me wish I'd worn a tank top and shorts.  The woman at the rental car agency suggested nearby spots for lunch and we wound our way to the Kona industrial area and the Kona Brewing Company, where we had excellent Puna pizza pie and some local brews. I had the Wailua Wheat, with passion fruit.  Benjamin had the Lychee Lager, with "50 pounds of hand shucked locally grown lychee fruit," advertised as the "perfect beer" to quench your thirst on a "hot Hawaiian summer day."

Selecting local brews and pizza at Kona Brewing Company.  Brewing tours also available. 

While waiting for our pizza, I caught up on the day's news, as reported in West Hawaii Today.  Hurrican Hector was expected to brush past  the Big Island, even though the acting mayor had declared a state of emergency yesterday.  (Spoiler alert: it swept past the island today, no harm done.)  Meanwhile, the mayor of Hilo was planning to ask the Hawaii state legislature for $550 million in volcano disaster relief.  And the 59th annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament was in full swing, though the hurricane was blamed for scaring away the blue marlin. And in the classifieds, "beautiful, healthy sheep for easy sale" were available in Waimea.

Aloha.