Back to Reality

We left Hilo at 5:30 last night going to Honolulu. Before we left Hilo we made another stop at the Tropical Gardens. They have great sandwiches and homemade ice cream. Some very unique flavors like Dragon Fruit, Banana Cream, Ginger and Pohe Berry. Yummiest!! They also operate a hostel and tent camp.

Returning to snow and ice Midwest OBOY!

From Rain Forest to Desert

We started the day with a hike along a former horse trail that went across the island. It was replaced by the current Saddle Road that passes between the big island's two major volcanos, Manna Loa and Manna Koa. We then drove to the north-west portion of the island. That portion of the island is more like central Utah - high desert. In less than 40 miles we went from lush tropical forest to what looked like a moonscape. This is our last full day on the island. It has been great!

Nathan's Fish Tank

No pictures today as they tend to look like others you have already seen - rocks and waves. We went snorkeling in some tidal pools and it was AWESOME! Kind of like swimming in one of Nathan's fish tanks. Many colorful fish that looked supersized from the ones you see in the tropical fish stores. Had to dodge the rain showers today and it was cool and windy. The surf was high today and you could watch the waves crash on shore for a long time.

Garden of Eden

When to a most spectacular botanical garden yesterday. If you ever get to Hilo the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is a must see!! The best botanical garden I have ever seen. Drove along the east coast, northward from Hilo. Past many former sugar plantations. The sugar industry collapsed on Hilo in the late 1970's.
I did buy a real Hawaiian shirt actually made in Hawaii. That will be about as close to going native as I get.

Bungle in the Jungle

Rain day today. It has rained most of the day, ranging from a light mist to a flat out down pour. We did manage to walk to a very cool homemade ice cream shop about a mile from the condo. On the way back we walked along the shore and watched the waves break. High surf resulted in some good sights. Met Bob and Suyue on the way back and took a rain shortened hike it the rain forest

Kilauea - A hot time on the Big island

Today we did a four to five mile hike in the Hawaii Volcanos National Park. We walked across the floor of the caldera. Just crossing the floor saw about 1.8 miles. The picture attached is of the floor but it does not do justice to the size or scale of the place. After the hike we visited the Volcano Art Gallery. Very high-end art and a large number of Koa wood objects. Bob and Suyue fixed a dinner of Ahi tuna (pronounced a-he) that was great!

Hawaii? On the AT???

I guess I could say that I started the AT Epic today, some 6000 miles from Springer Mountain Georgia. I did get a three mile hike in this morning so I am counting it.
Nathan showed me a blog app that allows easy access and ease of transferring photos. Lets see how it works.

Frustration

For most of the day today I have been fooling with adding a post from my iPhone. All I Have succeeded in doing is losing a post I made last week. I had imported a picture and everything. Not real happy with iPhone publishing at this time.

Have to begin someplace

OK people, this is the first installment of what I hope to be a great adventure.  I think I have created my blog so you can follow my misadventures on the trail.  Like the hike, I am doing my blog solo with no tech help from Connie.  This is first for me.  Ready to hit the "publish" button so here goes...