Merry Christmas

Hawaii, the Big Island

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I owe a big thanks to Kevin and Rebecca, my wonderful hosts here on the Big Island. Kevin let my borrow his R1200GS and gave me the best tour you could imagine. In the past 3 days I’ve driven 830 miles, without any Interstate (there’s not one on this island).

Day 1: Kevin and I took the southern road to Hilo stopping in Volcanoes National Park to walk through a lava tube (think lava cave). We drove the amazing Chain of Craters road. In Hilo, we ate lunch at a local favorite Ken’s House of Pancakes. We drove back to the leeward side of the island on the Saddle road which passes between the two giant volcanoes Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Even though it was foggy and rainy on the windward side, we had an amazing ride. This is one of the best motorcycling roads I’ve ridden. It has lots of twists and turns, beautiful scenery, and not much traffic. These two enormous volcanoes aren’t shaped like the perfect cones I remembered from 8th grade science (the volcano that Rett and I built was bright blue and blacklight reactive, way cooler than the drab brown). They are instead gentle sloping giants, that measured from the sea floor to the top are the tallest mountains in the world. We cruised back through some lava floes and big open spaces on the high road.

Another Waikiki Sunrise

This one actually has the sun in it.

Aloha 1982

The colors for some reason aren’t as vivid in Firefox as they are in other programs on my computer, so if you want a better feeling of the last series of images, try downloading them.

Pearl Harbor and the USS Bowfin (Submarine)

Oahu – North Shore

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I want to take advantage of this fast Internet connection while I have a chance. Yesterday we drove by the famous “Pipeline” on the North Shore where there’s a world famous surfing competition. Unfortunately the waves weren’t right, so everyone was waiting.

The white temple looking building is a Mormon temple with amazingly laid out grounds. It seemed to me like it was in the middle of nowhere.

Loco Moco

Yesterday for brunch I had to try the local favorite, the Loco Moco. I’ve now seen it at several places, so I know it’s not a one-off. This is probably one of the most hearty breakfasts you can imagine; fried rice, gravy, hamburger patty, and eggs.

Waikiki Sunrise Time Lapse