6th day on Big Island: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

On the day before leaving Hawaii, we decided to visit the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  I had visited this park more than a decade before, and I wasn't very impressed. However, Mark had never been. Besides, we needed to get our money's worth out of our annual U.S. National Parks pass, so off we went.

On our way to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, we stopped off at the Punalu'u Beach, a famous black sand beach where we saw as many as 11 turtles resting and feeding.

Turtle feeding at Punalu'u Beach
Big Island, HI

Sleeping Turtle, Punalu'u Beach
Big Island, HI

At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, we paid a visit to the visitor center and the Jagger museum before we decided to hike down into the Kilauea Iki Crater. This is a collapsed lava lake formed in 1959 (excuse my inaccurate geological terminology).  Despite the view of the desolate crater from the overlook (see below), this is a verdant trail that descends through a lush rain-forest.

The Kilauea Iki hiking trail descends into this lava lake
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI

Rainforest at Kilauea Iki Trail
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI

Hiking along the rainforest-Kilauea Iki Trail
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI

Flowers in the rainforest-Kilauea Iki
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI

I enjoyed this hike tremendously: the rainforest made a nice contrast with the moonscape that we met at the bottom of the crater. The still steaming crater bottom was wild. I felt like we were un-supervised kids as we risked our necks climbing over and into still bubbling steam vents.

Despite our unlimited access at the crater bottom, I probably won't be paying another visit to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park any time soon. I am just not that interested in volcanoes or lava, despite the awesome film shown at the Visitor's center.

Kilauea Iki Trail
Big Island, HI

Thurston Lava Tube
Hawaiian Volcanic National Park, HI

After the park, we decided not to linger and returned to Kona.  For dinner we ate spam musubi and fast food Hawaiian food at L&L Barbecue.

Yum, spam musubi
Big Island, HI

Snowshoeing in Sequoia National Park, Part 2

Mark and me in front of
General Sherman Tree,
The largest tree in the world

The second day at the Parks was dedicated to Sequoias, Sequoias, Sequoias.  Here we were at Sequoia National Park, and we hadn't really seen a Sequoia yet, except briefly during a drive-by.

Like all other tourists, we made our way to the General Sherman tree.  Named after William "Tecumseh" Sherman, the celebrated Civil War general, General Sherman is the largest living tree in the world.  Other trees might be taller, (Coastal Redwoods at 379 feet tall), and other trees might be older (Bristlecone Pines at 4800 years of age), but the Sequoia is the largest by volume.

I'm a pretty weepy person in general, but being reduced to tears by a tree was a  first for me.  It's cheesy to say, but being in the presence of General Sherman, and Giant Sequoias in general, makes you aware that you are in the presence of something larger than oneself, metaphysically, as well as physically .  The atmosphere around General Sherman was hushed.  I got the impression that everyone felt the same way as me.  This is yet another reason why one should visit Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park in winter rather than summer. People seem more worshipful of nature if they are going to go through the trouble of visiting the Sierras in winter.

Being amongst these trees makes you
want to "Preserve and Protect",
much like the National Park Rangers

Right off the manicured trail off General Sherman is a snow-covered 1.5 mile loop called Congress Loop.  Congress Loop has got to be one of my top hikes of all time.   This loop takes you amongst Giant Sequoias named after Congressmen and U.S. states.  In summertime, I can imagine there would be hordes of screaming kids and overweight Americans in shorts lining this path.  However, since it was winter, and the loop was covered with 8 feet of snow, we were left alone a mere 20 feet from the exposed concrete.

As a side note, my other top hikes of all time are: Summiting Mt. Whitney (for it's epic, extreme nature), Discovery Trail in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest (for it's contemplative, desolate landscape), and Lyell Canyon/John Muir Trail in Yosemite National Park (for it's pristine and gentle scenery).  I've also hiked Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, and the Zion Narrows in Zion National Park, to give you an impression of my diverse hiking experience.

Spawn of Sentinel tree,
to be germinated on our patio

Congress Loop Trail takes you among spectacular Giant Sequoias.  I felt filled with protective love for these trees.  The park ranger motto, "Preserve and Protect", really came to life for me while standing beneath these giants. I also felt full of childish glee, tromping through the virgin snow and wasting energy to get nearer to the giant trees.

Mark, contrasting with myself, enjoyed the trees in his own unique way. At the foot of the Sentinel Tree, he absconded with a quartet of little Sequoia pine cones with the intent of germinating them on our patio.

To be continued...

Big Sur, and Interior Design

My diving friends must be wondering right now: "Why would you drive all the way down to Big Sur and NOT dive?" My reasons are the following: (1) To see the iconic McWay falls which I had never seen before (see below), (2) to hang out with friends, (3) and I don't have a drysuit. Either my wetsuit is starting to lose it's insulation, or I'm diving sites that are deeper and more exposed than before, but I am clearly getting tired of being cold.

It's time to get a drysuit, but right now, I am forcing myself into funnelling money into the house (see rest of blog).

Interior Decorating

On Sunday, we met our interior decorator for the first time. How did it come to be that we have an interior decorator? It happened within the last week or two -- a lot faster than you would expect:

I complained to one of my coworkers over lunch that my fiance and I can't agree on what colors to paint our interior walls. We want something non-traditional and vibrant, something that will match our red, Swedish fireplace, and modern, minimalist furnishing. My coworker mentioned that his girlfriend had just started an interior decorating business, that she was a color expert, and that she would give us discounted rates for an opportunity to use our home as part of her portfolio. Well, it has been 2-3 weeks of color gridlock (my fiance can't agree with my choices, and I don't trust myself), so we decided it was time to make a decision, and if it involved bringing a third party, then so be it.

Above, example of decor that we like

Calie impressed me from the get go. She felt no compunction with disagreeing with our ideas ("That's too traditional"). And she immediately had ideas we never had. For example, she thought that we should head away from mixing too many colors in the living room/dining room area because it would make our place seem smaller. Also, she thought we needed an extra floor lamp, and a seating area to utilize the empty corner in our living room.

She also impressed me as someone who has discerning taste, with a clear opinion on who makes the best color paints (Benjamin Moore). Now, I love color, but I don't think I can tell whether Benjamin Moore paints are superior over the ones on display at Home Depot. But plenty of interior design magazines extolled the Benjamin Moore color line, so maybe there is some truth to this...

Here is Calie Anderson's interior decorating web site: http://www.noheainteriors.com/

And here is a link to her blog, where she mentioned meeting us. Some interesting colors, and cool ideas for our house are in germination: http://nohealookbook.blogspot.com/

By the end of our initial meeting, we had gone over magazine clippings that we bookmarked, and agreed to set another date to go over her color proposals.