Day 4 - July 12th, 2009 - North Coast and home to Arizona.

Awoke early due to Harry's loud snoring. :)  Showered and packed bags, then sat to write the entry for day 3.

After Harry was ready, went down to Tante's for breakfast.  Had a shrimp omelette with steamed rice, and a Coke.

After breakfast walked over to the Atlantis Submarine office to ask about tickets.  They were $99 + tax.  Bought one for me and Harry.

We had an hour to wait, so went back to hotel, finished packing and then checked out of room.  Car parking permit was good till 3 p.m., so put bags in car and left it in lot.  Walked to pier and waited near tender boat till check in.

They took our photos in front of boat and then we boarded the craft.  While we listened to safety briefing we motored out to sub which was floating off reef about 1/2 mile out.

We offloaded tender onto deck of sub.  Then we climbed down ladder into sub.

Seating was tight.  We only filled one side of sub, and the windows were shared by every two seats.

The sub dove and we motored along the reef while they talked about the area and the fish.  We kept moving down the incline seeing different things.

Reef area we explored.

About 20 minutes into trip my camera battery died.  I had left bag on boat due to size and spare was in it.  Really made me mad! [2019 NOTE: Most of the photos I did take underwater did not turn out anyway, the really thick window panels blurred things a bit, and the water was just hazy enough to make focus really difficult, especially with moving fish.]

Of course then we came to the ship wrecks.  First an old Army troop carrier converted to salvage vessel, and next a private sail yacht.

We finished at a depth of 105 feet.  We then surfaced and got back on tender boat to return to shore.

After getting off boat, we walked to car and left to head to the north tip of island. (Kohala).  Took highway 19 along coast, then took 220 around tip.

Drove all the way to Polulu lookout and only had a short spell of rain.  Parked along road with other cars and walked to end of road.  Only then did I see there was plenty of parking.  Oh well.

From the Polulu Valley lookout.

Harry had stayed with car.  I found a trail down to the beach.  Was rugged but made good time down with many stops for photos.

Walked along black sand beach, took photos and then started back up.

Looking up the Polulu Valley from near beach.

Wow, what a workout.  The uphill took a lot out of me.  But made it to the top and walked up to the car.

Drove back along highway and turned to stop at Keokea Beach.  Watched waves for a bit and then went back to highway.

Once into town, stopped at small cafe across from the King Kamehameha statue.  Wanted to buy a snack.  They had cans of soda, but no other snacks.  After taking photos, decided I was hungry enough to eat and we had about an hour to burn.  Ordered a Greek pizza with salad.

Food was excellent.  Finished eating, then went back down highway toward Kona.

Turned off on road to Kapa'a Beach to wait for sunset.  Sat there for about 2 hours.  Climbed on lava rock beach and took many photos as the sun worked its way down.  Finally after sunset got back into car and headed back to Kona.

A bit of slow going due to idiot drivers, but made it to Kona by 8:30 p.m.  Went to Taco Bell and had a small dinner since I would not eat again till next day.

Drove back up to airport, returned rental car and took shuttle to terminal.

Waited for 30 minutes to get checked in, breezed through security, then waited again for a Department of Agriculture scan of bags.

Finally sat in terminal and wrote in this book until time to board plane.

Flight back was crowded and not easy.  Read most the night and tried to sleep.

Was beat by time landing in Phoenix.  Drove home and Harry and I both went back to sleep.

Was a great trip, but very tiring and I sunburned a lot!  Ready to go back though. :)

Day 3 - July 11th, 2009 - Volcano National Park

Woke at 6:15 a.m. and got ready to leave.  Harry took forever, so was 7:30 before we left.

Put top down and then headed south on highway 11 toward Hawaii Volcano's National Park.

The highway was a narrow two lane with a lot of hills and curves.  Slow going.

Stopped at an overlook of a huge lava flow for some photos.

Turned off the highway and took a small two lane toward South Point.  Road became a 1 lane and also rough.  Passed old wind turbine farm, was odd seeing them all rusted and broken.  Only 1 was rotating and probably because its lock down was broken.

A newer set of turbines was closer to the coast and with the high winds were spinning good.

Reached the point which is the farthest south point in the United States.  Took left fork in road along rough path.  Eventually stopped and hiked 1/2 mile to coast.

Spent some time among rocks watching larger waves come in and exploring the tidal pools in the rocks. (All rocks are lava of course).

Went back to car and drove back to fork.  Took right and it ended at a rough area near a native wall.  Hiked down to coast which was a 20+ foot cliff.  Lots of people fishing off the cliff, boats along the cliff and gear for hauling stuff from boats to top of cliff.  Water was very blue here and could see down a ways.

Walked along cliff till reached low point and went to waters edge.  Passed headland light pole marker.  Watched more larger waves come in and then hiked back.

Drove back to highway and continued toward park.  Drove up to crater and entered park. (Free today) [2019 NOTE:  Each year the National Park Service has a select few days where many parks offer free admission, we lucked out and this was one of those days.]

Stopped at visitor center and got some basic information.  Walked over to Volcano House and ate lunch at cafeteria.  Had 2 hot dogs, chips and soda.  Also ate one of Harry's hot dogs since he couldn't.

Went out on edge overlook of Kilauea crater and watched gas plume erupting.

Went back to car and drove west on Crater Drive to the overlook area.  Hiked along rim and took more photos of vent gasses rising.

Drove back past visitor center and down the side of crater.  Stopped at Thurston Lave Tube.  Harry stayed in car.  By now it was raining lightly and we had to put top back up.

Trail to lave tube was steep and surrounded by rain forest.  Tube was large and about 1/4 mile long.

At end there was a section that was left natural without lighting.  Explored a bit of it using camera flash. [2019 NOTE: Manually setting off flash to light up tube.  None of the photos I tried would work though, too dark to focus]

Went out exit stairs and hiked along forest back to car.

Drove down to Chain of Craters Road.  Headed down road, stopped at a huge lava flow from Mauna Loa? Continued down still in fog and rain.  View points over coast were hazy, and also in area where gas was blowing from the main vent. [2019 NOTE:  The current active vent at this time was east of the park.  On this day the winds were blowing much of the gas and fumes across the park, so areas would get hazy and it was not advisable to stay in these areas or breath the air in them.  We kept windows up most of the trip and quickly drove through these short areas.]

Finally reached the shoreline and stopped at the end lot hear Holei sea arch.

Hiked down and photographed arch.  Then while harry took forever to do the same I hiked down the road about a mile to where the lava had flowed over. [2019 NOTE:  While we did not know it at the time, Harry was starting to show some negative health issues from his condition which was sapping all his strength and energy.] 

Hiked among lava field for awhile taking photos of various rocks and signs sticking up.  Hiked as close to edge as I could get and photographed water crashing on cliff.

You sure about that?

Hiked back and we drove back up the road.  Stopped at one overlook for some quick photos and then went on to the main park area.  Rain was still coming down.

Stopped again at visitor center and went to gift shop at Volcano House to buy water.  Walked around grounds and checked out a steam vent nearby.

Left park and headed toward Hilo.  Needed to find a gas station and fill up before going down highway to coast where lava flows into sea.

Stopped for gas and bought some ice tea in a small town near the highway junction.

Headed south and got to the end of the road just after opening times.

They had built a makeshift road across the lava flow, very rough, narrow and hilly.  It was interspersed with sections of the old highway that had been spared.

Finally reached an area where there was a large parking lot.  They had us back into the spots facing the way out, probably to reduce traffic issues after dark and to speed up any evacuation.

Hiked down road to lava flow and then followed 3/4 mile trail to view area.

Could see the huge steam plumes from where the lava flowed into the sea.  One of them was close enough to see the water and some darker smoke.  Stood and watched for a bit over an hour.  Saw a few bursts of molten lava come up, though not sure I caught them with the camera. [2019 NOTE: A few came out good.]

Just after the sun had set I hiked back and could see small lava glows up along the side of mountain.  Found Harry at car.

Drove out of view area, which was not easy in the dark on those narrow paths over lava with oncoming cars!

Headed up highway and it soon started to rain.  This kept up for most of the trip in the southern half of the island.

Driving at night is a bit strange.  Roads are hills and curves and very few lights anywhere.  Only when going into a town does any view past the road edge occur.

Was a 3 hour drive back to Kona.  Arrived at hotel and then walked down to shore to see about food, but everything was closed.  Never seen a city shutdown so early, and on a Saturday night as well.

Annoyed at not getting food, so just went to bed when back at room.

Day 2 - July 10th, 2009 - Mauna Kea and Hilo

Slept in till about 9 a.m., though woke earlier and looked outside to clear skies as the sun was coming up.

After getting up, got ready and went to restaurant at hotel (Tante's) and had breakfast.  Had scrambled eggs, toast, steamed rice, Portuguese sausage, and water.  Harry bought breakfast.

Went back to room and got camera and stuff, then went to car and left for a drive.  Took highway 190 toward Waimea.  Nice drive that took us up to 2500 feet, then came down onto plains.

Found highway 200 (Saddle Road) that goes up between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

Road was narrow and very rough until we came near the Army airfield.  Stopped and put roof up around here.  Saw a large Chinook helicopter doing some maneuvers nearby.

Drove past Army base and state park until we found road to Mauna Kea summit.  Stopped along lava flow area to photograph before we went up mountain.

Old lava flow along road, Mauna Loa in background.

Drove 6 miles up to visitor center and stopped for a bit.  Continued up mountain, but road turned to gravel soon after.  Slowly drove up road, but after 4 miles or so we started having traction issues.  The rough, loose dirt and steep grade was too much.  We had reached near the top of cloud layer, but was too risky to continue. [2019 NOTE:  After trip I looked at maps and found that roughly 1/2 mile beyond where we turned around the road was paved rest of the way up!!  :( ] 

View on the slopes of Mauna Kea near where we turned around.

Turned around and started back down.  Soon we hit the clouds again and it was heavier and wetter than earlier.  Was very low visibility, could barely see the road.

Fun drive down in the heavy clouds.

Finally got down to the paved road and the rain and low visibility was still with us.  The clouds had dropped in the last hour.

Reached main road again and only then came out of the clouds.

Saw road up to Mauna Loa, but it was getting late and wanted to keep moving.

Drove down off saddle area, road was very hilly and winding.  Was a fun drive, one I would love to have a sports car with.

Finally reached edge of Hilo.  Got a bit lost, but eventually made it to sea shore.  Put top down at a view point just past city edge.

Pacific Ocean from viewpoint near edge of Hilo.

Drove along coast to the north.  Pulled off highway for a scenic drive to Onamea Bay.

Stopped and hiked down a half mile to the bottom of cliffs.

A short hike brought us to the bay and we watched the waves crash into the rocks, got a few splatters while taking photos.

Burst mode of a wave breaking. (these 3 photos occur in about 1 second)

Tried to photograph some birds, but they moved around too much.

Only one that turned out, a red cardinal.

Hiked back out and finished scenic drive.  Got back on highway and went north again.

Our chariot for the drive around the island.

Saw some awesome views of ocean, waterfalls, and large canyons, but was never a spot to park.  Stopped at one scenic overlook, but was not that nice.

Reached Honokaa and then the rain started again.  Pulled over to put top back up.

Stopped in Waimea to get gas and something to drink, then went all the way down to coast on highway 19 to avoid going up in mountains again where it was raining worse.

Did stop for more photos of some big ships out at sea. [2019 NOTE:  Those photos did not turn out, bad focus due to camera shake]

View of the western coast coming down from Waimea

Reached Queen Highway and turned south toward Kona again.

Reached hotel, dropped stuff and then walked down road to Pancho & Lefty's again for dinner.  Had tortilla soup, a pork and green chile burrito, rice and beans, with a Coke to drink.

Walked to store and bought map, candy, magnets, and key chain.

Walked down to the waters edge after dinner and watched waves break on the rocks.  One big one put water way up and over the wall I was standing on.  I was pretty wet after that.

Walked up to shopping area and back to hotel.  Everything closes up by 9:00-10:00 p.m. except a few bars/restaurants.

Once in room, looked over map for a bit and at some tour brochures, then sat down to write this.

A busy day, saw some cool stuff and missed a lot of cool stuff.  Wish we could have made the peak of Mauna Kea.  Will make sure I get an SUV or Jeep next trip.

Day 1 - July 9th, 2009 - Arizona to Hawaii

8:30 a.m.  Woke early and got ready.  Woke Harry so he could get ready.  Once packed up we left for airport.  Heavy traffic, but made good time.

At airport parked in east garage, took shuttle to terminal.

Was able to bypass long line at check in and go to kiosk to print boarding passes.

Security line was long, slow and annoying as usual.  They had to scan my camera bag twice?

Once in terminal, used restroom, found gate and then ate at Jody Maroni's.  Had a simple hot dog with mustard/picante, and water.

Sat down in empty gate area near ours and waited.  Eventually went to gate, waited and then boarded.

In a nice way, person sharing our row of seats was in line in front of us.  Lady had window seat, but her husband had aisle on other side.  Harry took it so they could sit together.

Flight was long and dull.  Just read a book, rested, stretched and talked with guy in next seat.

We landed just before 2:00 p.m. local time.  Went down stair case to tarmac and walked into airport. Airport is all open air.  Went to curb and caught shuttle to car rental place.

Decided to upgrade car to a convertible.  Cost $50 extra is all.  Went to lot and picked a Mustang Convertible.  Drove out of airport and onto highway.  Road construction slowed us down, but only 7 miles to Kona.  Found street and after only a short distance saw hotel.

Checked into hotel, room was in tower on 4th floor with partial ocean view and a view of the slopes of the volcano city is near.  It started to rain about now.

View from balcony.

Left room and walked through grounds and out to street on waters edge.  Took photos and walked a bit.  Had lunch at Boston Basil.  Ordered pizza with sausage, sun-dried tomato, spinach and feta cheese with a blackberry sage tea to drink. ($47.50 total cost for both of us).  Back to hotel and got the car.

Drove along shore.  Stopped at a park to photograph ocean and watch waves.  Drove around trying to find good spot for sunset photos.  Rain finally stopped, so we put the top down.  Finally just went back to the park for sunset photos.

Afterwards went back to hotel and rested for 30 minutes.  Then we walked along shore road for a bit looking at shops.  Stopped at Mexican bar "Pancho and Leftys" and had soda and nachos. ($21.00 for both of us).

Left and walked back toward hotel.  Stopped at store and got water, then back to room.

Room has a ceiling fan, so will run it with windows open and hope the humidity drops some.

Overall a nice first day, but will be nice to get out in the open tomorrow.  Might do the Mauna Kea drive to Hilo to north coasts?