Hawaii: Mana and Mauna Kea

Sunday morning we went for a walk with the Homers on Mana, one of my favorite places on the planet. I think I could walk out there forever and ever. With photocizing by Jim, Cornyee, and me, we got a lot of pictures.

We forgot the stroller, which was very sad. Ever was most interested in gathering magic rocks. Progress was slow.

There was a lot of flannel/plaid going on, but we never got a complete group shot to do it justice. 

Dustin tried to feed horses with grass. Again, not interested:

I felt weird for a second and lay down for a breather:

Many pictures of our fave shack:

We told Ever the story of the ill-fated Hastings family bike ride when Rob put his leg down through a cattle guard like this one and got cut to the bone:

We don't know what these ruins are from, but we like them a lot:

We made it to the tree line:

Flannel:

Jemini got funky with the panorama on the way back:

We had taken carrots to feed horses but never found any to feed. Ever was distraught about that, so we drove by the old house (we think - I don't recognize it) and fed someone's horses on the way out: 

It was a race against time, but we made it to church just in the nick. Sacrament meeting ended with a rousing rendition of "Aloha O'e" in honor of a young man who was leaving on his mission. That song makes me cry like a baby every time. I was so happy we could witness that. After the meetings ended, Wren appreciated Pod's tie, although she was a little leery of Pod himself:

We ate quickly at home, and then Mamo graciously stayed to watch the girlies and put them to bed while the rest of us headed up Mauna Kea. We'd hoped to get to the top of the mountain for sunset, but we missed it by a few minutes.  

Almost there, and the sun's going down:

I tried to take pictures out my window:

 Photos at the top:

Jim posed for the above photo and then rushed back into the car, where he remained while the rest of us walked around the summit and looked at the observatories. He didn't think I was serious when I told him how cold it was going to be. 

I felt a little weird from the altitude and was afraid people would think I was wussy when I mentioned it. Bags did, indeed, think I was weak, but I felt validated when Dustin said he was feeling it, too, and then shortly afterward Bags did also. Apparently Jim also experienced it while hanging out in the car. Anyway, I think it's neat up there. Very other-worldly. I was glad we went, especially since Jim's never been.

We stopped at the Visitor Information Station at the 9,200-foot level on the way down the mountain. We were right in time for the stargazing program, which was fun. I learned things, but by now I have forgotten them. I did think it was interesting that they said the visitors center was there instead of at the summit because we can see better with the naked eye lower down; at the top, the altitude impairs our eyesight. It was incredibly cold, and we (Pod and Jim in particular) were not dressed appropriately. But we stayed for the presentation and looked through the telescopes. The most exciting view was of a star being born. It's incredibly awe-inspiring to contemplate what's out there in the universe. Amazing.

It was very dark as we headed to the parking lot down the street from the visitors station, and we got a bit lost. Pod realized we were in the wrong place, so he charged through the darkness toward the car. He tripped on the giant log that edged the parking area we were in, and he went down in the grass and weeds on the other side. He joked that he didn't get injured because he was frozen, so I guess it's OK that we were underdressed.

And that concludes another wonderful day in paradise.