Yesterday, 10/28, was a big day. On 10/27 I found out that the settlement for the sale of my house would be on 10/28. I had already signed up for a tour: https://kapohokine.com/tours/evening-volcano-explorer-hilo/ on 10/28 – but, I had already given my lawyer Power of Attorney so I didn’t really need to do anything. I let them know that I’d be on a tour for most of the day and that I’d have my phone with me.
Of course, about 10 minutes into our drive, my lawyer called me. He was just letting me know that things were done; there were a few hiccups, but, I should receive my proceeds some time today. I called his office after I got up and provided the necessary information for the funds transfer. We shall see!
I have to say, though, it feels really weird to not own that house anymore. 33 years I lived there! Feels really weird that somebody else is going to be using the stuff in the house. I gave Greg quite a few things – plates, bowls, silverware, furniture … I think it’s probably good that I won’t be there to see him in the house for a while. I mean, I’m happy he has bought it and things worked out, but, it just feels weird.
Anyway, the tour had 6 people, so it was nice and small. We had 2 tour guides – Tiffany and Rich. Tiffany was a guide ‘in-training’ and Rich had clearly been doing this for a long time. They both were really good. Before they arrived I noticed a couple that looked like they were waiting to go on the tour so I walked up to them and said ‘hi.’ Matt and Helen (hoping I am remembering their names right!) were originally from San Diego and now live outside Philly – we laughed at the coincidence.
Here are some photos:
I just looked at a map to see where we went. I’m adding it here so you can see where we went too!
We took the Hawaii Belt Road (Rt 11) through Keaau to Rt 130 through Pahoa to Uncle Robert’s AWA bar:
We walked over lava to get to Kalapana Beach, which has been pretty much destroyed by the lava. If I recall correctly it was about 1.5 miles of beach that is now lava-covered. People have been coming out to this area to replant some plants and trees, and decorate it respectfully.
Aloha with my water bottle
Lava spread. I can’t remember the two names, but there are two types of lava flows – the slow kind and the explosive kind. The lava in this area was the slow kind (maybe moves 2 inches an hour or so), so, people have plenty of time to evacuate if they need to.
A memorial to Uncle Robert:
Kenn even got to enjoy some sun and fresh air!
The water was such a beautiful blue color
You can see the ridges in the lava in the photo below – particularly the lower left corner – shows how slowly it moves.
After the stop at Uncle Roberts it was time to head back towards Pahoa and stop at the Star of the Sea Painted Church https://www.to-hawaii.com/big-island/attractions/staroftheseapaintedchurch.php. Moved by the community twice to save it from advancing lava flows in 1990, this decommissioned church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You can see how the wall is painted, under the smallest arch, to look like that hallway continues back, adding depth to the room.
It was very calming and beautiful.
The church from the back. Not sure why I didn’t take a photo of the front!
After this, it was back on Rt 130, back to the Hawaii Belt Road Rt 11, and on to Volcanoes National Park. Here’s a photo of our van and Tiffany! The building in the background is the Kilauea Visitor Center. Now we were driving on Crater Rim Drive.
We did a little hike and saw some sparkly rocks
This photo doesn’t really show it but this looked a lot like the set at the beginning of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ – the ground was the same color and texture.
Helen getting a photo of a Nene – native goose, a relative of the Canada Goose. These were almost extinct but conservators brought them back!
You can see some steam rising beyond the trees:
We had dinner here – nice, quaint place.
After dinner another hike – this time towards the Thurston Lava Tube (Nahuku)
More steam
Beautiful views!
The lava tube did have lighting, which was nice
Finally the piece de resistance – the lava glow! On top of that, because it was so dark out, and we were higher in elevation (around 4000 ft) we could see tons of stars, and even The Milky Way! We even saw a satellite pass by (not sure which one it was though)
We stopped into Volcano House for a little bit – there were restrooms and a gift shop there and this beautiful fireplace with a bronze relief of Madame Pele.
This was a long day but it was nice to get out and see things with other people. Not sure what I’m going to do today yet. Stay tuned to find out what I came up with! Talk soon!