HawaiiPhone

Here's a kind of alternate view of our trip to the Big Island from the perspective of my iPhone.

Omri was pretty proud of this "armored" sand castle creation of his:

Our condo had this great pool right outside, along with a hot tub and a "medium" tub (photo by R):

R and I got out on a few dates, including a really long job/hike along the rocky coast:

Hiding out from the virus at Oma's Hut:

We went on a whale watching cruise... and didn't see a single whale. It was still a nice boat ride.

Fill your own malasadas:

Photo by Veronica:

Time to relax:

Selfie:

A series of panoramics:

Hawaiian Shave Ice:

I'll be honest: we thought about riding out the pandemic in Hawaii (we did have our work laptops with us) but ultimately decided to head back to the mainland.

Ready for the flight home:

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New land

We took a scenic drive in Volcanoes National Park, following where lava relatively recently flowed down to the ocean. The incredible sights are not properly captured here because I was behind the wheel for most of the time and when we got to the coast, the volcano behind us was mostly covered by clouds. It was really something to experience though.

This is part of the island that is essentially still growing. I don't know all the facts, but this has to be the newest land in the United States. There are layers of overlapping lava from different years, most recently from 2018. We think these cliffs and arch were formed in 2008 (?).

This is the south coast of the south-most island of Hawaii, so there is nothing out there but a hemisphere of ocean between us and Antarctica.

Up next I'll be posting a collection of iPhone photos from the trip, although there might be a brief pause first because I'm having trouble getting them off my phone...

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Hike through a volcanic crater

About to embark on a four-mile hike, one of the most unique hikes I've ever done:

Yep, that's where we're going:

It was like being on another planet:

This was a long hike for the kids, but they did great!

Plants find a way to grow in the rock:

Parts of the ground looked like a bad pave job in a parking lot:

Distances are distorted here--look how small Omri appears in the photo below. Sounds also bounce around in unexpected ways.

The view after we walked up and out... You can see the path we followed right through the middle:

Below, Omri standing in front of a different, even larger crater. We could feel waves of heat venting up from it:

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Lava tube

We left the beaches the day before the beaches closed. We were in Volcanoes National Park the last two days it was open. The visitor center was already closed down and admission to the park was waived. There weren't many people around, so it felt safe to be outdoors.

The first day we took a few smaller hikes...

... including one to the Thurston Lava Tube, a long cave formed by lava:

It was too dark for me to take photos inside without a tripod, but it was incredible, claustrophobic and surprisingly wet.

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Oma's Hut

Here's a quick look at the second place at which we stayed, a place we lovingly referred to as Oma's Hut:

This was located in a rain forest up near the top of a volcano, which meant for more, well, rain and somewhat cooler temperatures...

But it was very lush.

I should have shown more of the funky design features in the A-frame, like the cool loft or the interesting lighting fixtures in the kids' room. But all I have is this shot of the kids zoning out on some screens:

We all agreed Grandma Linda would have loved Oma's Hut because it very much matched her style, but this was the point in the trip when we went separate ways. She made the call to head home a few days early on account of the uncertainty around the virus. Omri had developed a cough during our stay and we all felt a little concerned about where that could lead. The cough ended up not being anything serious, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to my share of lying awake at night worried about our family's health and the general state of the world. These are certainly uncertain times.

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Place of Refuge

On one of the days we were avoiding the sun, we went to a historic park and took an audio-guided walking tour.

In a rather odd coincidence, some friends we know through the kids' school and Girl Scouts happened to be on the Big Island the same week as us (and the dad in the family is originally from Hibbing, about half an hour from where I grew up). Without going far out of our way at all, we managed to meet up with them three times during our stay. Photo of us by Linda:

This part of the island is not as dry as where we stayed. There was some misty rain and wind.

A checkers-like game:

Omri found much to explore:

I thought was interesting how only half the tree was wet:

Nice to have some extended time with Grandma:

Hold on to your hats around here:

Supposedly a good place for swimming with dolphins, although we weren't prepared to swim at the time:

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