Dive Day

A group of 10 WHT employees took to the sea today on a diving adventure. Our first dive was at 8AM at 4-mile on Alii Drive. The highlight was finding a white tip reef shark sleeping in a cave.

Our next dive spot was at the harbor. We saw a ray (eagle ray I thing) tons of garden eels, a moray eel, and watched Travis's shenanigans- he let a shrimp climb in his mouth and clean his teeth.

I'm happy to know the underwater housing for my digital camera holds up- it made it to 93 feet and didn't leak a drop.

Eagle Ray:

Travis with a shrimp in his mouth:


Part of the WHT dive team: Lorelei, John, Kestrel and Andi.

We didn't get to see his teeth

I think I've mentioned before I carry a camera in the water as shark insurance. I figure I'll never get close to a shark when I have the chance to take his picture. But this reasoning proved to be untrue, as evidenced by the video below.

We were diving at the 4 mile marker off Alii Drive today and came across a small white tip reef shark sleeping in a cave. He didn't like my flash going off in his face so I didn't take many stills.

Here comes Halloween...

The fun is just getting started. Carolyn threw a fun Halloween bash at her place last night. We showed Korben no mercy during a water fight in the pool, ate junk food and carved pumpkins. Ken gets my vote for creepiest pumpkin, see above.

Sargent Slaughter and Miss Indiana

Exploring Puuanahulu

Saturday brought another hiking adventure. We parked Chris's truck on the lower road above Keawaiki and entered the point in the GPS. We parked my car off the upper road at Puuanahulu and began our seven mile journey. This uncertain hike worked out a bit better than the one in Pahala two weeks ago. The Jeep road we started on went farther than the map showed so we didn't have to traverse any a`a, and the last three miles brought easy hiking across a 1959 pahoehoe flow. My favorite terrain was the deep, fluffy dirt at the base of the hillside. It felt like walking through powder snow.

We saw some wicked wiliwili trees and tasted the fruit from a lama tree. The entire Kona landscape would have been covered with these native trees at one time, yet in seven years this is the first one I remember seeing. Another highlight was exploring a lava tube by the light of the GPS unit and a digital camera. They provided just enough light to keep us from hitting our head on the ceiling or stepping on goat skulls.

Inside the lava tube- note brown goat skull with horns in center:

Perils of Paradise

Living in the tropics has its disadvantages. I've never considered ants to be more than a nuisance. That's before the power windows broke in my Jeep. While troubleshooting the intermittent problem, I suspected a loose wire in the fuse box. When the windows became stuck open I broke down and took the car into the dealership. The cause of the problem? Ants ate the relay for the windows.

I had been fighting ants in the Jeep for a few weeks prior. The neighbors were probably growing concerned by my singing of Metallica's Creeping Death (Die by my hand...)every evening while I smashed ants and sprayed poison in the car. I never connected the broken windows and the ants. Apparently, ants eating the electronic components in cars is not uncommon in Hawaii. I've been told to leave a perimeter between my vehicle and any bushes, and not to park under the fountain trees at work.

Ant powder on the fuse box in the engine compartment:

The shortest distance between two points...

...is a straight line.

But the shortest isn't always the best, as evidenced by Saturday's hiking adventure. Chris spotted ancient ruins on a map in a remote area below Pahala town more than six years ago and he's been aching to get down there ever since. He attempted the trek once with a guy who turned back because he wasn't prepared for the amount of "hardship" he'd have to endure on this particular hike.

We started on a road at the edge of a mac nut farm, but the road didn't go the direction we wanted to head so we bushwhacked for three miles through six-foot tall grass, thorn bushes, weeds that conceal cracks in the lava, rough a`a lava, and finally my favorite, the weed covered a`a field. According to the GPS, we kept a very straight line all the way to our destination. No wasted effort; that made us proud.

We were disappointed when we found the spot, however. The coastline was beautiful but ordinary. The ruins consisted of a few rock walls littered with old beer bottles, an interesting rock table and piles of opihi shells- nothing we haven't seen before. Chris was expecting a canoe launch site, fresh water, trees, something "magical." To add insult to injury, a boat load of fishermen and all their junk littered the cliff. So much for going "where no man has gone before."

We were relieved to find a road and decided to hike that out, even if it meant going five miles out of the way. Instead, it lead right back to the orchard and nut farm. It was the very road we started out on! Why did we ever stray from that path? All I could do was laugh.

Don't let this dismal report fool you. We both had fun...good times, good company. It gives new meaning to the phrase, "the joy in in the journey."

Making use of a stone table and chairs

This is where we decided to stray from the road and head through the woods. Why did I decide to wear a tank top and shorts?

I'm not a prophet

Chicago Cubs just lost to the Diamondbacks. They won't be going to the World Series this year even though I insisted with absolute certainty they would go and they would win.

I believed so strongly that this was the year. I'm not a huge sports fan, but Wrigley Field often beckons me. I even have dreams about it. When I stepped foot into that stadium this July after years of yearning to arrive at the address of 1060 West Addison I was overwhelmed with emotion. I believed with every bone in my body the curse had been broken and the Cubs would win the World Series this year. Isn't 99 years long enough to wait?

My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long? (Psalm 6:3)

Mauka Makai Makes Triumphant Return

It was a Friday like any other. 100% Kona Coffee cooled in my cup while I answered phone calls and sketched out ad layouts. I took pleasure in the Friday jeans I was wearing, a promise of the weekend to come.

Then, unexpectedly, a familiar toot, toot, toot, rang out. It wasn't the honk, honk, honk, honk of the new Kosher Taco wagon. Instead, it was Mauka Makai Catering wagon's unmistakable call to breakfast. Mark has successfully sold the business! Pictured above is Melissa, the new proprietor. The legend continues. My first meal was spaghetti Alfredo with chicken breast.

Ocean Fun

manta ray
I rarely snorkel without a camera- that's my shark insurance. I figure, as long as I'm carrying one, I'll never get a good face-to-face encounter. Chris and I went snorkeling in Keauhou Bay Saturday and when he commented that I didn't have my camera I knew we'd see something good. Off the Sheraton in about 50 feet of water was a manta ray swimming along the reef. We free-dived down to get a better look at the creature. It was bigger than I am and it struck me that an animal so odd could be so graceful. I can't decide if it reminds me of a space ship or of something prehistoric. Just when we decided to hele on we spotted another manta, more than twice the size of the first. I swam down to within about 15 feet of it and I estimate it had a 15 foot wing span. It was HUGE!

broken stuff
Why wasn't I carrying a camera, you may wonder? It's broken. After being dropped down a flight of stairs during last year's superbowl, soaked in a flood in my tent in Waimanu Valley, and carted through the Grand Canyon, my trusty Canon Powershot went kaput. I purchased one on ebay, and it's broken, too. I also broke my ipod on the same day as my camera. Apparently, ipods don't like to be operated above 10,000 feet. I knew that, why didn't I listen? I grieved the loss for three weeks, then I ordered the new 80-gig ipod classic. It'll be here Wednesday.

jelly fish
In other news, I had my first jelly fish sting today. I went for a swim in Kailua Bay after work. I had just turned around at the 3/4 mile buoy when the thing stuck to my face. I splashed water on myself to make sure it wasn't stuck on me anymore and enjoyed a tingly, stinging sensation the rest of the way back. It wasn't any worse than a bee sting, it just covered a bigger area. You can see red marks where one tentacle got my forehead, one got me across my chin, and the last one went from my shoulder down into my arm pit. Chris has good advice on such matters. If you're gonna be stupid, you've gotta to be tough. But in all honesty, it wasn't that bad.

A Place of Many Perches

We recently spent a fabulous weekend at Hakalau, a national wildlife refuge off Mana Road on the windward side Mauna Kea. Our group planted around 1,000 koa trees on Saturday. Two good friends that I rarely see were there, and everyone in the group was a pleasure to spend time with. We used power tools, we got dirty, then we rode in the back of an old Army truck in the rain. If that didn't make me happy enough, Baron, the guy in charge of the volunteer program, made us a fantastic dinner of mahi mahi and Portuguese bean soup.

Most folks stayed in the cabin, but I was happier in my tent. We watched the moon set behind the mountain and thousands of stars emerge. I was expecting temperatures in the 40's, but it never got that cold. At dawn, I was awakened by a noisy nene. The fwap, fwap, fwap of his wings pierced the morning's silence. When I emerged from my tent he honked at me.

In addition to seeing at least 20 nene (the endangered state bird of Hawaii) we saw rare I`o, apapane and i`iwi. A chorus of bird calls rang throughout Hakalau, the forest whose name means land of many perches.

In the greenhouse we saw some super-rare plants, like Phyllostegia brevidens, a type of mint that was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in the refuge in 1990. Three plants now survive in the wild. We also checked out the Pua Akala cabin, a seven room cabin that was built entirely of koa wood in 1883.Grafitti on the front of the cabin was dated 1901. This was a weekend well spent!

Chris poses by the Army truck:

Carolyn & power tools.

Andi with nene. Endangered species are more exciting when they don't act so tame!

Too Busy to Blog

I'm getting behind on my blog duties again. Whenever that happens, you know I've been out having fun.

Last weekend I impressed my friends by cooking them dinner at my house. Saturday was a hike in Pahala up a muddy pig hunter's trail, then a going away party for James and Lisa. Boo-hoo. Sunday there was a baptism and picnic at Old A's. Baptisms are always a happy occasion, and this event came with bonus shenanigans. Chris decided to steal Pastor's Subway sandwich and exchange it with a nasty old shoe we found on the beach. When that lost its appeal we cracked out the tennis ball cannon he made. The kids weren't impressed but many of the adults were.

A Long Way From Waikiki

Chris and I spent a spectacular day hiking up Mauna Kea. We took a 4WD road west from Onizuka Center and started our hike at around 9,000 feet in elevation. We dropped down into a spectacular red-walled canyon with interesting rock formations and piles of cinder. The sky was clear and beautiful and the crisp, dry air felt like a mainland September day. An occasional cloud blew across our view of Mauna Loa's marble-like lava surface.

Next, we drove to 13,ooo feet and hiked to Lake Waiau, the only alpine lake in Hawaii. It was more impressive than I expected, but maybe we were just feeling euphoric from the lack of oxygen. We were both feeling pretty happy. The lake's ice cold water beckoned me; I guess I still miss my Lake Michigan days. After wading for about 10 seconds my legs tingled with that pins and needles sensation. This isn't the Hawaii you'll find in the tour books. The lunar terrain, brisk temperatures and solitude reminded us we were a long way from Waikiki.

Let's Go Racin'

As promised, here are a couple of pictures from the drag races. The jet limo was my favorite, although it looked better with the body removed and flames shooting out the back. There was also a sweet mid 1950's model Chevy. My camera's been acting up so I didn't get many photos.

50% more fun...FREE!

I love three-day weekends. That third bonus day allows you to pack in 50% more fun than you would on a regular weekend. This Labor Day included a trip to the Hilo drag races with Chris (pics tk) two trips to the Kona Brew Pub and Scuba diving. I truly enjoyed sharing the finer points of beer drinking with two great friends from church. And my first Scuba experience as a certified diver was pretty sweet. Jim took me out to the harbor where we dove to 85 feet. Highlights include garden eels and a pod of dolphins that came pretty close by. Three baby dolphins accompanied the group...cute little buggahs!

What's wrong with you women?


We had "girls night out" recently to celebrate Kelly and Jennifer who are getting married soon. This sort of event is usually not right up my alley. But we started at the Brew Pub and I always feel at home there. Next we headed to My Best Friend's Closet to try on what Kestral called, "super, super cute clothes." I usually feel pretty out of place in a group of women doing "girl things" but I admit even the clothes store was fun. I tried on a slinky black dress that I'd never be seen in public with. It amused my co-workers who know this type of dress is not likely to join my wardrobe.

After some champagne we hit the Fun Factory- a Chucky Cheese-like family fun center. Ski ball and air hockey went off without a hitch. That's before Ilona exhibited inappropriate behavior and we were all thrown out. I never thought I'd be 86'd from the Fun Factory! If that wasn't bad enough, the woman kicked us off the sidewalk as well; we had to wait across the street. That's when a homeless man gawked at the ruckus we were making and remarked, "What's wrong with you women?"

The rest of the group finished off the night at the bars. But I hit Magic Sands with Chris, James and Lisa for some moonlight boogie boarding. It's creepy and exhilarating to take off on a wave that you can't see.

Will it float?

I watched the History Channel's Modern Marvels: Monster Trucks last night on Netflix. I definitely recommend it. In my favorite stunt, a 10,000 lb. truck jumped over a 727 jetliner that was, of course, on fire.

The history of the monster truck and its mechanical revolution was revealed. The documentary featured interviews from drivers and fans which really helped me appreciate this fantastic piece of Americana.

My favorite fact I learned in the film? Monster trucks float. The discovery was made accidentally at a photo shoot on the edge of a lake. Apparently, huge tires are buoyant enough to float the 5-ton truck. David Letterman definitely needs to get Big Foot on his show for a special segment of Will it Float?.

Non-events

Despite a hurricane, a tsunami and some earthquakes, last week was pretty uneventful. Flossie broke apart as she approached the Big Island. We got some clouds and a light sprinkle. My side of the island didn't even get any surf, so my board is still sitting lonely under the house.

There were several earthquakes throughout the week. A 5.4 rattled the house little, and a 3.8 woke me up two nights later. But they were on the other side of the island and we barely felt them.

Then we got news of a tsunami watch after the earthquake in Peru. East Hawaii was hit by a small tsunami in the middle of the night while most residents were fast asleep. The only reason we know there was a tsunami was because the newspaper told us there was one.

All that fun and a sinus infection didn't keep me from dive classes. I am finally getting certified for scuba. We have two more classes this week and a boat dive Saturday, then I'll be open water certified. It's about time I got around to it!

Hurricane Preparation

Flossie, a category 3 hurricane, is 300 miles southeast of Hilo and headed this way. We should start getting wind and rain tomorrow as it passes to the west of our island. The whole island is under a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning, but the south and east portions of the island should see the strongest winds and plenty of high surf. (we live in West Hawaii)

People today stocked up on bottled water and filled their gas tanks. We prepared by eating the Hagen Daz in the freezer. With all that expensive ice cream a power outage would be devastating.

What I've been reading Part I

I previously posted my intention of reading through the Bible in the next year, and Chris has asked how that's going. I thought, "Why not blog about it?"

Well, I doubt I'll finish in a year, but who cares? At least it's a goal that keeps me reading everyday. Since June I've read Genesis- Numbers and Job.

In Genesis, God creates the heavens and the earth, plants, animals and people. Adam and Eve live in paradise and walk and talk with God in the Garden of Eden. Everything is going great until they eat the forbidden fruit and introduce sin into the world. Humans have been cursed to live in this fallen world ever since. Now we see all kinds of bickering, murder, adultery, etc. When it gets really out of hand God wipes out the sinners in a flood. Only Noah and his family survive. Noah's descendants repopulate the earth and the rest of Genesis is filled with the type of stories your typical grocery store tabloid will pay big bucks for. A man is tricked into marrying the wrong woman, jealous siblings sell their brother into slavery, two particularly sin-ridden cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, are destroyed.

In Exodus, the Israelites are slaves in Egypt- descendants of family that sold their brother to be a slave there. God selects Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and into a promised land. God brings nasty plagues on Egypt until Pharaoh finally lets them go. God leads the people through the desert by a pillar of fire, feeding them with bread that falls out of the sky. In an awesome display of smoke and fire He leads Moses up a mountain and gives him the ten commandments. Despite the display of God's mighty power, the Israelites grumble about the food and start worshiping idols. So God lets them roam around in the desert for 40 years until a new generation rises up to take over the promised land.

The books are full of wild stories and weird regulations meant to set the Israelites apart from the rest of the nations. Sin has made a mess of things. The sacrifices required of Israel prove there is now a huge chasm between God and man. This holy and righteous God is "untouchable" to the filthy, sin-ridden humans. From the very first pages of the Bible the need for a Savior is evident.

Hit the road, Mark

It was hard to drag myself out of bed to face today. It was a sad and solemn occasion: the lunch wagon's last day. Mark is moving to Washington. West Hawaii Today employees turn into Pavlov's dog every morning at 8:55 AM when we hear the toot, toot, toot of Mark's horn. For year's Mark has faithfully filled our tummies with good food, our faces with smiles and our spirits with inspiration. We'll miss you, old pal.

My typical lunch time routine: a lunch wagon meal and WHT comics.


Mark and his niece pose in front of our beloved "roach coach."


I dressed up as the lunch wagon for Halloween two years ago. It was my best costume ever.

Morning Has Broken

I camped at Makalawena Friday and Saturday night with Sierra Club. We got the campsite I was hoping for- the one inside the gate under the Ironwood trees. A gentle breeze whispered through their long pine needles throughout Saturday night. I tried my best to stay awake so I could track the almost full moon across the sky. It finally set over the ocean, then the sun started to rise a few minutes later. That's when I took this picture of Kuili cinder cone and Mauna Kea with a queen's bath in the foreground.

Back Home Again in Indiana

The following posts tell about my recent trip to the Midwest. Typically, my vacations are all about places. But this trip was about the people. I'm thankful for the chances I have to spend time with family, childhood friends and all my IU college buddies, too. I hate to think about all the people I missed on my frantic trip of 11 days, three states and 1,500 miles on the rental car. I guess that just shows how truly blessed I am to have so many cool people in my life.

Cousins: Tom, Kristy, Kirsten, Ben, Jeanne, Andi.


Lydia and Camille, my nieces.

Hanging with the family

I'm always sad when I think about all the people I didn't get to see, time goes so fast. At the same time, I'm grateful for the moments we all shared together.

Surf's Up!

On calm water like Bass Lake you can't wait for a swell to come in. You have to rely on a boat, not nature. I've always wanted to try wakeboarding and I finally got my chance, and I LIKE IT! It's just like waterskiing and snowboarding. Luckily, the muddy lake bottom is a lot more forviging than our reefs. I wiped out while trying to jump the wake and I planted my face in the mud. The lake was only knee deep!

Time to hit the beach

The beach is normally my first stop when I go back to the Midwest. I know that sounds silly since I live in Hawaii. But I spent my childhood in Lake Michigan. We went twice a day in the summer, and December and January are the only months I have never swum in Lake Michigan. The beach is as beautiful as I remember, the white sand stretches for miles. And no bath tub salty water, the lake is fresh and cool like a giant queen's bath.

1060 W. Addison

I've been a Cubs fan for as long as I can remember. When Jimmy built his White Sox fort down the street and I threatened to tear it down. In 1984 our elementary school janitor convinced the teacher to let us Cubs fans out of class so we could listen to their championship game against the Padres on the radio.

I begged and pleaded with my parents to take me to Wrigley Field. I always got the same reply. "You can't get there from here." They didn't want to deal with parking and traffic issues and year after year they dragged me to Comisky Park instead. In a recent dream I drove my Jeep to Wrigley Field while the words, "you can't get there from here," rang over and over in my head.

Now I'm a grown up and I've learned you can get there from here. Even if here is Hawaii and Wrigley Field is 4,500 miles away. The sun was shining, Old Style beer was flowing and the crust on the pizza was 3 inches thick. Cubs played the Giants. Barry Bonds scored two home runs but it didn't stop the old Cubbies from winning 9-8.

Pool Party

Eric is his element.

God Bless Indiana...

...and their fireworks laws (or lack thereof)

I keep telling everyone about Shelton, the self-proclaiming "World's Largest Fireworks Store." It was about a mile from the house I grew up in (as the crow flies) They're open year-round for all of your firework needs.

Dr. & Mrs. Tread

We went to monster trucks and called each other tread head. We shot squirrels and ate them and we spray painted our names in the storm sewer under the student union. Now the idiots I went to college with are all grown up. They are doctors and lawyers and responsible citizens. Many of them have even gotten hitched. It's weird growing up.

It was an amazing time in Indianapolis at Nate and Jodi's wedding...a perfect reunion of family and friends who came from all over the country to meet for an incredible weekend.

Bon Voyage

A replica of an 1812 warship, the Privateer Lynx, is in Kona this week. http://www.privateerlynx.com/ They were supposed to be doing tours today between 10 and 12 so I arranged my schedule accordingly. But the ship hadn't docked yet so no tour for me. I plan to watch the webcam tomorrow, when it docks maybe I can sneak outta work and get down there.

I'll embark on my own journey tomoorw night. I'm heading to the Windy City for a couple of weeks. I'll be visiting friends and family in Indiana, eating Gino's Pizza, swimming in Lake Michigan and I hope to fit in a Cubs game and some roller coasters. A Hui Hou!

Davids vs. Goliath

This cruise ship's horn woke me up today. I went out on the lanai to see why all the commotion? The ship was coming into Kailua Bay just as participants in a fishing tournamend were heading out. At least 50 fishing boats were charging toward the giant cruise ship. It was more entertaining than this morning's newspaper.

Hey Tommy, that doesn't smell like mud!

For Father's Day my dad didn't want a present, he just wanted a Jeep ride. So we went up to Mana Road in Waimea. The road stretches 44 miles from Waimea around Mauna Kea and empties out on the Summit Road a few miles below Onizuka Center. We started in Waimea and only went half way, then turned around. And that's disappointing, because the upper half of the road is the bumpy part, the ride was just getting fun!

I turned on the air conditioning Monday and PEEE-YUUU! The smell of the poop wafted in through the vents. After a 1 1/2 hour wash job I'm still finding remnants of cow pies in the nooks and crannies of the undercarriage.

Let's Go Racin'

Denise knew I'd want to participate in the adult pinewood derby at her church. I'm still bitter about my girl scouting days. The boys built race cars and went camping, the girls stitched sit-upons- ridiculous square things you hang around your waist so if you have to sit down in the great outdoors your okole doesn't get dirty. But we never went outdoors so what the heck was the point?

Back to the topic at hand, the pinewood derby was a blast. This Cub Scout tradition is simple enough, build a car made of pine within certain measurement and weight guidelines, then see who's is fastest. They race down a grooved aluminum track. There's even software designed for pinewood derby, complete with electronic timing devices.

My car was a simple wedge design. I shaped the wood with a belt sander, spray painted red and blue stripes and named her Liberty. I dripped melted fishing weights into holes drilled in the back to increase weight.

Here's Liberty next to the General Lee and others. She placed 14th overall with 61 cars competing, and averaged 187 miles per hour (that's to scale with the size of the cars and track)

Trucks are for Girls



Danielle and Sarah show off their matching trucks. A few of us in the marketing industry (that's for you Dianne) invaded the Brew Pub Friday. Danielle and I work for West Hawaii Today, Kathy is a rep for Big Island Weekly, and Sarah sells advertising for Oceanic Time Warner.

Wet Okole Product Review

I put Wet Okole seat covers on my Jeep about a year ago, see the old blog post here:

http://alhauber.blogspot.com/2006/05/wet-okoles-are-installed-i-can-see-why.html

These really expensive neoprene seat covers are custom made to fit your car' seats. Okole means butt in Hawaiian and purpose of the covers is to protect the seats from salty, wet butts. They look great and fit perfectly but they don't do much to protect the seats. I removed the covers and discovered salt stained seats. Salty water has been seeping through the seams of the covers and sitting on my car seats for a whole year.

Salt stains on my driver's side seat:

Carharts & Cabella's

For a minute, I forgot I was in Hawaii. We went down to Manuka State Park to shoot guns and two guys showed up with a truckload of guns & ammo. They even had their own custom made steel targets. Everything about them said "midwestern America," where there's a Cabella's catalog in every mail box and the state uniform is made by Carharts.

They let us shoot several of their guns. The .45 semi-automatic pistol was my favorite. Bullets made music when they hit different sized steel targets. We also shot up some diet Cokes with a deer rifle and then we did some trap shooting. I used to be a lot better at it than I am now. I've been out of Indiana too long.

Chris aims at the close target with his .22 pistol. We also shot up some Diet Cokes that were by the farther, circled target with his deer rifle. I took out a can on my first attempt.

Shooting up the metal targets...pretty, pretty music.

What school you wen grad, brah?

It was graduation weekend here in Kona, and that's quite the event. You've never attended a graduation until you've been to a Hawaiian high school ceremony. The whole town turns out to support the graduates, and the lei are piled on so high it's a miracle the students can even see through the flowers.

We had our own graduation ceremony in church today for our Theology 301 class. Pastor even made everyone hum Pomp & Circumstance, it's just like him to try to embarrass us. We even got lei- all 12 of the lei they handed out were Kirstina's leftovers from her high school graduation the night before! I'm pretty bummed the class is over- but it was an awesome 9 months. I learned so much! I considered bombing the final so I could take the class again next year. Instead I worked hard and got a 98%! I ended up with the highest grade in the class, and that's not a familiar position for me to be in.

Now that the class is over I need a new project. I'm going to make an attempt at reading the Bible in its entirety within the next year. Maybe I'll even post updates to let folks know how that's going. Don't count on success. Last time I tried to read the Bible in a year I did finish- but it took me a bit over two years to do it.

An official document:

Down the Tube

Jim and I spent Memorial Day exploring a lava tube. It's a few miles past the entrance to Volcanoes Nat'l Park, makai of the 23 mile marker.

We were a bit nervous about being in the cave and considered turning back more than once. I was afraid our adventure would become a little more then we bargained for as we climbed over several piles of rubble inside the cave. (and I mentally recalled the 4.7 earthquake they had in Volcano the previous week.) But we continued onward as curiosity got the best of us. I'd say we went a good mile into the cave. The book says the cave goes 1.5 miles, but we turned around when crawling became necessary. We didn't dress properly. If you go I recommend jeans and gloves. And don't forget extra flashlight batteries!

There were some pretty amazing features in the cave like a long "horse trough" filled with pahoehoe lava, and stalactite-like, curly-Q lava hanging from the top of the cave.

This is where we finally turned around

My favorite section of the cave:


Weird curly-Q stalactites:

The horse trough:

Ethanol Update

I went through my whole tank of ethanol driving entirely on the highway. I got 15 miles to the gallon, no better than I get on gas with 10% ethanol added. I'm sure I'll try it again, as it's hard to asess from one tank of gas- there are a lot of factors that determine gas mileage.

I have to agree with Baron. We need an alternative fuel source- one that's not as environmentally harmful and will decrease our dependence on foreign oil. But I'm not sure ethanol is the answer.