A driving day

Driving, driving, driving. We do it quite a bit here. This morning we left KMC on the road to Hilo. First brief was there where the Benhams bought many loaves of bread for this insatiable eating machine of a group. As if a foreshadow into the days events, I gazed out the van window at a partially clouded over Mauna Kea and wished that I could be up there. The drivers wove our trusty steeds to and fro as the highway wound along the coastline and into the mountains toward Waimea. Just before actually reaching the downtown of this bustling metropolis we took a stop at the Keck Observatory Headquarters to try for one last time to see if Kristin and I could hitch a ride up to the summit. I briefly talked with a receptionist at the front desk and told her the trouble I've had getting in touch via phone with Andy Perala. Surprising enough, a man that had paused nearby during this conversation soon introduced himself as Andy Perala. I calmly introduced myself and my group (most of which had followed us in to use its "facilities") and asked about a trip to the top. Without much hesitation (far different than his demeanor on the phone) he told me there was space in a car that would be going up next Tuesday. I then asked if two seats were available and he said there were! Next Tuesday. Kristin. Me. Acclimating at 9,000'. Going to the top with Andy and supposedly a producer for the show 20/20 and somebody from ESPN. I must say that, although I don't think I showed it, my body was jolted with a rush that would last well into the rest of the day. Andy was then kind enough to take some of his lunch time to show the group around a bit. He described what goes on at the headquarters and the observatory then he took us past a patch of grass the same size as the Keck's primary mirror and into the building with the control room. Monitors lined the desks and a closed circuit video display connected the top of the mountain with the control room. Andy gave out information and factual tid-bits about the use of the telescopes. He told us that some astronomers even fly in one day, gather data, and fly out the next. This was all great stuff and as Andy finally decided to go on his lunch break we thanked him. Before that he handed me a packet of articles and a large print of sprial galaxy NGC 1232. He told us that its a great illustration for youngsters to give them some kind of scope to the universe. NGC 1232 lies about 65 million light years distant. The light seen in this picture left that galaxy at a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. He uses this example for elementary students? Boy, it sure works for me!

When we left the facility Kristin and I were bubbling as we received congratulations from others in the group. While floating on the ceiling of our van, we drove beyond Waimea and climbed up the Kohala Mountains to an elevation around 3,500'. There, just before mile marker 8, Dr. Benham banged at a rock to get us a piece of welded tuff from the roadcut. Quickly we ventured away from that scenic spot that overlooked the ocean and all the mountains elsewhere on the island. Rolling hills of slightly lime green grasses surrounded the roads we took to our lunch spot. ________ Park stands right by an ocean inlet that is rythmically pounded by waves. After my food was inside me I gathered samples of dead coral and shells from the park's rocky beach and joined Kristin, Nick, Matt, Renee and others on some large rocks piled by the water to enjoy its onshore pulse. Contimplation and warm Sunshine were soon replaced by the chilly, stagnant air and general boredom of the van. A short trek up the road brought us to a dead end. The Pololu Valley sprawled before our eyes and offered ample chance to get beautiful pictures. Two huge, lush valleys strung down from a higher source past our location and abruptly stopped with great pali's jutting into the sea. The stunning beauty of this locale was soon replaced by the seatback and rear of Renee's head. Yup. We were in the vans again. You starting to see a pattern to this?

Somewhat away now from the coastline, we stopped in a place where a bronze statue of King Kamehameha I stood with his right hand reaching out toward the ocean. Pictures were taken of the sight but more popular than this was the little ice cream shop directly across the street. My cup of mud pie flavored treat held me over to our next stop at the Puukohola Heiau. A heiau (prononuced HAY-ow) is a ceremonial sight in which sacrifices to the Hawaiian gods are made. This particular heiau is a large stone structure built under Kamehameha as a place for ceremony and sacrifice. Looking over the ocean the sight was impressive especially after reading that the structure's rocks were brought in from 30 miles away by human chain. The ocean below this is said to have small sharks prowling about. A few of us saw only a fin of one shark peeking above the water. Other than that, no jaws. The vans waited for us at nearby Spencer Beach State Park. There we all decided against venturing into Kona for the evening in favor for getting back to KMC and out of the vans for the day. Sitting by a delightful (yet somewhat twitchy) Kristin and a rotten coconut smelling Matt, we mindlessly followed the road back into rainy country to Hilo. We listened to music loudly and sang jovially to ward off the sleep monster. Although tortured by repeated playings of "Meet Virginia" and the Dixie Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces," the front seat duo's attempts to make us all memorize the songs failed. One quick video store stop then we drove the rest of the way back to KMC. We bounced around and spoke loudly when we got back to the firehouse to eat dinner, still on a van travel high.

The rest of the evening a small clump of us sat around and watched some Will Smith music videos, Clue, and Four Rooms. By the time 12:30am rolled around and the the latter movie was complete, our eyes were heavy with the fatigue of today's van ventures. Sleep now and tomorrow, try again to see the active lava flow. Tomorrow night: call Sarah in England and give her the news of the coming experience for Kristin and I.

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Fri. January 21, 2000

A driving day

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