Volcano!!

 One of our main reasons for visiting the Big Island of Hawaii was to see the volcano that is currently erupting. We went during the day to get a good idea of how big the volcano was and we went at night  so we could see the glowing lava. All these pictures and videos were taken about 1/2 mile away from the eruption (which was the closest we could get). I never even knew I wanted to see an erupting volcano until we went, but I am now telling everyone to put it on their bucket list. It was incredible and worth missing sleep over. 

Volcanoes National Park - Chain of Craters Road

I have been trying to write this post for weeks but I've been experiencing a severe case of writer's block. Every time I sat down to write, my mind would go blank. It's been frustrating because I really would like to cross this of my to-do list. I mentioned my dilemma to a friend the other day and she said "You know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Just post the pictures." That's probably not exactly what she said word for word but it was pretty close. This friend is very wise. I go to her for advice a lot. In the years since I have known her, she has never steered me wrong. So, on the advice of my wise friend, here is my first installment of pictures of our trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Included in this post are pictures of lava fields, the famous Holei sea arch, and petroglyphs.

The view flying into Kona. You can already see the lava rocks.

It was crazy windy on the open lava fields

Manta Rays!

When we decided to take a trip to Hawaii's Big Island, I started researching things to do there. One thing kept coming up over and over again: night manta ray snorkeling. Intrigued, I decided to look into it. Years ago, people started noticing a number of manta rays in the water on the Kona coast. That is where lights from ocean-front hotels and restaurants would shine into the water. It turns out that the lights attract plankton, and manta rays eat plankton. Some entrepreneurial genius decided to start taking people out into the water to watch the manta rays eat. From there sprung the most popular thing to do on the Big Island. 

Basically, it works like this: There is a portable, floating platform, with lights and handles attached. Donning a snorkel mask, you get in the water, grab onto a handle, lay on your stomach, and put your face in the water. Then you wait for the manta rays to come. When I was first reading about this, I thought "Nope. No way I am doing this." Getting in the ocean when it's dark while holding onto what amounts to a surfboard with a car battery on it to generate electricity for the lights? That sounds like a recipe for electrocution! And the ocean at night doesn't seem like the safest place. However, the more I read about this adventure, the more I knew I had to do. I knew the likelihood of us going back to the Big Island was slim and I didn't want to leave with regrets. Thankfully, my brother and sister-in-law had done a nighttime manta ray snorkel on their trip to the Big Island a few months ago so they were able to assure me that it was not as scary as I built it up in my mind to be. Pushing down my inner screaming, I told Husband I wanted to see manta rays. I found a company that appeared to not use a surfboard or a car battery, made the reservation, and hit the "pay" button. Then I spent the next few weeks wondering how I could cancel. 

The night of the tour came and I was ready to call it off, but my dear, sweet, patient, rational husband reminded me that manta rays are harmless (they don't have teeth), and that he would be right beside me so if a shark suddenly appeared out of the darkness, he would save me (I am beginning to realize I have a lot of irrational fears. I should probably look into therapy). Besides, if I can swim with sharks, surely I can hang out with some manta rays and live to tell about it. I put on my brave face, and off we went to see some manta rays. We got our wetsuits on and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset while waiting for the tour to start. I had to get one last picture of the two of us, just in case.

After a short boat ride, it was time to get into the water. Husband jumped in right away and I knew if I wanted to be next to him, I had to jump in next. This was the scariest part. The ocean is DARK at night. D-A-R-K. And scary things live in the ocean! But, we paid a ton of money to do this so I really had no choice. I jumped in and swam to the floating platform. I put a pool noodle under my ankles (this helps keep your legs parallel to the surface and away from the manta rays), grabbed onto the platform, said a little prayer, and stuck my face in the water. Within minutes manta rays were swimming by us, eating all the plankton. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing! They were so close to us that if I wasn't holding onto the handle for dear life, I could have touched them. A couple of them brushed up against me as they passed by. It was so cool to watch them approach out of the darkness, their wing-like fins flapping as they swam through the water to the lights. Husband called them "majestic sea flap-flaps," which he apparently saw in a meme at some point, and that description fits them perfectly. 

After about 30 minutes, which really seemed like 5, it was time to swim back to the boat. I didn't want to leave. I could have stayed and watched the manta rays all night long. I had the hardest time deciding which videos to post. I hope the ones I posted below give you an idea of how truly spectacular this was. A huge thank you to Husband for taking these videos. This meant he was holding on with one hand the entire time in order to operate the camera. That is true love. 

Mountains and Dinosaurs

When you live in the desert, you sometimes find yourself desperate for some green and trees (and by "sometimes" I mean pretty much on a daily basis). A few weeks ago, I found myself longing for an escape from the beige world that surrounds me. A quick Google search for "cabins in southern California" returned results for a town called Idyllwild-Pine Cove in the San Bernardino National Forest. Intrigued, I did a little research and decided that this was the perfect place for us to get our greenery fix. We rented a cabin and spent a great weekend doing small hikes, sitting around outside, and just generally enjoying being surrounded by mountains and trees. 

We also discovered that we like bird watching. We spent a lot of time looking for and identifying various birds in the area. I want to get a California bird book and binoculars! I may have found my new hobby. 

Our backyard for the weekend

On a hike at the Nature Centre

Manzanita Tree: These trees were everywhere and cool to see. 

The red bark grows over the white and is really, really smooth.

Giant pinecone!

In front of Suicide Rock

Ernie Maxwell Trail

Can we take a moment to look at how long my hair is? 

I can put it in braids!! 

More Manzanita trees

Acorn Woodpecker

Stellar's Jay

House Finch

Western Fence Lizard

On our way home, we stopped in Cabazon to see the world's largest dinosaurs. If you have seen the movie The Wizard, you may recognise these dinosaurs. Apparently they are also featured in PeeWee's Big Adventure, but since I haven't seen that movie so I will take Wikipedia's word for it. We have driven by this roadside attraction numerous times, but have never stopped until now. It was a fun little stop. There is a gift shop in the pink dinosaur and you can go inside the green one (we didn't do that). Gary the Elephant said this was the highlight of the trip for him. 

Gluten Free Find: 
Idyllwild Pizza Company has delicious gluten free pizza. I also recommend the greek salad from this restaurant.