Day 5 - Thurston Lava Tube, Lava Trees, Orchids, Mauna Kea Observatory

We stopped at a new place to see the Kilauea Flow. Apparently, you can hike down in there.  We did not, but we saw a couple of people down in there. 

Next, we head to the Thurston Lava Tube. There is first a nice walk through a rainforest. 

On down the road to the Lava Trees.  Here is another GPS/Elevation marker with some equipment above it. This was not here last year.  They have added this station.  I assume it is measuring trimmers in the ground. 

A very cool Lava Tree...and then I am hugging one.  

We went to the Akatsuka Orchid Gardens.  They have a new orchid maze and a quiz to tell you what kid of orchid you are.  Here are my results....and a orchid in my hair. 

Before heading up to Mauna Kea, we stop at Rainbow Falls.  I think is is one of the prettiest waterfalls. 

Mauna Kea Astronomy Visitors Center. BURRR!!!

The Mauna Kea Silver Sword.  There were a few that were in bloom.  This is the only place you will find these plants. 

Day 4 - Mauna Loa, Jaggar Museum, Chain of Craters Rd., Sea Arch, and the Smoking Trees

Up, up, up the mountain to see the Mauna Loa Silversword.  It was not in bloom, but it was nice to see one to compare to the other Silverswords seen on this trip. You can see Halemaumau crater in the background.

Back to the Jaggar Museum to go into the Museum during the day and see the Halemaumau Crater during the day./

Down the Chain of Craters Road to see....well, craters! Here is a big one.  You can only see ab out 1/2 way down in this picture. 

Prof. Dempsey is talking about the Metrosideros polymorpha.  He talks about this plant a lot...well, we see it a lot.  It is the #1 plant in Hawaii!

Students are checking out some pahoehoe lava and a'a lava.  A'a lava is the chunky lava.  Pahoehoe is the smooth looking lava.

We went down south the Sea Arch.  Along the way, we stop to look at some plants and some geology.  This is a marker that Dr. Millwood pointed out a few years ago.  It is a marker that scientists know the GPS of and the elevation of. 

Day 3 - Keauhou Bird Conservation Center and Volcano House Geology

Each year we come to the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center to learn about the amazing conservation efforts that they are ding to help some bird species.  We also give back through Service Learning. This year, we went back to an area that we went to in 2014 to plant some more trees.  It was really nice to go back and see the growth of the area with native trees. 

Here is one of my plants!  Dr. Kubicek and I planted about to together. Grow little tree!

Leaving the area where we planted the trees.  

Volcanoes House view of the Halemaumau Crater. 

Here is the "D Squad". Princess Page, Jammin' Janna, Dirty Durbin, Lizard like Lizzy, Paranormal Patrick, and Bodacious Brian...and the DD van (check out the licence plate).

Dinner at the Lava Rock Cafe.  Not too bad. 

Just about the tiniest salad you will ever see.  Check out the sugar packet for size comparison.  Beef stroganoff for dinner. 

Day 2 - Imiloa Astronomy Center and Halemaumau Crater

Punawai gave us a tour of the Imiloa Astronomy Center. Uncle Don gave us a tour of the outside gardens. 

In the gardens, we eat Mountain Apples...yummy!  I look forward to the Mountain Apples every year!

Checking out the Halemaumau Crater at night.  It was very bright and pretty!  Students were taking pictures of the glow.  I met two very nice ladies there that live in the park...I think. They said that they did not live very far.  One lady was a retired teacher.  The other lady was the wife of a famous photographer that photographed the park a lot.  I believe that Lewis was the last name. They were very nice. The teacher gave me a hug/kiss on the cheek and said...that is the way we do it (say hello)  in Hawaii.  I said that is not the way we do it in Texas. She told me that we need to relax more...agreed!

Way behind!!! Hawaii 2016...days 0-1!

Day 0 - Flying into Honolulu and Waikiki Beach

Yikes...so behind on my blogging.  We have had some really late nights, so I have a lot to get caught up on.  I am sitting in the Oahu Airport waiting to fly to Kauai... so here goes!

The joy of the 6 AM flight is that I get to Hawaii at 11:30 AM Hawaii time.  This means that I get to enjoy the beach.  I went to a different part of the beach.  It is in front of the Shorebird restaurant.  Not as fantastic.  The beach was nice, but in the water, the bottom was really rocky.  

We met the students at 6:30 for orientation down on the beach.  Welcome to Hawaii!

By coincidence, Sylvia was also in Hawaii.  We were able to meet up at a restaurant in Waikiki. I met Sylvia in Alaska when I was doing an internship up there with some other teachers.  We worked along side some graduate students doing Sea Otter Research. She was one of the grad students.  Super sweet!

Day 1 - Oah'u - Coconut Island and Hanauma Bay

We briefly stop at the overlook (have to look up the name).  It started to rain, so we headed back to the bus!  Off to Coconut Island!

On Coconut Island, we learn about the research that they are doing there and the history of the island.  We also got to meet up with Chris and hear about his research. He is a former HFS student doing coral reef research for his PhD.

Off to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling.  The water was rougher than normal, but it was still nice to snorkel. Here are some convict tangs that I saw and shot with my new underwater camera!

Not to far from Hanauma Bay, we stop at an overlook.  Do we stop there, no.  Down the hill we go so that we can see some Geology. 

The waves were pretty rough here to, and we got splashed a few times.  The sea urchins are Shingle Urchins.  They are adapted to live in the rough waves.  They are so pretty!

Sunset Workshop - Waikiki Beach

Sunset workshop on the beach.  Students take pictures of the sunset pictures.  The instructors treat ourselves to dinner at the Shorebird.  It is nice.  If you ever get to go.  The salad bar is amazing and the food is good.  We get to cook our own food.  Kind of fun!

Yikes...3 more days!

I am normally better about Blogging more before we leave!  Our Wifi has been out for over a week, so I am working off of my Hot Spot. Thank you Frontier for promptly servicing us.  Anyway, the Oklahoma trip was a success (back in April!). Here are a few pictures from Oklahoma.

  
   

I always miss my family and my furry babies when I go, but I will especially miss my Danny Boy this year.  He is 12 weeks old and a sweet baby.  He is so sweet, he was born with a heart on his side! He was born on St. Patrick's day, thus the name.  And his sister's name is Sandy...you know...Sandy and Danny from Grease!

 

Back to Hawaii.  I am going to do some Live Streaming using Periscope. Follow me on Twitter @Laronna_D. We will see how this works with a 5 hours time difference. We will also be using the #HFS2016 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Aloha! 

Hawaii...2016...73 days and counting down!

I cannot believe that the Summer Hawaiian Field Studies Course is about to be underway.  The class is full, the countdown app is doing its job, and we have begun to prepare for the orientation and the first classes!  

Here is my new pretty purple suitcase. My suitcase broke last year.  I have had it for 13 years (wedding gift) and it has seen many places. My waterproof camera also died last year in Hawaii.  I still need to replace it. Gearing up for Hawaii 2016!