Photos


Miranda and I started off in Maui. We got a wildness permit that allowed us to do an overnight backpacking trip in Haleakala National Park, on a volcano. We used the tarp and net tent that I had recently sewed and some other campers told us about a lava tube, which we were able to find and explore. We both really like the silver sword plants that only exist on Haleakala and if transplanted anywhere else, will die.

We drove the full circuit road to Hana famous for its narrow curves and waterfalls, however we did it in the counter clockwise direction, which is atypical and meant that we were going the opposite direction from most of the other traffic. The result was frequent head to head encounters on a road that was barely wide enough for a single car and had sheer cliff with no barrier on one side. So I had to do a lot of reverse driving to find an area wid enough to allow the oncoming traffic to pass. Eventually we made it safely and enjoyed the scenery and waterfalls along the way.

We went snorkeling on a beach that I had been snorkeling at with Mom and Dad when I was a teenager. That trip years ago was epic, both for the great snorkeling which massive schools of fish as well as the fact that the car keys had been in Dad's pocket when he was snorkeling and must have ended up on the bottom of the ocean because we never found them and had to instead unlock the car by poking a snorkely through a cracked window and then using a backup set of keys. This time around, there weren't nearly as many fish, but at least we didn't lock ourselves out of the car.

We ended the trip by heading back to Oahu for a few days where Mom and Dad and Chris and Chris had rented huts at Bellows Air Force Base, one of the best beaches on the island. Of course, Breeny, Ted, Henry, Blake, and Russell were there as well since they live on Oahu. We had fun boobie boarding and Dad and I also made use of the base's disc golf course.