Hawaii, part 5

And then, we finally made it to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. This is a sacred place that was a place of refuge for defeated Hawaiian warriors and those sentenced to death for violating kapu, the code of conduct.

This sanctuary was protected by Lono, the God of Life, as the native Hawaiians believed. Once you made it here, no physical harm could be done to you.

There used to be several platforms built from rocks on which dances and songs were performed.

We can still see what life was like back in those days. Here is a hut for canoe making. They were very resourceful and used whatever they could find in nature.

Alright, let's go check out our next AirBnb. This is on the western part of Hawaii island. This property has several papaya trees growing. What a view!

I also stopped by a fruit stand and bought a cacao fruit. This is what chocolate is made from. Let's open it up and have a nice big bite of choc--

Wow, this is not what I expected at all. It's very fibrous, and white, and has a slightly sweet taste. A lot of work has to go into this before it turns into chocolate.

For breakfast, we had a scrumptious meal with fresh fruit from the backyard! Yes, there are banana trees here also! I've gained quite a few pounds on this trip.. but it's been worth it.

We highly recommend this place if you visit. It's called Hale Hoola: http://www.hale-hoola.com/

I've really enjoyed my time in Hawaii and I hoped you liked following along.

I'll leave you with a nice sunset view...

Hawaii, part 4

Hi there! Glad you could make it to the BIG ISLAND of HAWAII! We are staying at this cute little AirBnb on the island and --

"WELL HELLO THERE!" a familiar voice said.

"Let me guess. It's Droopy," I replied.

"Looks like we're booked at the same AirBnb! It's pretty cool and has a loft with ladder access," he said.

"Oh, that sounds beary cool!" I said.

Now let's take a ride out to the Hawaii Volcano National Park. There are a lot of steam vents on the way to the volcano like the ones you see here. Be careful when walking around! Some people have fallen in and gotten hurt, or worse...yikes.

Here we are at the Kīlauea Volcano viewpoint. Unfortunately, the volcano stopped erupting 3 days before we arrived, so there was no flowing lava to see either during the day nor at night. *sigh* But that's how it is with Mother Nature - we have no way of controlling it! This just means that we will have to come back again to see it in action.  😉

There also happened to be a hula performance going on in the park! We were lucky to see it.

Then, we drove around the southern part of the island and stopped at Black Sand Beach. Yep, the sand here is black alright!

The shores are made of black volcanic rock. Be careful! They are extremely sharp and feel like broken glass if you fall on them.

Hey, wait! I see something interesting over there. It looks like a few large smooth rocks... or is it?

They are actually Hawaiian green sea turtles! The Hawaiian name is honu and they symbolize wisdom and good luck. They are an endangered species. This part of the beach has been roped off to allow them to come onto shore and rest. Maybe they will lay eggs here.

He or she seems to be sleeping - how cute! I will have to tell Ooogie I saw some of his relatives.

Here is a cool shot from a different part of the beach.

We drove around some more and saw more beautiful scenic views!

Stay tuned for our last and final stop on this Hawaii trip!

Billy Goat Trail

Today I am going to hike the Billy Goat Trail in Maryland. Come with me! Here is the trailhead.

This trail has three sections, with section A being the most difficult. That's the one we're doing today. It has a lot of rock scrambling. Are you up to the challenge?

I'm wearing my Bear Cub Scout uniform today. Maybe I can earn a hiking badge for this.

The Billy Goat Trail is next to the Potomac River. During the spring and summer, you can see a lot of kayakers take on the currents here.

Yeah, now we are getting to see some neat rock formations on the side of the river!

Wow, these boulders are huge!

Okay, now we have reached the trickiest part of the trail. It's a downclimb all the way to the bottom.

I'm going to go down... er...

...actually, I'm going to hop in my mom's backpack and let her do this one! She has climbed this many times before.

Okay, here we are at the bottom. I did a good job shouting words of encouragement!

It's a great view, isn't it?

Maybe next year, I can try kayaking.

This part of the river is a bit dried up.

Now we are almost back at the parking lot - look at this sunset over the lake!

Thanks for coming on this hike with me!

Colorado!

A couple months ago (wow, I am really behind on posting) I went to Colorado with my mom. The first half of the trip was beary boring while she was at work, but I made up for it with lots of salmon and snacks from room service in a nice hotel room. But later, I got to go exploring in Denver and in the surrounding mountains!

I saw a huge blue bear looking in at the Denver Convention Center! He looks beary interested in what's going on inside.

Later, we took a drive up to Estes Park near the Rocky Mountain National Park. Behind me is Long's Peak, a mountain that is over 14,000 feet high!

Isn't it beautiful?

Okay, here's another picture. The scenery can change quickly over here up in the mountains so it feels like a different scene every few minutes.

A couple days later, we drove down south to Colorado Springs and visited the wonderful and amazing Garden of the Gods Park. These sandstone rock formations are HUGE.

Look at how beautiful they are! It looks like I am on a different planet.

This park is very popular for rock climbing. My mom really loves rock climbing and climbed to the top of one of the formations. Here is a picture she took from the top!

Stay tuned for some more pics from our Colorado trip..

Colorado part 2

The next day, I decided to make a quick visit to Red Rocks Park before it was time to go to the airport.  I got up real early and was able to watch the sunrise.

 There were some great views in this park.

 It was beary peaceful here indeed.

Here is a video I took of the park:

                                         

I took a picture of this statue.

And here is one of the famous red rocks for which this park is named for!

Then I got in the car and drove to the airport.  (I am not sure when I received my driver's license, or if I ever did, but somehow I managed to get the car back to the hotel.  Please don't tell my mom.  I might get another timeout for this.)