Friday, January 29, 2010

Off The Beaten Path

That sign is an understatement at the very least. Let's start with the word "road". I am not sure we could call it that. You don't get to see the "real" Hawaii without a 4-wheel drive due mostly to the miles and miles covered with lava flow.
The road is just a hellbanging path over the lava that somehow manages to avoid the craters, lava tubes, and enormous boulders and drop offs. I did this "road" 6 years ago with Zach floating happily in utero. I remember gripping my bulging belly and trying to keep down my breakfast (which was challenging even when sitting still) thinking it was the longest 3 miles ever. But now that we are two rather than one, I see the road with new eyes. It's pure joy for my sweet boy. It meant getting to have a rare stint out of the car seat and up in the "Grandma seatbelt" for a front row view of our harrowing 2 mile an hour, rock and roll lava road ride.
Then a small hike and the pay off. White sand beach, impossible blue waters, and an afternoon to do as one wishes with only a handful of die hard surfers hanging around.
For Zach it meant the search for more adventures of course. He scurried about chasing mongoose and collecting shells and came upon these abandoned buildings.
One could just imagine the scene here... ocean side, a lava field away from civilization, I am sure some good times went down in this place. My boy investigated every corner for relics and treasures.
But in the end it was all about the trees. There are all manner of crazy, twisted, branchy trees around here just begging to be climbed. This is his happy place.
And this is mama's happy place. Coeur de Pirate on the iPod and rare time to finish the latest J. Maarten Troost adventure.
Worth the trip in every way. And the perfect way to mentally prepare for the bumpy trip back.

11 comments:

Emily said...

Wow. Just--WOW! looks so very, very lovely. i'm really enjoying these posts!

House Mother said...

I'm just grinning ear to ear at the amazing adventure you are having with your son. Absolutely wonderful to read about. Soak it up. Enjoy.

I'm putting Hawaii on my daydream list.

And, of course, 'off the beaten path' is always best. It's like the difference between seeing a movie and reading the book. It's just always better.

Michele said...

OK seriously next year I am going with you!!

Beth said...

It is below 10 degrees F. here today and I just had a mini-vacation exploring a corner of paradise with you and your lucky boy! Beth

Doug said...

Enjoy, this is day 5 of nasty winds. Temp this morning 19 degrees, with windchill it was zero. I'm just keeping the boarding ladder off the boat as the winds have flooded the docks with freezing water and then pushed the water out of the bay to the point the ladder would have inverted. I've hooked up a line so I can leap over to the iced over docks without falling in. We finally have power back but even with it I can't keep the boat above 55 at night. Up all night listening to the groan of the lines straining in the wind and listening to ice being ripped away from the rig and smashing down to the deck.

Human runner said...

Gorgeous!

And as a geologist, I am positively drooling over those first few photos. Gotta love rocks! Did you find any olivine (it's a green mineral) yet?

Joy said...

What a cool excursion! The "road" and the beach. ;)

eringoodman said...

wow!! beautiful photos!!

FrontierDreams said...

oh my goodness! I am so there! :) Looks great!!

boatbaby said...

Emily - yes, wow indeed! Even though I have been here 5 times, I still say wow.

HouseMother - you're so sweet, thank you! Your kind words make me grin from ear to ear.

Michele - you have the Bahamas!

Beth -- eeek! I hope it warms up for you!

Hi Honey - stay warm!

Freedom - that's so cool that you're a geologist! Very high on Zach's "when I grow up" list. No olivine yet, but I googled it and now I'll have my eyes peeled.

Joy - yes, there are so many like that around here.

Thanks Erin!

Nicole - it's not that far for you from the west coast! :)

Masasa said...

These photos...STUNNING!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...