Patrick and Beth's Blog

Big Island or Bust!

2009-10-21T13:50:00.001-10:00

Last weekend we took advantaqge of cheap flights and went to Big Island with the ultimate goal of stargazing on Mauna Kea! Here we are on the top of the world!

4-Wheel Drive is for Sissies!

2009-10-21T13:46:00.000-10:00

This was the road they claimed we needed 4-wheel drive to ascend. HA! Obviously, they did not drow up in the boonies of Central Oregon!

One intersting thing about the road to the summit was that all the signs had holes punched in them to withstand the high winds.

The Sun

2009-10-21T13:43:00.000-10:00

Although you can't see them in the picture, we could see a solar flare (I swore I could see two) on the sun through a special telescope with a special filter.

Shield Volcanoes are so NEAT!

2009-10-21T13:42:00.001-10:00

They don't look tall at all because their height is spread over a huge distance, but Mauna Kea is often thought to be the tallest mountain in the world (more info on that to follow). I'm not sure what shield volcano we're looking at, but we're standing near the summit on Mauna Kea. All of the hills are rejuvenation stage volcanoes. After the island formed and was quiet for a few thousand years, it erupted again forming all of those hills. Hawaiian Legend says that Pele, hot-headed goddess of fire, was responsible for those secondary eruptions. According to legend, Maui, a trickster, demi-god, pulled the Hawaiian islands out of the ocean in the first place.

Hawaii is a unique and puzzling place for a volcano to form because it is in the middle of the Pacific Plate. Usually volcanoes (and earthquakes for that matter) occur on plate boundaries. Scientists believe there is a hot spot under Hawaii that caused the Hawaiian Islands. As the plate moves, the hot spot is fixed creating a chain of islands. Isn't science great?

Flowies in the Middle of a Barren Lava Field on Mauna Kea

2009-10-21T13:36:00.001-10:00

What a Hunk

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He got this big fuzzy jacket on clearance in the middle of summer in Hawaii...look who's laughing now! It was COLD up top!

Windblown

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How we got all these great shots!

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Above the Clouds

2009-10-21T13:33:00.000-10:00

There are several reasons that Mauna Kea is optimal for stargazing and highpowered, super-fancy telescopes. One is that Mauna Kea rises above the clouds. Second is low light polution. Hilo and Kona (the biggest cities on the island) use special lights that the telescopes very easily filter out. Third, less atmosphere to distort the stars. The more a star twinkles, the more distortion. If you notice, the stars on the horizon twinkle more than those straight above. That's because when you look toward the horizon you're looking through more atmosphere than straigh above you. Both Patrick and I got a little altitude sich from the lack of atmosphere. Fourth, the wind currents that blow straight over the flat ocean cause less distortion for the telescopes than the "bumpy" wind currents elsewhere on the globe.

The Keck

2009-10-21T13:25:00.000-10:00

Okay, so it's not the Keck. I'm actually not sure which one was the Keck. They all look the same to me, but it might as well have been the Keck! Ah, Keck. How I love thee. There are plans within the next decade to build another, more powerful telescope on Mauna Kea! I hope they name it Beth.

Beautiful Sunset from the summit

2009-10-21T13:23:00.000-10:00

Those are telescopes in the foreground.
We discovered after the sun set and we got out our blanket that by rubbing our hand on the fabric we could produce a mini firework show of static electricity. It was bizarre! I have never seem so much static electricity in my life! In fact, Patrick accidentally shocked my eye!

We found out from the astronomers that we could produce so much electricity because it was so dry at the summit. They explained that we were actually witnessing electrons turn into plasma. They also told us that we could create this same reaction at home by going into a dark place and opening a bandaide wrapper. Apparently, to keep the bandaide sterille, they use a special glue that's different right down to the electrons. Anyway, we tried it and it worked! Let me know when you try it too!

One of the Many Telescopes at the Summit

2009-10-21T13:15:00.000-10:00

Elevation from sea level: 13,796 ft.
Elevation from base: 33,000 ft. making it the tallest mountain in the world when measuring from it's base.

Amazing Night Sky from Mauna Kea

2009-10-21T13:10:00.000-10:00

This was taken (by Patrick the fabulous photographer) at the observatory which is at 9,000 ft. elevation. The bright light at the bottom left is actually headlights. When we got to the observatory, we were surprised to find an astromony party! Using crazy-powerful green lazers they pointed out the constellations and told the mythological story behind each. Afterwords, we wandred around the many high-powered telescopes, looked through them and chatted with the astronomers. They were so kind and willing to answer any question we had. Patrick's questions seemed to center around the technology, and mine the stars! We learned so much and had an amazing experience!

Looking into the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy

2009-10-21T12:54:00.000-10:00

There's a black hole in there somewhere!

Chocolate Cake

2009-10-21T12:52:00.001-10:00

Breakfast of Champions

On the Tram

2009-10-21T12:52:00.000-10:00

Walking around your hotel is just too taxing when you're on vacation!

Approaching Our Pretty Hotel Room!

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Regal Queen Beth

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awaiting a tram or a boat ferry her across the hotel property.

That's right! everything was conected by boat (or tram)! How cool is that?!

Pretty Hotel Drawbridge

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View from Our Room

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BEAUTIFUL room with top of the line everything even down to the coffee pot.

Pretty Hotel Lagoon

2009-10-21T12:43:00.000-10:00

In addition to the many fresh water pools, the hotel had a salt water lagoon with lots of fish. You could rent everthing from snorkle gear to paddle boats to stand-up surfboards. This was a perfect addition to the hotel because everyone wants to go to the beach in Hawaii, but Big Island is such a new island (although Hilo side is the oldest side) it doesn't have many white sand beaches (white sand beaches require a reef to form after island formation and then waves to break the reef into small pieces and carry them to shore... piece by tiny piece...not the quickest process)!

Pretty Hotel Dolphin Pool

2009-10-21T12:37:00.000-10:00

For a mere $245 per person you could swim* with the dolphins for 30 min. The group rate (6 people) was $1,300 for 30 min. Unreal. The dolphins were AMAZING though. Very active and fun to watch. They were constantly playing with each other when they weren't with a group of rich tourists!

By swim, I mean stand there, pet the dolphin, and get a picture taken with it.

Pretty Hotel Palm

2009-10-21T12:34:00.000-10:00

Pretty Hotel Sand Pool

2009-10-21T12:33:00.000-10:00

How cool is this?! A sand pool! and it's linked to the normal pool! This seemed to be a hit with the litle ones.

Pretty Hotel Pool

2009-10-21T12:32:00.000-10:00

Try standing under one of those waterfalls. Talk about a deep muscle massage!

Pretty Hotel Lagoon

2009-10-21T12:31:00.000-10:00

Hilton Map

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This gives you an idea of how vast this resort was. We stayed in the Ocean Tower which we discovered was where they put all the white couples. The Palace tower was where most of the Japanese couples stayed and the Lagoon tower was for families. That lagoon tower area was sure loud! Haha! Just kidding! But most of the fun water things were by the lagoon tower, so that's where we spent much of our time!

My cutie

2009-10-21T12:23:00.000-10:00

We play everywhere we go. We really do. Our percieved age is probably around 10.

Beth's Rock Grafitti

2009-10-21T12:18:00.000-10:00

The black lava rock that borders Queen's Highway in Hilo is tagged with grafitti, but not the spray paint kind. Instead, people profess their love and mark their teritory with white rocks that sharply contrast the exisitng lava field. Here I have professed my love for Peanutbutter. Hehe!

Patrick's rock creation

2009-10-21T12:13:00.000-10:00

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

2009-10-21T12:12:00.000-10:00

Okay, so it's only a 30 min. flight back home!

SNOWSHOW IN HAWAII!

2009-08-29T10:24:00.000-10:00

Slava's Snow Show

2009-08-24T18:29:00.001-10:00

Beth and I went to Slava's Snow Show last weekend. It was a night filled with clowns, bizzarre feats, an indoor storm, indoor snow, and yes giant floating balls. Also, while we were out Beth and I discovered this amazing french restaurant we've never seen before. All in all a good night

Playing with the big balls

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Out on the town

2009-08-24T18:24:00.000-10:00

Quail with...erm...other things?

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SOO, SOOOO GOOD

Cute picture

2009-08-17T21:48:00.001-10:00

Cool pre-engagement pictures

2009-08-17T21:48:00.000-10:00

Beth and I photographed her co-workers pre-engagement pictures. They turned out quite well.

Tunnels!

2009-08-17T21:46:00.001-10:00

On our way out of the hike we found around 6 of these long tunnels dug into the valley. We actually walked through this one despite both of our survival instincts.

Batter up

2009-08-17T21:46:00.000-10:00

Batting guavas

2009-08-17T21:45:00.000-10:00

The valley was completely overtaken with unripe guavas. We found this bamboo stick and were batting them deep into the valley. Tons of fun!

Me milking a flower

2009-08-17T21:44:00.000-10:00

In total we probably milked around 40 of these flowers to fill the tall water bottle.

Ahupui

2009-08-17T21:43:00.000-10:00

These look like normal flowers, but they have a little secret. They look dry, but when you squeeze them they expel tons of goo. This one for example almost filled a ziplock sandwich bag full of goo. This goo is basically the same as actual shampoo. It foams and everything. The locals would actually use it to shower in waterfalls. We collected an entire smart water, water bottle full of this goo. So we'll have natural shampoo for a month or so, that smells like flowers. Pretty neat stuff.

Cranberry Guava

2009-08-17T21:39:00.000-10:00

We went on a new hike saturday and found a zillion of these little guys. They are the same size and shape of a cranberry, but are actually guavas. We've never seen them before.

Cool hike

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Cool picture at sunset

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On the sunset booze cruise

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Pretty Honolulu

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Beth playing jump rope game

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At Dave and Busters

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Sleeping turtle

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LaniKai

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My good friends Ben and Bryan came to visit for a week! So MUCH fun!

The family

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A centipede eating a cockroach

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Nice beach

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Playin in big waves at Sandy's

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The most broken backs and necks of any other beach in the world.

4th of July

2009-08-17T21:27:00.000-10:00

Man this makes me realize how behind I am on the blog.

Beth's 4th of july fruit cake

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:-)

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Brother and I overlooking Kaneohe at Pali lookout

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Brother and Dad came to visit!

2009-08-17T21:24:00.000-10:00

Surfing today at white plains during sunset

2009-07-19T22:01:00.000-10:00

Pretty small, but fun as always!

Sad Moment

2009-07-19T09:17:00.000-10:00

Beth and I were having dinner in the backyard and when we looked up this is what we saw. This poor little bird was happily playing around in our luxurious tropical fauna when he took a wrong turn and got stock. Looks like he flew a little low between two branches and didn't quite make it through. As he struggled he slid down to where the two brances meet and hopefully had a reasonable quick death. Now Beth has tasked me to take it down. Problem is I know he's jammed in there pretty good and I really don't want to feel all his bones and little body as I try and slide him out of the tree. Ugh. Anyway a good reminder to always live each day to the fullest because one day some BS like this may happen to you.

Catching a wave late

2009-06-23T22:50:00.000-10:00

You don't really wanna catch a wave after it's become white, which is exactly what I'm doing here. The picture is interesting though because you can see Beth in the background BARELY making it over the top. Keep in mind her board is 8 feet long.

A cool one

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Fun Wave

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One of the bigger waves I've caught on film

Beth and I catching a wave

2009-06-23T22:43:00.000-10:00

Beth's Surfing Video

2009-05-26T18:56:00.001-10:00

Happy Memorial Day Everyone

2009-05-25T14:40:00.000-10:00

We celebrated Memorial Day with friends in Waikiki! They found a beautiful spot right next to the beach! We barbequed, boogie boarded, played frisbee, football, and Uno, and had an amazingly relaxing day! I even joined a yoga class in the park! Overall, it was a very fun day!

The view from our camp was okay

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Aww!

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Can you spy the Airplane?

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Poor people leaving Hawaii on such a beautiful day!

Sunset over Waikiki

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Apparently Queen Kapiolani Needed Some Fancy Accesories

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Rinestone Cowboy

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"Legends of the Fall" Pose

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Jeff and Nick...

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... and Travis' right hand!

FAME!

2009-05-25T14:28:00.000-10:00

The Sorcerer's Apprentis

2009-05-25T14:27:00.000-10:00

Look Before you Leap

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He jumped in right after (of course) I snapped this shot!

PapaYEAH!

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Grow babies, grow!

Sweet Li'l Thangs!

2009-05-25T14:19:00.000-10:00

The cherry tomatoes are ripening quickly, but the big tomatoes are taking their time. We cannot wait to pair them with fresh mozzarella and basil for a delicious snack!

Carrots!

2009-05-25T14:14:00.000-10:00

We're starting to harvest the carrots now! We've learned a life lesson: never judge a carrot by it's cover. Although they are usually twisted and bulgy, they are also crispy and delicious! Mmm...carrots!

http://jbigfoot.exposuremanager.com/g/mens_morning_prejudging

2009-05-19T18:48:00.002-10:00

My big bro in his body building competition! He's the one in blue.

http://jbigfoot.exposuremanager.com/g/mens_morning_prejudging

He's on pages 19, 20, and 21.

Time for something new

2009-05-16T11:10:00.000-10:00

I'm posting these so I can have the high resolution pictures online for my craigslist ad. Time for something a little newer, faster, stronger, better, but probably not Bluer.

The Side

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Nice butt

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Odometer

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Cool video of the clouds on top of the summit

2009-05-11T20:31:00.001-10:00

Took the time lapse video with my little camera and tripod my mom gave me. Gives you a good idea how fast the clouds move. This video was taken over the course of only about 6 minutes.

Beth and my pal Roman went to Kauai for a long weekend.

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Stayed suprisingly dry

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Gotta love rentals. Yes I'm parked in a stream

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Walking to the hidden rope swing

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Beth jumping off the rope swing

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Rope swing in the jungle

2009-05-11T20:27:00.000-10:00

Some local Kauai born friends of mine told me about a rope swing out in the middle of a lush jungle. Needless to say, we had to find it. After some offroading in the rental we stumbled across this magnificent piece of heaven. Water was perfect, everything was perfect.

Beth's shrimp boat

2009-05-11T20:25:00.000-10:00

You can't really see it in this picture, but the pineapple thing is the sail and the shrimp kabobs are the oars. Very cool

Opakapaka with spinach ravioli

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PLayin in the waves at tunnels

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This water is more blue in real life

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AAWWWW!

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