Anchors Away: The Big 5-0
Feb 16th, 2010 by Kristin
My sister has agreed (albeit begrudgingly) to stop by occasionally and blog her trip around the world via the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea program. Unfortunately, Internet time on the ship is minimal, so this is the first chance she’s had to write something up about her four weeks and one day on the water. She’s super shy about her writing ability, so kindly leave lots of very nice comments, and I’ll forward them along to her as means of encouragement (she can’t log onto my site on the boat, but has regular e-mail access). Thanks, y’all!
The day finally came, and I have now been to all 50 of the USA. I never thought I would actually beat my sister in something that involved traveling—but what a great feeling this is! I wish I had better stories to tell about visiting my very last state, but unfortunately the only really good story I have involved losing all of my belongings to the irate ocean…but more on that another day. First, I guess it would be alright to give a “brief” synopsis about my four days on the two islands.
We arrived in Hilo, Hawai’i on Jan. 25 and ditched our original plan of shopping (Heaven forbid), opting instead to catch a “Fun Tour” that had pulled up to the ship to collect some students. The tour seemed a little sketchy, but we were wanting to see the volcanoes before we left so we figured three hours for just $40 might be worth it instead of trying to take a chance on a taxi. Who would have guessed that the “Fun Tour” would have actually been really fun? (Guess it wasn’t false advertising after all.) There were 12 students on this little bus along with one heck of a tour guide.
Our tour guide was born in Hawai’i and has yet to the leave the islands. Ever. And as he continued to point out, he has never even considered leaving. Our “Fun Tour” was so fun in fact that three hours tour turned into seven thanks to Michael wanting us to have the opportunity to see every inch of his Hilo. Though as that turns out, Hilo doesn’t really have much to offer apart from Volcanoes National Park, but it was still a really fun day and we got plenty of great photos and were able to do a lot of hiking.
We started off with a little tour of historic Hilo where our tour guide told some very non-PC jokes that I won’t repeat on this family-friendly forum and also pointed out where we can buy under four ounces of marijuana and it be legal (editor’s note: Mom, you did NOT read that). That was a shock. We then proceeded to Rainbow Falls, which we had heard about from many people and were very anxious to see; however, I don’t know about you but a couple of drops of water every few minutes does not constitute a waterfall, at least not it my book. It was definitely a pretty area, but the whole “waterfall” part was more than a bit misleading. Next, we explored the Liliuokalani Gardens, which were beautiful, but again, not much to offer. Following the gardens, we stopped at the the Mauna Loa Mac-nut Farm where they make every flavor of Macadamia nut you could ever imagine. We toured the factory in about 10 minutes, and then ran into all of our Bucknell friends and enjoyed a nice little macadamia ice cream treat together in a small garden.
Next, we were dropped off at the Akatsuka Orchid Gardens, which as I am sure you can imagine, was simply a garden containing every single orchid species ever known. Next on the list was the Kilauea Iki Crater. We had barely made it to the lookout when we were rushed inside due to the high levels of sulfur in the air. However, it gave us the opportunity to tour Jagger Museum and find out a little bit about the volcano on which we were standing: Kilauea Volcano. When it was finally safe and we could properly inhale again, we made it back to our little fun bus and headed toward the steam vents and sulphur bank, which were pretty much just different views of the volcano.
Our last stop in Volcanoes National Park was the Thurston Lava Tube. It was pretty cool walking through a cave that had once fed lava to the volcano. After leaving the park, we headed to Hilo Hatties, Hawaii’s main touristy store. I was very good and only spent about five dollars, but my friend Melanie racked up quite the tab with her grass skirt and coconut bra purchases. As we started the trek back to the boat, we came across a small section of black sand beach that was littered with sea turtles! Of course we stopped. I found it quite hilarious that after seeing some of the most beautiful sites of Hawai’i, our group of “SASers” seemed the most excited sitting on rocks taking videos of turtles moving at 0.000000009 miles an hour. After a long day we finally made it back to the boat where we met up with all of our friends to go eat dinner and go to the bar (singular because Hilo only has one). We had a fun night mixing with all of our fellow SASers, and as far as I know nothing major happened!
I didn’t realize I had so much to say about Hilo until I just sat down to write. The second day in Hilo was pretty relaxed since we had already seen and done everything there was to see and do. Soooo…we went to Wal-Mart. Yes, you read that right. We were already having withdrawals from Wally World, and it had only been a week! Plus, it would be our last chance to do so, as we would soon be departing American soil for good for four solid months. We stocked up on necessities and headed over to Borders to get free internet for all of about 15 minutes. Then we all had to split up because some of our friends had faculty led excursions during the day. I, however, did not. So to the beach I went! A group of us grabbed some brewskie (I’m 21, of course) and headed to the beach to relax until we were due back on the ship. My buddy Tom and I hiked out onto a lava rock in the middle of the little bay we were in and watched the whales—it is mating season for them and definitely a sight to see. The day went by fast though, and before we knew it we were back on the boat having dinner with everyone and sailing to Honolulu.
xo,
Kari
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All 50 states – wow, that’s impressive! Sounds like you left the best for last.
Sounds like a great start! I was one of the many people who encouraged you to go on SAS through this blog, Kari, as I went in the Fall of 2004. I started journaling my experiences but didn’t follow through with it, which I totally regret now. So keep up the great writing & have fun on the rest of the journey, it goes by WAY too fast!
Kari – Were your ears burning on Sat night? My niece (R Childers) came home for the weekend and we were discussing your travels at dinner:) Sounds like you are having a fantastic time. Seriously, does it get any better than turtles, whales, and volcanoes?!? I am looking forward to hearing about your adventures!!
Totally jealous of your experiences! You’re in for an amazing time!!!
Such fun! Thanks for writing this…at my age (a not-so-old 38) I regret not keeping more journals about the stuff I’ve done, and places I’ve been. One of the reasons I didn’t keep journals is because I was embarrassed by my own writing. It wasn’t perfect. When I finally got over the need to write perfect drafts, I started thinking, “Now I’m just too OLD to start journaling.” And there you have the 2 stupidest things I’ve ever thought to myself.
So, then. Write. Maybe it’s not perfect, but it will be great stuff that you’ll be glad to have and read many (many) years from now. Some details you can’t photograph, I’ve learned. (I’d also bet that you’ll surprise yourself by how well you can write.)
I can’t wait to read more about your trip…!!!
Awesome! I want a semester at sea.
I am so excited you decided to go. Make the best of this once in a lifetime opportunity. I look forward to many more stories! Oh and congrats on whooping your sister!
I am so glad that you decided to go! Hooray! And what an awesome first experience…
Kari, i really like the way you write. It’s like we’re having a conversation. I’m very impressed by your travel record, only missing 3 states myself. After this journey you may have visited more places than your sister. Sure hope you’ll keep sharing with us.
yay, thanks for keeping up posted Kari. So glad you decided to go!
Yay! Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I almost went on SAS, but my school was going to give me a hard time about credits
I’m excited to hear more about your semester!
You possess exemplary writing skills, dear. As your former English teacher, I’m impressed.
Any romances? Tom? Another SASer? Sounds like a blast so far. Thanks for updating us!
Congrats to your sis on making it to all 50 states! That is an amazing achievement. That is too funny about Walmart but we do the exact same thing. Any time we find a 7-11, Walmart, or other store that sells Americana, we immediately head for it.
you are a spitting image of your sister…..you probably now hate me for saying that
It sounds like you’re having fun Kari, I hope the next port of call is just as good! And congrats on beating your big sister to all 50 states! :0)
So glad you are having such a great time! Keep posting so we can keep up with your travels. Enjoy!!! Lova ya!
How neat that you have officially reached all fifty states! That is on my bucketlist… I think I would have been the most excited about seeing the sea turtles too. Also, I have always wanted to whale watch.. How cool!
Sooo happy to hear that you’re having the time of your life! Hawaii is amazing. Wish I lived closer to the islands. Great writing for your 1st post!!!
Awesome job Kari! Keep up the writing, if not for us than for yourself and being able to look back at it all. I know you’ll have a blast!
Nice description Kari, it brought Hilo to life and reminded me of our visit to Hilo. Lovely area, booooring town. I wasn’t lucky enough to see the turtles though. Did your tour guide talk about the tsunami that hit Hilo years ago? They had many (rusting) alarm horns scattered around town in case of another one, and I wondered if they still were operational. Keep posting, I’ll be interested in your future adventures.
p.s. congratulations on beating Kristin out on visiting all 50 states. It isn’t easy to beat that woman at anything!
Sounds like an awesome trip so far! I so regret that I didn’t do a Semester at Sea while I was in college. And all 50 states – that’s impressive! I’ve yet to visit Hawaii (among others) but it sounds fun.
Hooray Kari!!! Great job!
Thanks for sharing your semester with us! Can’t wait to read more.
What a great opportunity! Congrats on visiting all 50 states (and for taking such great photos!)
Nice to follow your travels, Kari! Hope to read more soon…
Wow sounds like an amazing experience, makes me sad to be graduating, wish I could go back and go on this trip! You paint a really nice picture of Hilo and I love the turtles! Can’t wait to read/see more!
Sounds like a great trip so far! I can’t wait to hear more about your adventures at sea (don’t forget to tell us about losing your belongings in the ocean!).