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Monday on the Island

Monday morning Jan and I walked over the the Isles Cafe for breakfast. We sat out by the water at a picnic table and enjoyed the view of Mauna Kea.
Most mornings clouds covered the mountain but today it was clear. Nice view for breakfast.
After breakfast we strolled over to the LiliÊ»uokalani Park and Gardens.  This is a very nice park with great views and a nice place for a stroll.

After breakfast we drove over to Sharks Farm.
There they grew coffee, cacao and vanilla. There we met Tom Shark, entrepreneur. This was an interesting tour covering the growth of cacao, vanilla, coffee and other native and non-native plants. We also learned about how cacao, vanilla
and coffee are processed. We even got to taste some chocolate that had just been made from the cacao beans grown at the farm. Nothing better than farm fresh chocolate! Jan even got to help make her own batch of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I even got to taste ONE of these Hawaiian delights. 

After the farm tour we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a nap.
Tom Shark giving us a big Hawaiian hug
Later that afternoon Leslie, Jan and I decided to head up to Mauna Kea and the MAUNAKEA VISITOR INFORMATION STATION to see the sunset and the stars. We did not go all the way to the summit but stopped partway up. The road after the visitors center was unpaved and it was suggested that 4 wheel drive vehicles attempt the drive. 
We got there during the daylight and there was a telescope set up to look at the sun.

The guy there said the sun was calm at this time and no sunspots were visible so it was just a big orange disk.We all looked  anyway. It was heavily filtered so we didn't burn our eyeballs out. There was also information about the different telescopes on the top of the mountain. 
As the sun began to set the ranger told us that the best view was from the top of Pu'u Kalepeamoa a cinder cone near the visitors information center. It was not to difficult a hike and we all made it to the top. It was very beautiful to see the sun setting over the mountains above the clouds. 

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  1. P.A.February 4, 2020 at 5:32 PM

    Sounds absolutely amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chan BlissFebruary 4, 2020 at 5:57 PM

      It was amazing. I recommend anyone taking that trip. Just climbing into a volcano and then to the top of a mountain to watch the sun set was worth it. Everything else was just icing.

      Delete

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