The weather is beautiful and the air is intoxicating here in San Diego. Nova my mom and I went to a fancy breakfast this morning. Now, Nova is at a friend’s birthday party at a Chinese restaurant and we are lazing around the living room. I called and Andy. He’s watching the Broncos game in Vegas. Everyone is accounted for.

Tonight, Nova and I are going to an eighties themed New Year’s party at a converted church. We had high hopes for our eighties costumes, since we’re both experts on the subject. But today our excitement waned when we thought about the physical work it would take to get all the stuff rounded up and then put ourselves together. I wish our spandex leotards with belts and matching legwarmers, head and wrist bands would just magically appear out of a time vortex for free and in the right size and perfect neon colors. I was going to put all kind of junk in my hair to make it into a mowhawk. Now, I feel like we’ll just put on some cute dresses, a little make-up and hang out for a while. Really, in my perfect New Year’s party world, it would be celebrated with a hot cup of coco and a cheesy movie on pay per view.

Thinking about going out tonight is making me tired. I haven’t had a cup of coffee in three years but today I’m serious considering it.

Buckwheat pancakes with peanut butter and agave nectar. Nothing could be better at nine at night with friends in San Diego. Okay, one friend, and one mom in San Diego. Except the mom is sleeping and the two friends are eating pancakes. One is drinking raspberry natural cola and vodka and cooking. The other is commenting on the lightweight nature of first friend and laughing at her drunken cooking.

Fine, drunken friend number one is me. I am a lightweight and not ashamed. The weather is beautiful and the pancakes are delicious.

We sent Andy back to Vegas before we got to LA. His instructions were to play hockey and pick up the few important things that we forgot in the RV. He was a good sport an amazing companion for the trip, but this extended time with his mother-in-law I could see was wearing on his affable nature. A few hours before we hit LA I told him to scram and come back to San Diego on Tuesday.

Goodnight mother internet.

*Edit by Nova: We used real butter to cook the pancakes…something Cindigo wouldn’t do if she were sober. Also, Cindigo’s mom is “snoring incessantly”.

A short history of the last week or so.

Drove to Sacramento from Vegas to Sacramento with Andy and my mom following in her black Cadillac.
We spent a few days with the fam in Sacramento. Five children, goats, llamas, horses, chickens. Fun was had by all. Andy and I rode horses, he sawed down a tree and we ate many cookies. There were many photo ops and funny stories, but I didn’t have the energy to document.
The three of us drove down Pacific Coast highway to Monterey where we stayed last night.
This morning we went to the world famous aquarium.
We continued to drive down PCH.
We stopped at a beach with a heard of elephant seals. It was pretty amazing.
Now, were at the Super 8 in San Luis Obispo. There was a farmer’s market / taste of the city. We walked around, ate a few things and now we’re in the hotel watching an innocuous Reese Witherspoon movie drinking orange juice.

We’re leaving for Sacramento today. We’ve been at the Rio since Saturday. My mom is here and….snores. Really snores. I went down to the gift shop at four in the morning to buy my tortured husband earplugs. We never made it to Laughlin, but Laughlin Smaughlin. That’s what I say.

A short story before I get yelled at for not packing right now.

When Andy was growing up he thought they were saying “release Navidad” in the song “Feliz Navidad”. He always wondered who Navidad was and hoped they would let him go for Christmas.

We’re back in Vegas. We have been for a few days. We’ve gotten our bearings and we’re off again. We got a few days of comped rooms at the Rio in Vegas then we’re meeing my mom in Laughlin on Tuesday. She wanted to hang out in Laughlin and gamble some before we started heading towards Sacramento.

cindigo at blue lagoon
Originally uploaded by cindigodotcom.

click here for more photos.

So sad to be leaving tonight. We’ll be back for sure. Right now we’re stuffing our packs and slowly saying our goodbyes.

For so long I’ve been trying to put a community of like minded people together. I’ve got it now. We can travel the globe and seek them out. So many good times and good new friends….and I feel like everything has only just begun.

Lava Video (use Quicktime to view)

So it seems I was duped into promising to write an entry describing our volcanic adventures by a crafty Cindigo. Well, I’m not much of a blogger, but I’m also not a welcher (okay, I am a welcher, but Cindigo’s not letting me get away with it this time) so here goes:

The current eruption of Kilauea is taking place at a vent called Pu`u `O`o. They don’t let the public anywhere near the erupting vent because, apparently, lots of nasty gases and debris get spewed out and, if you’re close enough to see what’s going on, you’re not going to be feeling too good. The lava travels many miles from the vent through underground lava tubes until it spills into the ocean from a couple different locations. Usually if you want to see actual lava you hike out to viewing areas about 1/4 mile from the actual entry point. They don’t let you any closer because the cliffs are unstable and the steam plume that forms is nasty with sulfuric acid to the point that it will etch glasses and contact lenses.

At night, even from 1/4 mile away, the sight of lava hitting the ocean, causing steam explosions that throw the lava back into the air is pretty impressive. But, I have to say I was pretty disappointed that we couldn’t get closer to flowing lava. Or Could we???

The hike to the best steam plume viewing area is almost a two hour event over unmarked lava flows. Hiking over lava flows is really weird. It feels like another planet and it is really really sharp. We got to the viewing area as the sun was going down and we started to watch the distant lava show with the two other people who had made the hike. Shortly after the sun went down we saw a bright spot of surface lava form on the very distant mountain side. Over the course of the next few minutes the spot grew into a river of red light and we began to see occasional bright flashes and flickering. “Trees being vaporised?” we guessed. It was all very exciting.

For a few minutes we debated whether or not to try to make the hike. It was hard to tell how far away it was, but “pretty ridiculously far” was my guess. There was also the nagging question of “are we going to do something stupid and die a painful (but sexy) death by lava?” Well, the decision was obvious. How often do you find yourself within a handful of miles from a river of molten lava?

A few short hours later (did I mention it was night, no trail, razer sharp lava, etc?) we were standing about fifteen feet from from this amazing river of lava. As a lifelong pyromaniac, it was truly a dream come true. Trees were being knocked down by the lava, bursting into flames, and being carried down the mountain. Some branches of the lava were flowing very smoothly and quickly (I’d say about 8 mph) and others were just barely moving and making a sound exactly like a dog’s collar jingling. We later learned that what we saw was a “gushing breakout.” All I can say is, if you ever get a chance to see a gushing breakout, be careful, but do it!

Another short Lava Video

I hope the video does it some justice, it was taken with my phone. I really wish we brought a camcorder. Next time!

The less said about the hike back, the better. It was long. Really long. There was blood (most of it Cindigo’s). There was hunger and a lot of “Do you think we’re half-way back yet?” We got back to the car at 1:30 am, 9.5 hours after we arrived. It was worth it, but we’re gonna try to stay off the lava for awhile.

We’re camping. I mean really camping. I know, I know, how much real camping can you do with a laptop and internet access but play along. We hiked eight miles over some pretty tough terrain and twenty five pound backpacks to get here (I only fell three times). And here is awesome. I’ve been running around naked for two days eating coconuts that Andy opens with a knife after I bash it with a lava rock for a while. We brought our snorkels and masks and saw a bunch of eels, one the size of both your arms (well my arms) put together. Andy saw it strike at a big fish but miss. We’re somewhat unprepared as usual, but gaining more confidence in our Couple Versus Nature skills. I was ready to make a spear and go for some fish, but Andy put the nix on it saying that we would probably just maim something and feel bad.

lava trees burning
Originally uploaded by cindigodotcom.

click here to see more photos.

We hiked for nine and a half hours in the volcano. We expected to be out three hours, four at the most. Unbelieveably, there were only minor injuries and extreme exhaustion. The tenacity paid off. We saw the most amazing lava flow. It was something right out of a extreme show on the Discovery channel or National Geographic. Andy promised to do a guest update on it since he’s the pyromaniac and has more passion on the subject of fire. He also feels bad because I fell twice cutting up my ankles and palms. The scrapes look pretty tough. We camped in Kilaweaha Volocano park. After that hike, I could have slept in the middle of the freeway.

We’ve been at Kanoa’s place for the last few days. He and his room mate JC are great. Kanoa and Andy bonded over early the early BBS, Zork and other geekery. JC is very into downloading all kinds of music. We all been hanging out at the kitchen table with our laptops. The house is beautiful and open and the vegetation is lush and staggering. Even though the weather has been rainy a fifteen minute drive brings us sunshine at the beaches. We went snorkeling again yesterday and saw some eels and swam with more huge sea turtles.

Today we’re packing up and heading to the volcano for a few days of camping and hiking.

Crap! My first earthquake and I slept through it. Or at least I don’t remember any of it. Andy said I woke up with a start because everything was shaking. He told me there was an earthquake. I mumbled something and held on to him.

When we woke up this morning and he mentioned an earthquake, I thought he was kidding.

Damn, damn, damn!

oh my god look…
Originally uploaded by cindigodotcom.

More Hawaii photos here.

We made it out of Kona alive. And you guys didn’t even know we were in peril did you? Well I was just being dramatic. The only peril we were in is from falling asleep standing up because we’re running around like crazies. Andrea the other couchsurfer was only here for thirty six hours. Since we had the rental car, we felt it was our duty to make her (and our) thirty six hours the most memorable we could. After snorkeling all day Thursday, eating dinner and falling into bed, we got up at six am on Friday to drive two hours to see the volcano.

We hiked through the lush forest four miles and down into the crater in the center of the trails. Walking across the black and martian landscape was a unique and amazing experience. Some spots look like what you would think pavement in a movie of an earthquake would look like. Mammoth slabs of flat lava pushed up against each other near treacherous gaps where the earth has pulled apart.

We went through lava tubes. The tubes were explained to me but I can’t quite tell you how they formed. They were basically a long cylindrical cave made by lava. The fist half was lighted. The second half was only for the brave with flashlights. We braved it and at the end we sat for a while, flashlights out in the blackest darkness I’ve ever been in.

At around five we were going back and forth on if we should go to dinner or to press on to hike over the hardened lava flooded road to get a closer look at the still erupting portion of the volcano. If you want a long hike you can get very close. But we weren’t up for, and didn’t have time for a long hike, we just wanted to get a better view. We were torn because we were tired and hungry and had to get Andrea to the airport by ten, and it was a two hour drive. Of course, we could have dinner any day. How often do you get to hike to a active volcano? In the day you can see the rising plume of smoke. When the sun goes down you can see the red lava. The problem was it was raining and the further you walked towards the volcano in the twilight meant that you would have to cover that much ground in the dark on the slippery rocks on the way back.

We went in about three quarters of a mile but the visibility was bad, the rain was coming down harder and it was getting dark fast. We turned around and made it back to solid ground just as it became too dark to see. Also, as a bonus, none of us cracked our heads open. We were the only people that I saw not dressed appropriately for the weather. There were hoards of Japanese with yellow rain slickers walking in groups and throngs of Americans with clear plastic disposable gear. Andy had on a short sleeved t-shirt and jeans and I had on a hoodie with fake fur inside the hood. Incidentally when you get the fake fur of the hood wet and then put it on your head, it is very similar in texture, weight and smell to a wet puppy. We were soaked to the bone and pretty cold by the time we made it to the car.

We had fifteen minutes for dinner so we called ahead to a Thai restaurant, wolfed down some pad thai, curry and spring rolls and were on the way to the airport. Andrea departed on time. By the time we made it back to our bedrolls my eyes were crossing from exhaustion and I practically fell into my sleeping bag.

Today we left Kona and our gracious hosts James and Lee and drove an hour to stay with Kanoa. We’ve only met for a minute but I can already tell we’re all going to get along famously. His place is gorgeous and old and the surrounding scenery is spectacular. We did all of our laundry and are now laying on a futon, drinking cherry vodka and preparing to watch bad downloaded tv on the laptop.

We’ve been getting up really early. The plan for tomorrow is to sleep in and do nothing.