so these last couple of days have just been amazing. i could write a novel about how great this trip is and everything, but i won't because i feel like both of us would get bored with that. so i think i'll just put up some pictures and write maybe a couple sentences for them, and then... who knows?
sunday was what we called the "culture day." we went to a farmers market, the L and L Drive Inn (basically the Hawaiian Arctic Circle... just a big local food chain), and we finally went to a big ol' artists farmer's market, just an entire street full of artist's tents, from paintings to glassword to woodwork to candles to soaps... amazing. i bought myeself a couple of souvenirs... plus my mom's birthday present! but don't tell her!
here's a couple pictures:
the farmer's market... local fruit, coffee, and even a guy that made spear heads! Turns any broom into a "menacing weapon that you can carry on the bus!"
a street performer at the artist's market. played a ukelele and a guitar pretty much simultaneously. also, the fingernails on his right hand were like three inches long!
the beautiful sunset at the harbor... the inspiration for my poems Thought and Water and The Lost One... you can check them out in my notes on my facebook page!
a run down building on the harbor, where i sat and watched the sunset. you can see someone wrote "work in progress" in the bottom right corner... i love that.
a local photographer, taking pictures of the sunset... i really hope she didn't mind me taking her picture!
best pizza i've ever had! definitely go here if you come over to Hawaii!
a turtle we saw in the bay. i've seen like five on this trip, that's... five times more than i've ever seen in the wild!
anyways, day 2 took us to the other side of the island to Hilo. we visited a couple of really cool places and went to a GREAT breakfast places called Ken's house of pancakes. ah, so so good... but i think the best prize of the day was the six mile hike into the crater of an active volcano! there was a big valley, about a mile or two wide and about 200 feet deep of volcanic rock. it was amazing to see the steam vents and the plants growing there. i didn't think either should be possible! i guess you'll see from the pictures:
the waterfall that we visited... i can't remember the name, but it was amazing. it was just exactly like a rainforest in the park, then this waterfall.... it was so beautiful.
just a nautre shot i like
the lava tunnels, where giant rivers of lava burned tunnels underground!
how is the plant living in the lava rock?!? it shouldn't be. it's amazing!
the steam vents. awesome.
all i know is that i never want to leave. i feel like i was born to live here. it really is paradise, and i can't wait for the rest of my trip. it's like my spirit is here, along with all my art and inspriation, and i'm here to find it.
(wow, that sounded really hippie-esque.)
thank you, i love you all.
-michael howell.
Mike, I'm so happy you are enjoying your trip. I love Hawaii too and I love that you are experiencing it so fully. Today, I spent several hours reading your entire blog...you really should be a writer--you have such a way of expressing yourself. Love and miss you, keep taking it, I'm so jealous!! Mom
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