Flat Stanley: Trip to New York City, New York

Good Morning,
I am currently on a wonderful trip to New York City. I started the day early by getting on a plane and flying all the way across the country. I was on a plane for about 6 hours.

I had so much fun looking out the window.

New York City is such a big city!! The buildings are super tall.

One of the main areas in New York City is Times Square. This area is very popular for people visiting NYC. You might have seen this place on TV on New Years Eve. This is where the ball drops every New Years Eve at midnight and tons of people stand in the street watching it celebrating.

One thing I saw which I thought was funny was how people park their cars. This area has so many buildings that it is hard to find places to park so there are parking spaces on top of other cars!!

Well after a long day flying and walking around New York City, I am tired. I will explore more and keep sharing!!

Good Day,

Flat Stanley

Halloween Video

Hawaii: Visiting the Kilauea Volcano

On Thursday Sept. 24th we started our day early so we could go explore Kilauea Volcano. It is about a 2.5 hour drive from the hotel but was a nice drive. We went through more the middle of the island over to Hilo by way of the Saddle Back road. This road was an old military road during WWII and until recently most rental car companies did not allow you to drive it. It has been worked on and repaved quite a bit so we were able to drive it. It was a very windy road but the landscape was wonderful. It kept changing as we went across the road. We saw some pretty interesting plants.

We arrived at the park and was pretty amazed at everything we saw. We took lots of pictures but it is really hard to capture what we are seeing. We drove over many lava flows from the 1970’s where there are lots of trees and then a distinct tree line where the flow came through and then maybe a couple 100 yards the tree line starts again. Thick black lava flows go down the mountains out to the ocean. You can hike most of the park but we drove through most of it. The actual crater was amazing to see but again is something you have to see in person to really get an understanding of the size and depth.

Steam vents which were pretty smelly…

The crater…

Smaller but still huge crater…

Nice picture of how the lava folds over and ripples as it dries…

Older lava flow…

Walking along a lava flow from the 80’s…

Lava tube we were able to walk through…around the lava tube it was very tropical but a few minutes in either direction it became very dry and really a completely different environment.

There used to be a road that went along the water but a flow in the 80’s went right over the road out to the ocean. We hiked a little ways out onto the flow. It was amazing to see the road just go right under the lava.

At the end of the day we went out of the park to a viewing area where we were able to see the lava flowing into the ocean. It was about a half mile (we think longer but they said only a half) from the viewing area. We stayed until it got dark. There was a constant large amount of smoke and as waves crashed up we could see lava rocks flying around like small explosions. During light we could see some bright orange flows going into the water but at night the orange glow was really great to see. The pictures below are from the half mile, zoomed all the way in with my zoom lens and then zoomed in more on the computer and cropped to try and show what we were seeing. At night I could not get a fast enough shutter speed with the lack of light so they get more blurry but there was not much I could do. I had the camera on my tripod with a remote so I never touched the camera which would have added shake and blur to the pics even more….

After we watched the lava for some time, we headed back for the long drive on very dark windy roads. We got back to the hotel pretty late and exhausted but so well worth it. Again…something you really have to go see in person if you get the chance. Truly amazing…

5 Year Anniversary Trip to Hawaii Part 2

Day 3 - Tuesday Sept 22rd, 2009

We woke up pretty early because we had a snorkel adventure planned. Our drive to the harbor to catch the boat was about 45 minutes away from the hotel. This area was much more populated and touristy. It also was very much more island feeling with lots of green trees and plants with lots of flowers everywhere. We definitely liked the area we are staying in for its remoteness and uniqueness. We checked in for our excursion and got our snorkel gear ready to go. The boat was a large catamaran where we were to be served breakfast and lunch.

We boarded the boat for a 45 minute drive to a protected underwater cove. During the ride to the cove, the crew served a simple breakfast which consisted of Costco muffins, fruit and other pastries…probably from Costco also. When we arrived at the cove, the water was very clear looking down at it from the boat. There were probably about 50 people on board. Once we stopped, the crew gave us safety and rules orientation and then we were ready to go. Jenny was one of the first in the water as she is a great swimmer. I on the other hand had to get my float belt thing on so my lack of swimming skills would not get me sunk to the bottom to live with the fishes.

The snorkeling was great. We saw eels, octopus, lots of colorful fish of all sizes and wonderful coral. We tried to take pictures with one of the cheap disposable underwater cameras but it just did not capture what we were seeing with how we saw it.

After about an hour of snorkeling, we came back on the boat for bbq hamburgers and hot dogs. The food was great. We ate and relaxed and then Jenny too a few slides down the water slides on the boat. They launched you down and then dropped you pretty high up from the water. We went back in the water for some more fun. We chatted with one of the crew members who contracts with the boat company to video everything on the boat and under water to make a DVD for whoever wants to buy one (at $69 which was WAY out of our price range although would have been cool to have). The guy knew tons about the fish and the ocean in general which was a great addition to the trip.  (His company web site). After some more snorkeling, we headed back to the harbor for the drive back to the hotel.

The rest of the day we hung out at the beach for awhile and then had dinner and played scrabble before we finally fell asleep…

Day 4 - Wednesday Sept 23rd, 2009

I woke up way to early today. I started waking up at 4am which by 5am I was done laying there. I was wanting to get out and take pictures of around the hotel before there was too much sun so I quietly left the room so Jenny could keep sleeping. It was still dark out so I got to walk around taking pictures as the sun came up. I was able to get some great shots of a turtle relaxing on the beach along with some flowers and a crab which I was still wanting a good picture of.

I came back to the room and Jenny woke up. We had breakfast out on the balcony relaxing for a bit. We then decided to go do some snorkeling at the beach at the hotel. We went a little ways down the beach to where the turtles have been. Pretty quick into the snorkeling we found a bunch of turtles. We just floated around above them watching them eat off the sea floor bottom. A bunch of times other turtles would sneak up on us and pop up their right next to us out of the water. They were swimming right next to us. It really was a lot of fun to be out their with them.

After awhile we went for a drive up the island along the coast and then cut over back down. We visited a macadamia nut factory but there was not much their to see. Again the scenery changed to a very dry brown landscape. As we rounded the top of the island it changed again to much more green. We went up the mountain to 3500 ft with amazing views and landscape.

As soon as we peaked and started to head down the other side, the landscape changed again to more dry with lots of cactus plants. Further down it more looked like northern California by where I live in Yuba City with the farm land. I was excited (sorry getting my military history geekness on) about us driving over to a ranch that was a base in WWII. The Marines used this ranch to practice a couple invasions because they thought the landscape and hills were similar to where they would be fighting. They readied for an assault at Tarawa and practiced on a hill here to prepare for the assault up Iwo Jima. This was really something to see even though there was not much to see but a monument and a hill.

After our drive we went into Kona where we had dinner at Bubba Gumps. It has been years since either of us had been there. Good food and nice scenery since we sat out back and watch the sun set and a big cruise ship leave. We walked around a bunch of fun shops before we returned to the hotel to get some rest. We have an early day tomorrow for a long drive to the volcano for a great day exploring there….

Yosemite is a must…

This weekend we got the family out of the house to explore new ground…at least for us. We took a short but wonderful trip to Yosemite. Yosemite is just over an hour from my parents house out in Oakdale so in order to get an early start without the extra 2 hours drive just to get to Oakdale, we left the evening before and stayed the night at my parents. This helped us get up early the next morning and get into the park.

Jenny and I both have not been to Yosemite since we were kids. Jenny did some research to plan our day but we both really did not know what to expect. We did not plan on camping because we had the kids with us and so camping with 2 two year olds just did not sound very fun with somewhere we were not at all familiar with.

When we arrived at Yosemite, the weather was perfect and the crowds were minimal. We drove in and explored the main road as we headed to the Yosemite Valley area. Everything was amazingly green with wonderful waterfalls everywhere. We have been to the mountains lots of times both during our lives but this was just different. Really amazing to look all around and see the plants, water animals.

We headed over to a tram tour which was to last 2 hours. We felt this would be a good introduction to the park since we were both new here. We had some time before the tram so we sat down for some lunch. We packed sandwiches and found some tables to sit at. As soon as we sat down we had a squirrel run over and go from chair to chair with no fear of us. The kids were loving it as they were so up close with this little guy. We made sure we did not feed the animals and follow the signs “Keep the wild animals wild”.

After lunch we jumped on the tram. Our guide has been working and living in Yosemite since the 80’s. It was great to hear her talk because she was just not talking about past events but was actually there to experience a lot of them over the years. The tram ride really gave us a good overview of the park. At the end of this ride we really were able to see some of what the park offered and gave us this desire to see and explore so much more. This would have to wait for a later trip where we can actually stay in the park for multiple days. If you have never been to Yosemite or not been in many many years like us, the tram ride is something worth doing.

After the tram ride we hiked to Yosemite Falls which is the easiest to hike to with the kids. The falls were amazing. Our guide explained that she has not seen the park how it is right now in years. In a couple months these falls will have no water but right now they are perfect. The kids loved seeing the falls and were able to run around exploring the rocks around and chase squirrels.

By late afternoon the kids were exhausted awake beyond their naps. We jumped back in the car for the drive back to my parents house. We definitely did not really want to leave. We got a taste of the park and were wanting more. We will definitely be back both as a family and just Jenny and I alone. We would like to stay in the park and go on hikes exploring deeper into the park. As having photography as a big hobby, this is the perfect place to go photo crazy. If you have not been to Yosemite, it is a must trip. With Gov. Arnold wanting to close most parks in California, explore Yosemite and the others while they are still open.