Category: Decompression

Big Island 2026

Big Island 2026

Day 8 Sunday 

Driving to the summit of Mauna Kea today.  Well, being driven to the top of Mauna Kea by Mauna Kea Summit Adventures in a Mercedes 4×4 luxury van. 

I considered driving myself, but I don’t know the guard rail situation, four wheel drive is mandatory and I didn’t read the rental agreement lol.  Some rental companies don’t allow you to drive off road and they all have GPS devices on their cars. It’s 13,803 feet in the air which is higher than Haleakala on Maui and randomly I get acrophobia, which is a fear of heights.  It really only happens when there is nothing to stop me from falling off of high places.  I can go on the tallest roller coaster or stand at the top of a mountain as long as I’m strapped in or there is a fence. It’s probably because I trip and fall so much.

I just hope I don’t get carsick lol.

Good news! Party of One gets the front seat 😁 so I should be good!

There were a bunch of warning signs about altitude sickness and how you need to breathe and acclimate your body to the assent. You shouldn’t scuba dive 24 hours prior to the tour or you could get the bends. There is no decompression chamber on the Big Island. They would have to helicopter you to Maui which would put you even higher in the air.  I didn’t really feel anything, but I chewed on some ginger candy (thanks Krystal) just in case. 

We stopped at the visitors center for dinner.  They served us a hot dinner of veggie lasagna and a brownie.  I opted to not eat the lasagna because of the tomatoes and cheese but I kept the brownie to eat with my car food lol.

This pit stop also allowed me to put more clothes on. The warmest clothes I had packed for Hawaii were a pair of hiking pants and yoga pants. I put them on together. Lol. I wore my water/hiking shoes with socks.

We left the visitors center and started the drive up the mountain. The park rangers were checking each vehicle for four wheel drive and whether or not the drivers knew how to use it.  The first four miles was like driving up a logging road. It was dirt and gravel and was wash boarded out.  The guide said they grated it once or twice a month but you couldn’t tell.

There were guard rails in most places, so I never did freak out and the rest of the drive was on pavement.

Up above the clouds

We stopped and saw the super telescopes they had up there.

When we got to the top of the mountain, they gave us parkas and gloves to wear. It was approximately 25° up there. I jumped out of the van and took some pictures and then jumped back in the van to warm up. I waited for sunset and got back out.  I think I got some good pictures but I should have brought a tri-pod. The cold air was making me shake so some of my photos were out of focus lol.

After sunset, we traveled back down the mountain to about 10,000 feet and our guide set up a giant telescope. I got to see Saturn, craters on the moon, and a twinkling star up close.  In the middle of stargazing, a meteor shot across the sky.  It was the biggest meteor I have ever seen in my life. It was probably half the size of the moon and it super bright green and red and the tail was very long and colorful.  Then it exploded and disappeared behind a mountain. The guide said that he had never seen one that big before.  I wish I had gotten a video of it. It was amazing.

2/26/25 Wednesday 

Da Life Outdoors Waterfall hike and swim. Check in was at 10:30am so I left at 9.  Good thing I did.  Their directions were a little sketchy.    They didn’t give an actual address.  They gave directions and geographical coordinates (21°57’16.3″N 159°23’06.8″W) The coordinates didn’t work.  It led me to the middle of Lihue.  So I looked at their turn by turn directions.  Kauai Community College was close by so I put that into the GPS and went from there.  I made it to the driveway marker.  A big orange rock.  Turned down a red dirt road all while I was thinking that I was probably getting kidnapped or something. There was another woman there with her daughter. They were waiting for me lol so I had to admit I got lost.

The hike to the waterfalls was pretty easy.  The first one was small  but the next one was probably 30 feet high.  I climbed up the rope ladder and went underneath it.  Very refreshing having the water pounding down on you.  I went to the lower level and jumped in and swam around.  Then we hiked back.  The lady and her daughter had taken an Uber there and the guy dropped them off at the end of the driveway lol. They had to walk the half a mile down the road.  I gave them a ride back to the main road and they called the Uber.  Who takes an Uber to go hiking?😂 I mean maybe to the Mall.

Going under
From the top

Stopped at Kukui Grove Center.  Found a pedicure place.  My toes have been bare.  I looked down at my feet and legs. They were still muddy from the hike lol.  I’m sure they appreciated that😂.  It was a little bit of torture.  She used the cheese grater and then cleaned my feet and legs with a brush.  Yow! My fault though for showing up all dirty😆

 

Drove to Lydgate Beach.  Nice. Lots of parking. Long narrow sandy beach.  I walked down a little ways and there is a man made pool for worry free swimming lol.  Perfect😁

Drove back to the room.  Went down to the pool to disinfect lol.  

I’m relaxing by the pool, blogging and I get a call from Krystal. “Mom, look at your text message “. Ok.

She just booked her flight and will be here at 11:00am😂😂. A two day vacation lol.  I can’t believe it!  She wanted to surprise me but she was afraid I would be off on some adventure and out of cell service.  She is crazy! 

Well, since Krystal will be here in the morning I need to tidy up.  My way of organizing my stuff while on vacation is to have it all out where I can see it lol.  I know, weird but it works for me.  So time to pick up my stuff😂

2/25/25 Tuesday 

Kauai Backcountry Adventures tubing.  Drove to Lihue.  A 27 mile drive south took an hour because of construction and the weird way they block off half the north and south lanes.  I assume it’s for people who are working.  There are three lanes and they will allow two lanes north and one south and then switch it back.  It causes some slow down on both sides.

I got checked in, bought some bug spray and scarfed down some car food just in case my blood sugar went weird.  I got my helmet and I’m ready to go.

We rode a trolley over to the canal and on the way had a “get to know each other session”.  We had to say our name, where we were from, tell something we loved doing, what our spirit animal was and what sound they made. Well I was last and the guy before me said he loved cats and meow😂😂So I said, ” hi, my name is Tami, I’m from Roseburg Oregon, I love water skiing and wake surfing and my spirit animal must be a fish since I love the water”. Then they asked me what does a fish say so I said glub, glub? lol.  Good thing I didn’t say fox 😂

We got our safety lessons.  You wear a head lamp so you can see when you go through the tunnels.  If they yell, “butts up” you better lift up or you will drag on the rocks. 

The water wasn’t very swift or deep. If you fell off you could just stand up to avoid drowning. Nothing like tubing on the North Umpqua in Oregon lol.. While in the tunnels I was on the lookout for spiders and bats but I didn’t see any. The last tunnel was super long and very dark.  They had us shut our lights off and it was pitch black and disorienting.  They told a scary story lol. Creepy.  

Towards the end of the float, I ran into the bushes that were sticking out on the side of the canal.  I floated a little farther and the guide wanted to get a picture with me. I think she felt sorry for me because I was there by myself 🙄. I said okay and we took the pic.  Then she looked down at my shirt and said, “oh my god there’s a centipede on you!”😲  I looked down and there was a six inch centipede on my chest.  I froze and screamed.  She quickly plucked it off me and flung it onto the bank where one of the other guides stomped on it lol.  I was so creeped out!  So glad it didn’t sting me or bite me or whatever they do.  Then I was thinking, what if Krystal had been here?  She probably would have fainted and fell off her tube😂

Look closely at my chest next to my phone strap!

Had a quick pit stop for lunch and a port-a-potty (no I didn’t pee in the canal lol and drove back to the warehouse. Of course they had the pictures for sale and of course I bought mine. Normally I don’t let myself get pulled into that tourist trap but the centipede…..

Per Kris there is a Costco on the island so I stopped there on my way back.  Eating out is a crap shoot when it comes to ingredients so I went there for precooked hamburgers but found chicken burgers instead.  They will do.  Seriously I wish there was just a breakfast / lunch / dinner gum.  Like on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  (I’ll skip the blueberry pie though lol iykyk) Life would be so much easier.

I went down to the swimming pool to disinfect from the canal water😂and blog.  

2/24/25 Monday 

Woke up at 5:30am which is really 7:30am back home.  It’s going to be torture when I get back  lol.

Waited for the sun to rise  and ate some breakfast on the Lanai.  Booked the Kauai Backcountry Adventures tubing tour for tomorrow and went down to the pool to check it out.  Forgot my towel and debated on getting in.  It’s a nice pool with a sandy beach at one end.  4 feet at the other end. 

Drove over to Hanalei.  Surprise! I was here in  2019😁. Walked around the different shops and did some shopping.  Favorite shop name: FAFO 😂 

Went to lunch at The Terrace.  Got the usual look when I said I wanted  a table for one.  People 🙄 single eaters need to eat too. They seated me next to a big group from Australia.  Probably someone famous but I wasn’t channeling my inner “Kris” vibes.  He can and will talk to anyone lolol.  I was eavesdropping a little though and they were talking about losing their Red Bull sponsorship?  

I had the most delicious Ube Paradise drink and chicken teriyaki bowl.  

Drove north to see some beaches.  The roads were crazy with people, single lane bridges and roads due to construction.  I ended up at Haena Beach which you could see part of Tunnels Beach from there.  The beach was red flagged so, no I did not get in. 

I watched the waves and some surfers. The waves were huge. I watched a bunch of stupid people walking in the surf.  The lifeguard had to yell at them over the speaker to get out. You have to read the room and if no one is in the water except a couple of surfers there probably is a reason lol.

The drive back took forever.  There is a famous bridge that you have to go over and its a left turn across traffic.  People were nice though and took turns.

Side note. With all the stop and go traffic I wanted to open the windows in the Jeep. Ummm, where is the control? Not in the normal spot where it is in 99% of all other vehicles.

Nope. Not there.

That took me 20 minutes 😂😂

Kauai 2025

This is a foxpartyofone blogging trip.  Just me, myself and I.  I cannot wait to see the sun and the ocean.

2/22/25 Saturday 

Drove to Portland Radisson to stay the night for the flight and park my car for the week.  It’s cheaper than parking at the airport and maybe a little more secure.  Plus they have a shuttle.  

As I was driving, the cruise control suddenly clicked off.  I looked down at the dashboard and the check engine light popped on and Eye Sight was flashing that it had shut off.

I’m not really a fan of Eye Sight. It alerts you if you travel over the lines, it will slam on the brakes if you are too close to the car in front of you, and if the car in front of you has moved it tells you to go.  Much like me at a green light when Kris is driving.  Go. (You’re welcome)  but it also controls the cruise control.  I stopped at the nearest rest area and looked at my car manual.  I checked the gas cap and decided to drive the rest of the way to the hotel.  It was uneventful.  Just a pain that I couldn’t use the cruise so I ended up driving like Krystal.  Either 80mph or 50mph. lol. 

I booked the wrong Radisson  lol.  No restaurant and they are out in the middle of nowhere.  I drove down the road to Goodwill but it seemed a little sketchy so I drove through the parking lot and came back.  I didn’t see any fast food places on the way either.  Oh well, I have some car food.  I had pepperoni sticks, chips and fruit snacks for dinner.  Super nutritious 😂