I'm very tired. I've been going to bed later and later. This has of course allowed me to adjust to the time difference, but this is something I did not want to do. I liked waking up early enough to catch the morning sun so as to see the lands awash in an early morning warmth. I woke up at 8. I left the hotel at 9 for an appointment to see another car, about a 1.5 hour drive away.
I'm very glad to have made that appointment, because I think I've found my car. This jeep is older, but has been maintained better than Eddie, and is still under factory warranty due to a much lower mileage. I hope to have the car by this weekend, though the money may not fully transfer until Monday.
The rest of the day was filled with numerous foibles, including forgetting an SD card for my camera after having walked down to take pictures of the picturesque Waipio Valley, and forgetting to fill up on gas before embarking on a quest up to the summit of Mauna Kea. Upon returning to Waimea to fill up the tank, I embarked upon Saddle road for the second time.
Saddle road, named after the fact that it runs between the saddle of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa is poorly paved but bisects the island diagonally. Rarely used for commuter traffic, this road was constructed by the military to allow access to an army base at the foot of Mauna Loa where the army practices artillery maneuvers. Saddle road crosses pastural scenes before turning into a foreboding landscape of languidly boiled and cooled lava fields bearing the resemblance of cracked surface of chocolate brownies. I walked into the lava field to take a closer look. The dry and brittle lava crackled beneath my feat. The rock is precarious and riddled with tiny air bubbles which give the rock a sharp pumice texture. The slabs of lava are radiant with colors of the many minerals which have separated into layers giving it various striations. It is this separation by heat and density that creates layers which slide and split based on their compressed weight. Roots separate these precarious layers, transforming them into the familiar mixture of soil.
The Summit...
The views are so expansive that they cannot be captured on film. All the pictures I took up here had to be thrown out because the vastness of the landscape simply couldn't be tangibly captured. NASA maintains an observatory with numerous arrays of radio telescopes. The visitors center is open as late as 10pm, so as to allow the brave adventurer, who scaled the unlit slopes in their car the opportunity to view the heavenly splendors for themselves through some of the smaller telescopes set up 3,000 feet before the summit. When I mean small, I mean 500lb scopes set up on heavy tripods, with keyboards and motors allowing the operator enter coordinates for the scope to focus into.
During the summer, the temperature at 13,800 ft above sea level is rather warm - a pleasant 50 degrees. The blizzards of the winter, however, make this place foreboding and extremely dangerous to unprepared tourists with their Miatas. Even with the volcanic activity of Mauna Kea's sister hill, Mauna Loa will never rise to the full height of Mauna Kea. Mauna Loa will continue to slowly sink due to its incredible weight.
The End to Macro Exploration...
I have driven over 800 miles since I arrived on the island. The size of this place is very easy to underestimate. Each day's travels have me fill up on a new tank of gas. Eating out is also getting expensive.
Hours of driving are becoming very tiresome. Too often I've found myself in a location too far away from services or food. Each night after finishing a day's adventuring I find myself 1-2 hours away from Kona. Tomorrow I'll stay local because I have to spend time studying.
What is more perturbing is the fact that I am in this roach-motel with no end in sight! Yes, its cheap, but its away from civilization at a time where I need to set up camp - go get my license, buy a car, etc. Alternatives that don't break the bank are slim, and if I were to change hotels, the cheapest weekly rate would still have me spending $1200 total until I can move in to my new home. I dislike that I am living out of my car because I cannot in good faith leave my valuables in this particular hotel.
My rental, a Pontiac G6 is comfortable enough, but there is a limit to how much time I can spend in it. Secondly, I've reached an age where naps have a significant play in one's energy. After all, this is why siesta was invented. This hotel is too hot and too far away during the day to take naps, so I find myself feeling very exhausted when I turn in for the night.
I have contacted several private homes that offer weekly rate vacation rentals in the south of the island which will be comparable to my current hotel rate, but far more comfortable. Hopefully I can switch to a place which will give me rest, and peace, while allowing me a comfortable place to work, study, and locally explore from.
Till tomorrow's adventure!
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