Sometimes the memories you almost don’t make… turn out to be the ones you’d miss the most

As I mentioned in a previous post, our daughter (Jordan) and her husband (Zach) recently came to visit us in Hawaii. Having spent the last 3 months exploring the island, we took them to all of our favorite spots, hoping to share with them a sampling of the beauty and variety within the Big Island. One of those stops included an evening visit to Mauna Kea. Now I must admit, it wasn’t high on my priority list, but the new moon promised pitch blackness; perfect for outstanding stargazing.

I had it all planned out…we would leave the house around 3:30 p.m. giving us plenty of time to arrive for the 5:58 p.m. sunset. I had started my crockpot meal of kalua pork and rice a few hours earlier, so we would have a hearty meal to warm us up as the temperatures cooled down. Now for the essentials: hot chocolate-check; bowls-check; snacks-check; chairs and blankets-check, check. With everything packed, we were on our way.

Shortly after heading out though, the rain came. Now this isn’t unusual, especially for late afternoon, but still I began to wonder if this trip was going to be a bust. Climbing in elevation with every mile we drove, not only did the rain continue, but a fog so thick you could barely see in front of you, settled in. I thought to myself, “Perhaps we should turn back.” Expressing my concerns to Dave, he reassured me that we were committed at this point in time and no matter what, we would make the most of it (I did not feel reassured). For just a moment the fog and clouds began to break and the sky turned a hazy yellow, but as we turned onto Mauna Kea Access Road, the top of Sunset Hill was still covered in a whip cream topping of clouds (cue internal sigh). Skeptically we began driving up the steep incline, through layers and layers of mistiness and haze. Finally, we broke through the sea of clouds revealing a dreamlike view as heaven and earth blended together into a life size Monet painting.

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As the sun was already beginning to set, we parked our cars and all but raced up the side of the cinder cone. As we reached the summit and gazed out at the sea of clouds, the views were overwhelmingly breathtaking (although that may have been from the combination of the hike and oxygen deprivation). One of the treasures I have enjoyed about Hawaii is you can do the exact same thing, go to the exact same place, and every time the experience will be different. On our first trip to Mauna Kea it was a crisp clear evening with views of the Hawaiian ranch country for miles. Tonight though, the earth below us was blanketed in a thick quilt of fleecy clouds, stretching before us like a freshly laundered down comforter.

As the tangerine sun melted away into dusk, we made our journey back underneath the pillowy cotton clouds. Famished and reaching for our long awaited dinner, I realized two things: 1. I forgot utensils. 2. The rice failed to cook. And so we ate delicious kalua pork with little bits of uncooked crunchy rice that felt like pebbles between our teeth..with our hands. Hoping to rinse down our less-than-satisfying dinner with the taste of sickeningly sweet hot chocolate, I also realized I couldn’t mix the contents into the hot water…again no utensils. So Dave rummaged in the vehicle and found a stirring stick (a.k.a. pencil). Our dinner fails didn’t ruin the views though, as the stars began to twinkle by the hundreds and then the thousands. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn shown in all their glory, while distant satellites zoomed across the dusty spiral of the Milky Way.

All too soon it was time to pack up our stargazing lounge gear (beach chairs and towels) and head back to shorts and t-shirts weather. Hopefully our next post about Mauna Kea will involve some Hawaiian snow and sledding!