Road to Fifty #4 - Hawaii Impressions

Hawaii was simply fantastic.  First impressions can (and often) are misleading.

The big Island was so not what I thought it would be in terms of topography.  I do know there is a volcano there.  And so does anyone with eyes.  There are tons of signs reading Volcano 96 miles, Volcano 87 miles.  Right for Volcano.  Volcano This Way -->.  But I didn't know there was so much black rock.  It was a visual shock to begin with, but I adapted easily since I had no choice.  Plenty of beaches had sand and more black rock. 

Once I got past the black rock look, I discovered discovered an Island of many different looks.  I could so easily see parts of Miami, plenty of Central America, some of the East Coast of the USA and the beaches of both east and west coast.  It seemed incredible that an Island that small in size could pack such a punch.  We drove through a small rain forest.  From hot and humid beach areas to a temperature 30 degrees cooler in a span of 30 minutes.   A 2500 foot climb in less than 10 miles.

But the water.  Oh the glorious water.  Blues, greens, clear.  Sheer Heaven!

However, the look of the Island was almost second to the look of the people.  Unless you are born on the Island, you really must want to live there to live there.  It's not like LA where you can drive to Vegas, San Fran or even Palm Springs.  Oh no!  After 2 hours, you are at the other end of the Island.  Yes, it takes many more hours to drive all around the Island, but it is still an Island.  Having said that, the people I met were simply devine.  And just like big cities, the Island attracts people from all walks of life, ethnic backgrounds and ages.  I met quite a few southerners who are transplanted to Hawaii.  Our server at the hotel was from Liverpool.  One new chum was from Santa Barbara, CA.

But/And the common denominator was that they "wanted" to be there.  And they were happy.  They weren't there to because they couldn't get out (or off as the case may be), but they were there because that's where they wanted to be.  In the 4 days I was there, I heard only one person blow the horn at another driver.  I never heard one explitive directed at another person.  Even I let people ahead of me in traffic.  (See miracles do still happen!!)

I don't think I would ever want to live in Hawaii.  But "honk honk", I sure as hell want to visit again soon!

XO