Hawai`i 2009: Day 19

Today began on a sober note, as Dan witnessed a man drown in the Kapoho Tide Pools. The man was later identified as Hamilton Manley. A recent news story can be found here. Obviously, the experience left Dan shook up. After hearing the helicopters and aid units come rushing by the house, it was then time for the monthly Tsunami Practice Warning. It takes place at 11:45 am on the first working day of each month. We are situated in an evacuation area, and had already checked to see where we would need to run to in the event of the real thing. The warning is simply a practice, not a drill. It's a time to give pause, to think about what one would do if/when the real thing happens.

Tragedy, both real and potential, did not get the best of us. We decided to take a run/walk down to Ahalanui and enjoy the warm and safe swimming pond there. The sun was intense at the beginning of our run, but by the time we reached the park it began to pour. The pond was packed, and it was an extremely surreal sight to see so many people inside the pond with a torrential downpour. But the water sure felt great!



After walking back to the house, we felt we deserved an adult beverage. We headed to Pahoa, to what has been one of our favorite little Mexican joints on the island, Luquin's. Whenever we stop in, lunch or dinner, the waitresses are always shoving their famous margaritas down our throats. So we figured stopping in just for a drink or two would be fine. Apparently, not on Wednesdays. Or this Wednesday. I'm fine with people deciding to go dry, but only if it makes sense and it's clear to the customer. It's annoying to serve one day and not the other for seemingly arbitrary reasons. The waitress had an increduclous response when we asked for a drink menu, too, as if we should have known better. Strange, since every other spot in town was serving.



While we were in town, and perfectly sober, we decided to check out the new Pahoa Village Museum. Still in its nascent stage, it's a bit unfocused but shows potential. We were expecting to learn more about the history of Pahoa, but much of the museum is dedicated to Mauna Kea with a slight political bent. The rest of the museum showcases some old Hawaiian photographs from the old Waikiki Golden Age, some maps, odds and ends and stencil drawings of birds.



The back of the museum is also used as an entertainment venue and the front end has a small smoothie bar.

After the museum, we headed to Island Naturals for some of their tempting desserts (for later) and some locally brewed beer. We then rested up for our night lava hike.

Dan had called the lava hotlines this morning, and learned that we weren't allowed to get very close to the streaming flow into the water. But we still enjoyed the experience. We drove down the Red Road until it stops at Kalapana (which was destroyed by the Volcano in 1990). There is a convenience store, snack shack, kava bar and a few lava exhibits at the juncture.





The hike is all on fairly new lava rock, and continues to a nice beach. Off to our right we could see the vast plumes of steam. However, we did not see red. Some people say that if you stay past dusk you can see some "fireworks" within the plumes, but we weren't sure about that. It was a pleasant walk, and we did get some good photos.





We then hit Pahoa for our first L&L experience. Boy, talk about a dangerous fast-food joint. I had to stop myself from gorging on my entire container of curry chicken, fried rice, chow mein and mochiko chicken. I had no idea they had a Chinese buffet in addition to all the Hawaiian favorites.