A sunset shot From Kings Beach at North Shore Tahoe, over the hairy rump of the "Tahoe Lady."

The Hawaiians are known for their BBQs over open fires.  This one was a tiny bit excessive, even for Hawaii.  There is a place on the Big Island where you can walk in and actually view the lava (from a safe distance) where it drops off over a cliff into the ocean.  The viewing site is run by the County and it is a 1/2 hour hike from the parking lot over ankle busting (cold) lava.  Flashlights are required due to the trail being without any light.  The best viewing of course is after dark so it is a given that you will be hiking with a flashlight, usually in both directions.

From a distance, the lava flows appears to be a robust camp fire.  The closest you can get is the viewing area which is about 200 yards away.  We had binoculars and of course, my 400mm lens ergo the spectacular photos.

Ths lava show seemed to me to be orchestrated by a park ranger, with sporadic bursts of spectacular fire works.  Constantly running, constanly pleasing.  There was an ominous roar from the lava flow but not so much as to overpower the constant sound of the pounding ocean waves.

We packed a picnic dinner to take in with us, chicken and wine and settled down for a couple hours of viewing.  I maned the camera taking about 100 photos trying to capture the moment. These are the best.

This is an uncropped photo--> which is what we could see through the camera lens and our binoculars.

This is "Sandy Beach" located just south of Wakiki on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.  You don't find many tourists here due to the extreme steepness of the beach and the waves breaking over it.  This is where the locals go for the sport of getting themselves tossed into the air and pounded into the sand.  Yes, they do this on purpose much to the delight of the also local Orthopedic Surgeons.

We had a delightful visit with my daughter who lives in Honolulu.  This was just one of the many places we toured with her leading us.  Most of the time with swimsuit in hand as that is what my daughter does.

The falls at the "Inn at Kulaniapia Falls."  We stayed four nights here in the Pikake room at the Harmony House.  My daughter recommended this B&B as being a superb and unusual place to stay.  She wanted us to have the Maile room but it was booked so we settled for the Pikake room instead.  Both rooms are upstairs with a view of the falls behind the house and a view of the ocean to the front of the house.  There are lots of trails to explore as well as a macadamia nut orchard covering 200 or more acres.  

This place is very secluded, located at the end of a one lane road approximately 5 miles from Hilo.  During the many treks back and forth to the house we saw mongoose and feral pigs bounding across the road and in the forest of macadamia nut trees.  This part of the island is a natural tropical paradise.  The falls alone would be a big draw but with the rest, over the top fun.

One of the fun discoveries at the inn which later showed up on our other adventure places is a plant called "Sleep Grass" by the locals.  When touched, the leaves would fold up completely, in a sleep mode, and stay that way for several minutes before unfolding.  Don't believe me, view this Quicktime 34 meg .mov file for an actual demonstration.  This video may take up to five minutes to download on even a high speed line.

 This turtle was at the "Black Sand" beach in a tiny tide pool cove, munching on the local fodder in between surges of wave action.  Two feet forward, three feet back kind of wave action.  None the less, content to feed and do his turtle thing.

Upon returning from Hawaii, a trip up to the Sierras.  For a tiny bit of contrast?

The Tuesday before coming home, a huge storm had passed through dumping lots of frozen stuff turning the Sierras into an early winter paradise.  Most of the snow was at a higher elevation of 7000' but still reachable even with a moderate hike.

Judy L. and Georgiana R., my two hiking buddies.  Actually, this was Georgianas hike to "Frog Lake."  The log was a pleasant place to have our picnic lunch up in the wilds of the Sierras.  This was also our turning around point and where we headed back.

We also parked near an Alpine Lake further up the road, in search of more fall colors.

<-- This photo was in a meadow on Mt. Rose, a very popular recreation area on the Nevada side of the state line.

The fall colors of the Birch trees in the Sierras.

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