Bikin' It

We did so many fun things with our families while they were here. Not in any particular order, I'll start going through a few of our adventures. We'll start with the bike ride of a life time.

A few weeks ago I joined 14 of my family members, including my sweet Mema, for a bike tour of one of the few presently erupting volcanoes in the world, Kilauea. The ride was 16 miles long, and it was breathtaking. We rode by craters, lava tubes, fern forrests, and lava fields. Our tour guide Eric was extremely knowledgeable, with degrees in geology and hawaiian studies. I can't imagine there could have been a better person for the job.

This picture was taken at the entrance of the Thurston lava tube. Some lava tubes on the Big Island are as long and wide as a New York City subway. I'm not sure how big the Thurston Lava Tube is, but its definitely the biggest one I've ever seen. It was very dark and cool inside, and water was dripping from the ceilings. Eric told us that ancient Hawaiians used to cut the tops off of gourds and set them in the lava tubes to collect water. It is supposedly some of the purest in the world.

And here's Mr. Muscle man Alex....

p.s. that rock weighs like 2 pounds. it only looks heavy.

The tour ended with a picnic lunch and a van ride to a winery, which we all agreed was terrible and could definitely be nixed. I believe its the only winery on the Big Island, and it left much to be desired. The wines were all extremely fruity, and needless to say, we did not care for them. But it was my Mema's first wine tasting, so that made it more fun.