Iran in trouble - 2 parts

So in case you've been shut in your closet for the last two weeks, Iranians have been protesting the results of their presidential election, and things have gotten pretty bad lately. My thoughts, in two parts:

Part One

I've been following an Iranian (I assume is male, I'll call him YA) since the protests began. His tweets were usually locations of protests, calls for support, reports of nightly "Allah akbar" (God is great) chants from the rooftops, and messages of hope. But on June 19 he tweeted:

just sent a sms to my relatives saying my goodbyes in case the unthinkable happens in the rally today

Though there wasn't much in the news yet about violence, that message really struck home. Around that time as well, this blog entry circulated:

I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children…” - an Iranian blogger, with more courage than most of us will ever know.

As Americans, growing up in our comfortable houses with anything we desire available to us at a moment's notice, I don't think we can begin to fathom what it's like to make that decision, to say "I'm leaving my house today to walk in the streets for something I believe, and I might not come home." Of course our soldiers make a similar decision to risk their lives for a cause, but I think it's a different thing altogether for a trained soldier who made the choice to serve. I'm sure many of us consider ourselves patriotic, but how often does the average citizen have an opportunity (or perhaps obligation?) to put their lives on the line for it.

It was three days before I received another tweet from YA. I was glad to hear he and his friends had returned, but they brought with them videos of increased violence and these messages:

We are back. the past few days were hell. so much to tell

Every time i try to sleep i think of the gunshots and wake up

I have seen things this few days that will stay with me forever. the bastards don't even let go of kids

Our bodies are tired and swollen but our spirits are very strong. Death to dictator

Part Two

Another Iranian I have followed (which appears to be a group of people, I'll name PI) has also been consistent and plentiful with information about protests as well as what's going on in the streets. Again, the messages have been hopeful and steadfast, though more violent as the days have passed. On Sat. June 20 the video of Neda's death surfaced and by Mon. and Tues. the news reports indicated violence had increased significantly. It seemed that CNN's coverage was thinning as well. (Since journalists aren't allowed to give information, the news networks have been relying on amateur video/pictures from protesters with internet access.)

On Tues. June 23 PI updated this string of tweets:

just in from Baharestan Sq - situation today is terrible - they beat the ppls like animals

I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads - blood everywhere - pepper gas like war

they were waiting for us - they all have guns and riot uniforms - it was like a mouse trap - ppl being shot like animals

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing - #Iranelection sure that she is dead

so many ppl arrested - young & old - they take ppl away - #Iranelection - we lose our group

ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting - from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys

all shops was closed - nowhere to go - they follow ppls with helicopters - smoke and fire is everywhere

phone line was cut and we lost internet - #Iranelection - getting more difficult to log into net

rumour they are tracking high use of phone lines to find internet users - must move from here now

reports of street fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now - #Iranelection - Sea of Green - Allah Akbar

in Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher - Allah Akbar

they catch ppl with mobile - so many killed today - so many injured - Allah Akbar - they take one of us

Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere

they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us

Everybody is under arrest & cant move - Mousavi - Karroubi even rumour Khatami is in house guard

we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast

thank you ppls 4 supporting Sea of Green - pls remember always our martyrs - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar

Allah - you are the creator of all and all must return to you - Allah Akbar - #Iranelection Sea of Green

It's been heartbreaking reading these but it is still hard for me to grasp that this really happened and is not just words on paper. Though you do have to be wary of what people say online and who they may be, I believe these are valid since I've seen the same quotes reported on CNN blogs listed as trusted sources. But when I sat at my desk at work on Tuesday morning and read these, my mind started to discredit them, rather than accept that these things were really happening.

I think that's what the Iranians need us to do though, to continue to read and know that it is real.

Also on June 24, YA posted:

baharestan square is like a violent medieval battlefield. they show no mercy

the ambulances take the injured and bring them out of tehran and dump them into the desert

the militia is using mosques as a gathering point. khamenei, IS THIS WHAT ALLAH WANTS???

We heard the women are being beaten so badly they had to amputate their legs GOD WHERE ARE YOU!

people were angrily chanting "death to islamic republic" and "fear the day we become armed"

I have cried so much i have no tears left. I'm ready to die for my soil. my people. ALLAH o AKBAR

The Iranians have been silent since then.

Weekend at the lake

This weekend we went to the lake house. We left Saturday after Chris got off work and drove down. That afternoon was a very "special" event - the launch of the raft that Chris and my brother-in-law Brad have been working on since last summer. Sometime shortly after the house was finished last year, a big black plastic thing washed up on the shore and Brad got the idea to float on it. Well it obviously wasn't very stable so their project became to remedy this issue (using only building scrap materials from other houses on the street or whatever they could find in the woods).

Side note: I'm not sure that they actually achieved the goal of increased stability... but at least it did float with both of them sitting on it.


So Saturday afternoon they carried it down to the water and Brad climbed on. Chris tied a ski rope on it and pulled it over to the boat dock so he could climb down the ladder on board. There were a few wobbly moments, but then success!

Then came the cluster of spiders, which had apparently made their home inside the cozy raft and did not appreciate the wobbling or the water. When Chris and Brad both started to panic the raft capsized and they both went into the water. As you can see in the picture, Jake and Bella were a little concerned.


The next morning Brad and I got up early and went wakeboarding while Chris stayed in bed. It only took a couple of seconds to feel pretty comfortable again so I tried a few things. Last summer I had been trying to get comfortable riding goofy foot (which is where your opposite foot is forward from your regular stance) so I did a couple of starts that way. Then I also tried a switch (gliding smoothly from regular stance to goofy, or vice versa) and I did it!

In the afternoon, the guys went swimming and the rest of us hung out on the dock with my nephew Lincoln watching the puppies play. Bella loves the water and spent all her time swimming back and forth, under and around the dock. But the other puppies needed a little encouragement and a little swimming lesson.


Bella also finally figured out the water version of fetch. And she enjoyed some time on the tube with Chris.


Lincoln enjoyed watching the puppies and playing with the hose and the ski rope.


We had a nice lunch and then drove home. Now Jake and Bella are passed out on the couch and may or may not wake up for dinner.

I Love Twitter

I know a lot of people roll their eyes and say it's just the next MySpace or Facebook, and yes it is just the next in what I'm sure will be a long line of social networking sites to come. For a while now blogging has been the new medium for news-sharing and opinion-stating, and Twitter gained immense popularity in April with Ashton's race to beat CNN to one million followers and Oprah's first live tweet (I jumped on the bandwagon a week before all that, thank you very much). But I think Twitter's "mini blogging" style offers something more than other sites.

A while back I tweeted half-jokingly that I get all my breaking news from Twitter's trending topics (an automated search which appears on every user's side bar that shows the top ten words, phrases, or hashtags in the live feed). But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how useful a tool it is. For example, you can find out who won a Game 7 without searching on Fox Sports, or you can see who won Dancing with the Stars without turning on the tv. You can find out who liked the newest episode of Jon & Kate, or read about the newest iphone release. But again, Twitter provides an opportunity for something greater than sharing breaking news that Adam Lambert is gay.

Last week the Iranian government held a presidential election between the incumbent (crazy guy) Ahmadinejad and reformist Mousavi. Ahmadinejad won but huge protests broke out from Mousavi's supporters and there is speculation the election was rigged. Of course the government shut down television and cell phone networks, silenced journalists, and blocked websites. But Mousavi's supporters along with the international community have been able to use sites like Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook to get pictures, videos, and information out. All weekend trending topics were #IranElection, Mousavi, and Ahmadinejad. These social media sites have been the only way in many cases that people have been able to get out what is happening in the streets. In fact, much of the American news media missed what was going on in Iran over the weekend and wasn't reporting much of anything until Twitter users started tagging #CNNFail to complain. Late last night Twitter postponed a scheduled shutdown at the request of the US government to allow Iranians to continue tweeting during their prime usage hours.

Still tonight there are calls from users to change avatars to the color green to show support for the Mousavi cause, as well as cautions not to display Iranian usernames when retweeting messages in case they are being monitored by their government. Reading through these live feeds tonight from users all around the world just gave me a glimpse into how we can be connected by 140 characters.

Crazy storms

I'll begin with yesterday on my drive home from work. Chris called and said there were storms so I should hurry home. I was about a mile from my exit on I-20 when random stuff started flying across the road. The rain didn't start for another few minutes but it was coming down in sheets by the time I got home.

So You Think You Can Dance was preempted by the weather team which I was very bitter about. (It's the only show I care about in the summer!) I went to sleep at a decent time but the weather radio kept going off all night. I kept hitting the button to shut it up until about the fifth time I groggily realized that it might be trying to tell me something important (like a tornado was coming or something) so then I started actually checking it. But it was always just plain old severe thunderstorm warnings.

At 7 in the morning I was almost ready to leave for work when my graduate student for my toddler language program called me and said she wasn't coming. A TREE fell on her car. Luckily my student from last semester was able to fill in. On the way to work, I enjoyed a beautiful lightning show for about 20 minutes, and then it started raining in sheets again.

I made it to work but I was sopping wet and had five minutes to gather all the toys and materials, rearrange my office for the kids, and walk around the building (outside in the rain again!) to pick up one of them from his class. It thundered loudly the whole morning and scared a couple of the already unhappy kids. By the end of the morning, 4 of my 5 individual patients had canceled and Dallas flooding was a trending topic on Twitter. Thankfully it cleared up for the drive home, but more rain is in the forecast for tomorrow...

Maui -- day seven

Tuesday was our last day in Maui. We slept in (again) and then packed up the luggage. It was very strange having packed one suitcase for the trip there and then a completely different one for the trip back. But we actually had more room I think. We checked out of the hotel, dropped off our snorkel gear in Kihei, and drove up to Lahaina for the last shopping trip. We said our last goodbyes to the old suitcase and left it by a dumpster off Front Street.


We walked around for quite a while and ate lunch at the Lahaina Fish Company. I had fish and chips and Chris got a fish sandwich made with Opah (moon fish).


Then we drove further up the west coast.


We stopped at a couple points for short hikes. The coolest one was the Nakale blowhole. It was actually blowing when we stopped and the waves were pretty fierce against the lava rocks. It would first spew spray about 50 feet in the air and then a large gush of water would blow about 10 to 15 feet. We opted out of taking a picture in front of it since the two people we watched try got very unexpectedly wet.


The next little hike we didn't go all the way down. It was a couple of pools in the rocks off the coast. We might have gone down if we had wanted to swim, but we didn't have time to shower anywhere before dinner. But we watched the people down below jump off the rocks into the deepest pool.


Chris declined the option to drive around the top of the coast after hearing it was similar to the drive around southeast Maui. I don't think it would have been that bad... it was paved the whole way at least. So we drove the long way back down the coast and then back up into central Maui. We stopped at a Borders to get another book for the ride home and then headed to Mama's Fish House for dinner.


Wow, Mama's Fish House was amazing. It's set on a beautiful little beach cove and the restaurant has open air windows (like so many other places in Maui) so you can feel the breeze come in off the ocean. They served us little cups of an asparagus ginger bisque as a sample which was delicious. For the main course I had mahi mahi stuffed with crab and lobster with a macadamia nut crust. It came with lemongrass rice and asparagus, and a mini lobster tail on top. Chris had a boullibasse which was a large bowl with scallops, lobster, fish, calamari, shellfish, and angelhair pasta in a broth. Amazing. I ate till I was stuffed and then I kept eating after that. Then we got dessert. Creme brulee with lilikoi glaze on top. Perfection. It was the perfect ending.

We got to the airport with plenty of time, and got to weigh our bag before checking it. 7 pounds over! So we pulled out a few things and got it to fifty pounds exactly. Then the check-in terminals were down so by the time we waited in line for them to manually check everyone in, we barely had enough time to get to the gate and we got on the plane immediately. We had a long layover at LAX where I confirmed that a hair dryer does not make a very comfy pillow but it will do in a pinch. Beach towels do make good blankets.

Maui -- day six

Monday was a pretty relaxed day. We slept in a little and then ate breakfast at the hotel (yummy french toast and portuguese sausage). Then we got our snorkel gear and headed to the beach in front of the hotel.


The beach attendant said there were two turtles hanging out just behind the little group of rocks, and sure enough you could see them poke their heads and fins up every now and then. So we got in and swam over to see them. They were HUGE. They didn't seem to mind people swimming pretty close and they hung out there all morning long.


(By the way I got stung by a man-of-war on the back of my hand. The beach attendant said I was the first person in a week, lucky me. It didn't hurt that bad but the marks are still there almost a week later!)

We took a short break to lay on the beach and then swam out to some of the reefs. I took my camera that time to try to get some pictures, but it's pretty hard when you can't see the view finder and don't really know which way you're pointing. I think I did get a couple good ones though.


This was also the first time I tried actually swimming down below the surface while snorkeling. It was really hard to stay down though, the sea water makes you very buoyant.


We saw some angelfish, trigger fish, the long skinny fish, a unicorn fish, a puffer fish, and Chris thinks he saw an octopus dart into a rock very quickly. And we saw sleeping fish just hanging out on the bottom! (The guy at the luau later said that scientists are convinced fish can't sleep because they have to stay moving, but sure enough that's not true for these fish at least.)

We spent a little while at the pool and got a hamburger and fish tacos for lunch at the pool bar. Then we cleaned up and drove into Lahaina to do some shopping before the luau.

In the evening we went to the Old Lahaina Luau. I definitely liked this one better than the one we went to on Oahu. It was supposed to be more authentic with regard to ancient Hawaii customs and dance and the whole place was more intimate. Plus ALL the drinks were free.


Before dinner they give you a chance to walk around the grounds and see various crafts, instruments, and people. There was a lady selling shell jewelry and guys selling tiki wood carvings. Some of the hula dancers were demonstrating how you dance with the various instruments. And the guy we listened to for the longest time was talking about how they lived in ancient Hawaii. It was really interesting. We learned for instance that the way a man was measured was by how well he made his rope. You had to scrape every little string off the inside of a coconut husk and braid them all together. A 6 foot long piece of rope might take you 6 months to make. Then if you wanted to make a fishing net (that you cast out in a circle to catch a school of fish), it might take about 2 years to make. He showed how they made fishing hooks and how they caught octopus. And how they cast fishing nets and how they made poi.


They had a guy there the whole time he was talking that was mashing the purple stuff on a large rock. He explained that Poi is not something that you really ate in ancient hawaii unless you were the poorest of the poor because it's watered down with about 2 gallons of water. But regular people ate a much more concentrated version (which we got to try, and it wasn't bad at all... very much like sweet potato).


The other interesting thing we learned is why yellow fin tuna is called Ahi. Ahi means "fire" in hawaiian and when they used to catch the fish with their coconut husk ropes, the fish would try to get away of course and pull the course rope through the fisherman's bare hands. Well you can imagine that burns pretty bad so they named the fish Ahi.

Soon it was time for dinner (buffet style) and I think I tried a bit of everything. They had ahi poke which is raw tuna chunks with some chives and maui onions mixed in. Chris liked that but what I liked even more was the octopus poke. Yes I ate raw octopus. With the little suckers and everything! It was pretty chewy and kind of salty, but very good. I would definitely have it again.


They also had mahi, steak, chicken, kalua pork, and another kind of pork wrapped in tea leaves which I didn't like as much. But overall the food was very good. Desert was little samples of macadamia nut tart, fudge brownie, coconut pudding squares, and lilipoi mousse (sweet but tart fruit) in a little cup made of dark chocolate. That was my favorite.

After dinner they started the show which was really amazing. And they actually had the stage well lit during the group dances so I got some good pictures.


The dances told the story of the goddess Pele and the history of the hula, including the time in the 1800s that hula was banned but continued underground. It was just amazing that the girls can move so fast from the waist down and be perfectly graceful and calm from the waist up. I'm sure it's an incredible workout, especially for the guys who do so much squatting and jumping.


Overall it was definitely a cool experience. On the ride home we strongly considered moving to Hawaii.

Maui -- day five

Sunday we spent the day in Haleakala. We got up early and began the two hour drive up the summit. It's supposedly the shortest drive from sea level to 10,000 feet.


We saw a lot of people biking down and even two people crouched down zooming by on skateboards. They were going about as fast as the cars. We thought the skaters were crazy until we saw the people riding bikes UP THE ROAD.


We finally got to the top and met our tour guide, Ra. The trail was pretty easy and the scenery was beautiful.


There were so many different colors and you could actually see the last three cinder cones where lava had spouted.


We learned the summit used to be 12,000 feet and the crater floor used to be 1,000 feet deeper. But erosion and other geologic events have drastically changed it. We also saw a bunch of silverswords, a small plant that only grows in the crater.


Lunch was on the crater floor and then we headed back up. By the way, I'm very glad we chose the horseback ride. We saw people hiking down to the bottom, but I would still be down there if we had gone on foot.


Chris' horse was Big Boy and mine was Lucy. They were both very good the whole time. Big Boy had one pace, and that was slow and plodding. Lucy wanted to trot a little on the way back, but sadly Big Boy was in her way.


The trail ride and drive up/down the mountain took most of the day so we grabbed a quick plate-lunch dinner in the Rainbow Mall in Kihei and then made it back to the hotel beach to watch the sunset.


There were cute little crabs that came out at sunset as the tide came back up. I guess they bury themselves in the sand all day and then in the evening you start to see little holes where they have dug themselves out. However, they are VERY skittish and don't appreciate at all when you step on the sand anywhere near them. They scuttled back to their little holes very quickly. I managed a couple pictures though.


After sunset, we spent some time in the hot tub and then turned in.

Maui -- day four

On Saturday we noticed the crowds picking up, though overall there had been very few people. And when the people showed up, the clouds left. It was clear blue skies even though the haze and "vog" had been forecasted to remain through the weekend. We slept in a little and then left with aspirations to hike mile-long treks through the lava fields about 5 minutes south of the hotel to snorkel at places called Fishbowl and Aquarium. But when we got down to the area, there were signs saying the whole section of the coast was closed for 2 years.


I was secretly a little relieved because it's like a barren wasteland down there and I wasn't really sure that the "trail" was going to really be visible. I was a little concerned we were going to wander lost through miles of lava rock and it was really hot. So instead we drove up the road to the "park ranger recommended" snorkel site called Dumps (our guide book also recommended, but said it wasn't as good as the others). Though it was a very rocky beach and a little hard to get in (the surge beat us up a little), there were lots of fish and we even swam with a turtle!


Then we headed back to the hotel for a snack and a break. Lunch was at Pupu Seafood Lounge in Kihei where we both had the daily special of fish and chips. I don't remember what kind of fish it was (something like broad spearfish?) but it was delicious. After lunch we walked through a couple of the shopping stalls. Then we headed back down the coast to Po'olenalena Beach and did some more snorkeling. It wasn't as good as the Dumps and we had to swim a long way out. But the beach was nice and not very crowded.


There were a bunch of dogs that were playing together and jumping in the waves. Also a couple of nudists. We pondered briefly what exactly were the benefits of exposing those parts of yourself to the sun. Then we headed back to the hotel for a nap. Vacations can be so tiring. After a four hour nap we ate a disappointing dinner at the hotel, watched tv for a while, and then went back to sleep.

Maui -- day three

On Friday we spent the day driving to Hana and around the southeast side of the island. We got an early start and headed north. It was a good thing Chris drove. The whole way up to Hana was narrow winding roads, hairpin turns, blind corners, little one-lane bridges, and large cliff dropoffs. But gorgeous scenery the whole way.


A few waterfalls you could see from the road, but those kind of felt like a letdown. The best were the ones you had to get out and hike to. The very best one was at a kind of rest stop where there was a lower fall with a large pool. But then there was a trail to the upper fall that was much less visited. We hiked up about 15 minutes on a "squishy" trail which at times was so overgrown you had to crouch and walk.


Then we came to an aquaduct about 50 feet above the rocky stream bed.


We crossed that, and followed another little trail another few minutes to find the most gorgeous and secluded pool with a picture perfect waterfall.


And then my camera battery died.

The water was cold. Colder than the lake the other weekend. At least at the lake you get used to it after a minute or so. I put my feet in and for about 5 minutes they just felt colder. Then they numbed over. Needless to say I didn't get in. I might (stress MIGHT) have braved it to swim across and stand under the waterfall if the camera had been working, but with no visual evidence to prove I had done it I thought there was really no point. Chris felt the same way.

When we got there another couple was swimming and taking pictures, but they left soon after and we had the whole thing to ourselves for a while. Just before we left, another group (dad with two teenage kids) came up. That was definitely the best waterfall and the others after that just weren't as special.

We stopped at a little roadside stand for some great kalua pig tacos for lunch and continued into Hana. We detoured for a while at the lava tube cave and took a self guided tour.


I managed to squeeze out a few pictures, but the flash wouldn't work. The cave was formed by a lava flow which cooled on the top, but continued to flow underground and left a tunnel about the size of a subway tunnel in most places. It also made formations like stalactites (looked like upside down hershey's kisses) and stalagmites (the only ones in the country formed by lava were here). At the end was a little backflow "room" where we turned off the flashlights and experienced total darkness. Pretty cool.

After the cave we stopped by the state park with the black sand beach but it was really crowded so we took the trail up to the blowhole instead. Gorgeous views of the black lava coastline with the waves crashing against. The water was really deep blue-green.


The blowhole wasn't blowing, but we found some cool formations and little caves to poke our heads in. I managed to squeeze a few pictures out.


We were getting pretty tired by now so we decided to go ahead and finish up by driving the rest of the loop around the southeast side. Now, there is a myth (which used to be true) that you really can't make this drive. It used to be very bad road, undrivable except maybe in 4WD and you would violate your rental contract, get stuck, and die out there. Not true, but it wasn't a drive in the country either.

We'll start with the fact that the nice couple at the secluded waterfall pool before us mentioned that the road to Seven Sacred Pools was closed AND there was a sign at the taco stand saying it would be closed through the end of May. Well I just figured we weren't going to Seven Sacred Pools so we would just drive right by. Well no. The whole road was closed. But when we got to the road block (which only covered part of the road) we could see some cars going through anyway (locals) and the lady in the house right there said it was fine. We thought, what the hell.

The road was about the same as the Hana road, windy and narrow with little old bridges. But then we came to the construction site and there was a brand new pretty bridge! The cars in front of us had clearly gone over because there had been no turnoffs. So we thought, what the hell. Just as we're about to roll onto the edge of the new pavement I see a sign they'd recently taken down that said "DO NOT CROSS" and explained how the bridge was in a state of disrepair and would crumble... and you would fall to your death, etc. Ok maybe not that explicit. But I didn't even have time to say anything to Chris and we had made it across. Worst part over, right?

Remember the road to Hana? Now picture it even narrower, sometimes one and a half lane, but usually only one. And narrow at that. I was often worried about the car's side mirrors. Now add elevation changes up and down steep inclines. Now add gravel off and on for about five miles. That was our road.

Thankfully we were very lonely on the road and only occasionally did we have to pull over to let locals fly by or scoot around cars going the other way. After the gravel sections it straightened out for a bit, but was still very bumpy pavement which hadn't been repaved in probably 50 years. We did make it without any major incident, and the views of the coastline and flip side of Haleakala were well worth it. It was a stunning contrast from the lush green Hana side, instead being more shrub-like and barren, with huge valleys of volcanic rock.


At one point we crossed a bridge over a short crevice that opened up into a large area at the ocean's edge. There was a large turn off so we parked and got out. You could see that WAY down below some unfortunate souls that had been driving too fast around the turn coming the other way had gone over the cliff. There were two really rusted out cars almost on top of each other, another half rusted one, and one with a pretty new bright yellow paint job (which I never saw and was a point of contention for several hours). I managed to squeeze the last few pictures out of the camera and finally killed the battery so bad the shutter wouldn't even close.


Then the drive changed into a greener, tree-lined road that reminded me of country roads in western Europe. We stopped at a winery and tasted some pineapple wine. It was pretty good and Chris even liked it enough to justify buying a couple bottles (he doesn't like pineapple, go figure). Then back on the road we rounded the corner of the island and scenery changed to almost completely barren black lava fields. We could see the uninhabited island of Kaho'olawe in the distance. Unfortunately there is no road over the lava fields to our hotel (which we could see way down the hill) so it was all the way back up to Kahului airport area and then all the way back down on the coastline roads.

Dinner was in Kihei at a tiki bar where we had yummy drinks, calamari, and a portuguese sausage sandwich. Then we had drinks at another little hangout, and headed home to crash.