Born of Fire

Hawai'i, the Big Island, the newest and largest of the islands to rise from the sea is quite a place. It has been great the last few days to leave the tourist nation of Oahu and get to the real Hawaii. A few nights ago I went up to Mauna Kea, the "highest mountain in the world" (rises 32,000 ft. from the sea floor, and the best place for Astronomy on Earth. From there I saw a sunset that made me breathe in contentment, "worth the whole trip." Those moments that God reveals a bit of His power and beauty are truly an awesome preview of what is to come. Up on the mountain I hobnobbed with the star geeks and looked at the rings of Saturn and the craters of the moon.
The next day was on to the volcanoes, the most active in the world. I went down to the coast and got to see real lava flowing into the sea and sending up huge steam clouds as it cools and forms new land. Looking up you could see the whole hillside glowing with red fire as the lava slowly made its way down. Pretty awesome sight. I spent a night camping under the stars and then made my way to Kona, the land of coffee, where I actually spent a night in nice hotel and went to a very touristy yet fun and entertaining Luau (hulas, roasted pigs, the whole bit).
Now though it is quite weird to think that I am now on my way home, for from here it is on to the planes and waiting rooms of many different airports until Knoxville...