By Scott Shephard
Deb S, Scott S, Sandy D & Scott D in the Waipio Valley (Big Island)
Around 8 PM tonight we board a plane bound for Minneapolis via Seattle. From Minneapolis Deb and I will drive the rest of the way home to Watertown. Sandy and Scott will get on another plane and head for Sioux Falls.
I don’t know about you, but as much as I enjoy taking trips like the one we’ve taken to Hawaii, I like getting home. I miss our bed, I miss my routines, I miss my truck. And I miss Zeke and Zoe, our two cats. Also, I don’t particularly look forward to spending 12 hours or so in airports and on planes. But I’m not complaining.
In case you are wondering, the photo I am posting today was taken by our tour guide in the Waipio Valley in the NW corner of the Big Island. The road down to the valley is only open to the handful of people who live here, to native Hawaiians and to the tour company we procured to get here. The road is about as treacherous a road as I’d want to be on. For one short stretch, we traversed a 40% grade! The road is so narrow and steep they don’t even let you go up or down on foot.
But the valley is worth the visit. As usual, my photos don’t really do the place justice. The flora, fauna and history or all amazing. We saw many things and even got a visit from a few of the “wild” horses that have free range of the valley. It occurs to me as I write this that the horses probably never leave the valley because the road is too steep even for a horse.
