Peoplescapes in Hawaii...and a snail

Kerry and I at Oheo Gulch on Maui

On top of Haleakala - Maui

About 1000 feet down the inside of the crater. Note that at 10,000 feet the sun is so intense it does strange things to the photo...color, contrast, etc...I wonder what it's like at 30,000 feet...

Kerry getting out of the MD-500 we just flew in over Maui and Molokai. No doors!

Kerry looking out the...well, I guess I'll call it "where the doors are supposed to normally be". Here we are nearing Maui coming from Molokai.

The McDonnell Douglas 500 and our pilot. My first helicopter ride and it just happened to be in my favorite helicopter ever.

That's us in our navy blue flightsuits.

Cousins Dan and Linda and us in our front yard on Oahu's North Shore. Taken in the final few hours before leaving Hawaii.

Kerry - First day in Hawaii!

Chase from California was there with his father, Cory...and...

...his mother, Mel. It just happened that they were on Oahu the same time we were. Very cool indeed.

Tyler enjoying a kicked back afternoon...

Pupukea Point - Haleakala, Oahu

Snail visiting our front yard at night. I wanted to cook him in some butter and garlic and eat him. His shell was about 3 inches long. Big sucker. UPDATE: Found out today that this is an African Giant Snail. It is considered a pest because it eats so much vegetation AND is dangerous to humans in that it usually carries a parasite that carries encephalitis. Good thing I didn't cook it because to kill the encephalitis it needs to be cooked thoroughly which is something I usually don't do.

Pupukea Point again. Last night in Hawaii. "Bye Tyler! We had a great time visiting your new home!"

Hawaiian Landscapes

Here are a selection of the landscapes that I captured while vacationing in Hawaii.

Hana Bay, Maui

Beach in front of Mama's Fish House in Paia, Maui.

Haleakala "crater" - yep, they tell you it's not really a crater anymore since it's so eroded.

Flying over the north shore of Maui

Haleiwa sunset - Oahu

Pupukea Point - Oahu

Rockpile surfbreak (out of frame to the right) looking at Log Cabins surfbreak. North Shore, Oahu

Rockpile

Rockpile

Sunset through the palm trees in Waialua - North Shore, Oahu

Kailua Beach Park on the widward side of Oahu

Kailua Beach Park

Nighttime at Pupukea Point

USS Bowfin and USS Missouri

Some photos from our visit to Pearl Harbor. This is the really cool side...so much well thought out engineering and a rare glimpse into what it must have been like to live on these things. We missed the last boat of the day out to the USS Arizona so didn't have a chance to see the somber side...a shame.

Submarine Warfare Insignia or "Dolphins"

Torpedo. Unsure if it belongs to the Bowfin.

Crazy copper tubing along the ceiling. I was so busy snapping photos that what was being said on the audio tour was lost on me in this room so I have no idea what these are for. My best guess is to control ballast.

Valves - USS Bowfin SS-287

Main Engine Control Cabinet - USS Bowfin

Aft torpedo room - USS Bowfin

Why am I posting a photo of a cook's scale? Well, to give you an idea of the importance of food on board a sub. The food must be good and to be good needs a proper scale even though it takes up a lot of very precious space onboard. From what I could tell, this scale probably took up about as much space as a crew member would have to store their things.

Aft deck gun - USS Bowfin. Note the USS Missouri and USS Arizona memorial in the distance.

Forward gun - USS Bowfin

An empty shell casing on board the USS Missouri BB-63. The Iowa-class battleships all had 16 inch guns as their primary armament. These were the largest naval guns the US ever used and probably will ever use. The distinction of largest naval artillery fitted to a ship of any country were the two Japanese Yamato-class battleships, Yamato and Musashi. Both ships had 18.1 inch guns.

Yep a flower. No idea what kind. It's peaceful around Pearl Harbor these days.