Mauna Kea

This morning on my drive to work there was a very beautiful sunrise and I was amazed at all of the colors in the sky. There were some of those blown out clouds that caused such a beautiful reflection of color. It reminded me of my trip to Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

In 2002, I was basically given a trip to Hawaii with my friend because of all that we had gone through. It was a also a way to visit a friend who he had spent so much time with throughout the years. We were there for two weeks and because we were staying with a local, we got to do a lot of the things the local way.

One day he drove us up Mauna Kea, one of the highest points in Hawaii. The drive was very scary and very steep, and most people had experienced drivers take them up. Just because our friend was a local, did NOT mean he knew how to drive up this monstrosity of a mountain. It felt as though we were sucking in laughing gas as well because the higher up went, the more giddy we were.

At the top, the sun was shining brightly in the sky and there was an odd layer of clouds that we were looking out over. It was a surreal feeling once we realized that the blanket of white was the cloud layer and we were actually looking down on the clouds. There were a lot of people up there that were feeling ill and even though I felt odd, it was such a beauty that kept me distracted. After a bit of being up there, the sun had started to set, and we actually watched the sun set ABOVE the clouds. It was the most magnificent sunset I have ever seen. The pictures I have are unreal.

As if it wasn't scary enough on the way up, we then had to descend down, in the dark. Let me tell you, I was scared shitless. We stopped about half way down at the visitor center. The other thing that I should mention is that in Hawaii, all of the street lights are this odd yellow color so that they do not interfere with the viewing of the stars at the observatories. At the visitor center we layed in the back of my friend's truck looking out at the stars. It's amazing how many stars you can actually see when there are not lights interfering with the sky. They are so bright and shiny, not to mention, all of the shooting stars I was able to see.

It was a beautiful experience...and that's what I was reminded of this morning when I saw the beautiful sunrise...