The Hawaii Album (Added: 1/27/07)

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 Ah, Hawaii. So many beautiful beaches hidden away. I did my first snorkeling here

 Amazing views. I just had to sit back and enjoy

 The waves were crashing that day my friend

 Windy and high surf that day. I was practicing for Baywatch. You see that Mr. Hasselhoff?

 TSUNAMI!! Not really. But close...

 More crashing of the waves

 All roads lead to the Pacific

 A drive through the different terrains of the Big Island

 My friend Rob who I was visiting. He's also my business partner now in Charleston. Yeah, can you believe the two of us are trying to run our own company? I know, we're screwed.

 No joke, this was the view from Rob's house where I stayed. I felt like I was living in a rainforest. I think we were hunting crazy Hawain squirrels at this point

 Rob had several roosters in his driveway. I was amazed enough to snap the photo

 This intersection sounded very Hawain.

 When they want you to stop over there, it's out with the polite and in with "WHOA! Dude, you better stop!"

 A very cool waterfall we drove to and hiked one day

 Same waterfall, this time proof that I was there

 We forgot to pack some water and I was REALLY thirsty

 I had never been snorkeling before and this was a blast. Here are some underwater shots I took

 Lots of colorful fish, and they usually didn't mind that I would swim right next to them. Too cool

 More cool fish

 Fish. The water is extraordinarily clear over there. I miss that

 This guy was looking blue

 This began the highlight of my trip. We drove up the massive and might I add ACTIVE volcano called Mauna Loa

 Making our way around the volcano. In the distance is where the lava spills into the ocean. At night you can see the glow as the cold water drinks it up

 So we started to hike up the volcano to see some lava. We got to this point where there was a CLEARLY labeled sign warning us to go home. The area beyond this was roped off and we didn't see anyone else walking any further. But we're MEN damnit! And dead or alive, we were going to see some lava!

 WOW...honestly, one of the coolest moments of my life. Real, active lava flowing down the mountain. We were literally only a few feet away

 That lava was as hot as it looks. At one point it felt like my shoes my catch on fire

 Just absolutely unbelievable to stand there and watch the insides of the Earth flowing alive right next to me

 By the way, we forgot to bring flashlights with us, so the hike back was an adventure. If it hadn't been for a bright full moon I might still be stuck on that mountain.

 One more shot of the hot stuff

 Ladies, I think you'll agree, I was somehow hotter than the volcano. But seriously, it got too hot to keep my shirt on. It was nothing short of an amazing trip. Go visit the Big Island of Hawaii!