H is for Hawaii

For the letter H, we’re traveling into the sunset to the big island of Hawaii.  It is one of three states that I've not visited, making it a necessity for my bucket list. Although all the islands (and the state) is called Hawaii, the name also applies to the big island, my ultimate destination.

This Hawaii travel photo reminded
 me of Twain's adventures 

This beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific, with active volcanoes and beautiful mountains and coastline, including a place where hot lava turns water into steam as it seeps into the ocean.  What’s not to like?  In the aftermath of the American Civil War, Mark Twain spent some time on the Big Island, melting his shoes in a volcano and, as always seems to be his case, renting the worse horse on the island…   He tells about his adventures in the last third of Roughing It.   The islands have been created by a hot spot, where the magma is close to the surface.  As the Pacific plate moves, the hot spot moves, creating a chain of islands with all the active volcanoes on the last island.   Hawaii, the big island, is also the only island growing as more land is being created as lava continues to flow.  It also has the highest mountains in the island chains, high enough to occasionally receive snow on its peak.  But at the base of the mountain, the temperate remains pretty constant with winds keeping it not too hot and not too cold.   

While there, in addition to exploring volcanoes, I’d want to spend hours napping in a hammock strung between palm trees, days snorkeling in the beautiful water, and meals overloaded with pineapples.   For a corner of the internet that regularly features the beauty of Hawaii (the state) and matches the photos with interesting quotes, check out Cloudia's blog.  Well, she mostly portrays beauty, her post of April 8, 2016 is of a tattoo parlor as I discovered when I went looking for her address.