Waterfalls

We went on a scenic drive on the east side of the island. We couldn't help stopping to take pictures of the beautiful views.

In the middle of our drive we stopped to walk through the rainforest with tons of tropical flowers everywhere and found a 450 ft waterfall.

We found this waterfall in the middle of a city park in Hilo.  Some park huh?

Whale Watching

Things We Learned While Whale Watching

Whales are curious creatures.  Because they are curious, they will come up close to boats to see what they are.  This one breeched right behind our boat.  Twice.

If the tail fin comes out too much out of the water then it means the whale is going to dive down deep.  They usually stay down for 4 to 7 minutes each dive, but can stay down for up to 40 minutes.

Double whale breech

It only takes 2 or 3 tail flaps and 40 feet of water to accelerate their whole body (all 45+ feet of it) out of the water.

Male whales will fight by slapping their fins at each other above the water.  

Mom humpback whales will travel from Alaska (a journey lasting about 5-6 months) to have their babies in Hawaii.

There is no tagging system for whales because the best tags will only stay in for 2 or 3 hours.  Instead, scientists identify whales by their scars from fights with other whales or sharks.

The water that humpback whales shoot out of their blowhole comes out at 300 mph.

One possible reasons why whales like to breech and stick their fins out of the water is because it is cooling to them.  Whale breech more on windy days.

While we were on the boat we got to listen to a hydrophone.  The whales were singing.  Only the males sing.  All the whales know the same song, but do not sing in harmony.  The whales do not sing in Alaska, only in Hawaii.  This means they remember the song for 11 months before they sing again.

At least that's what the naturalist said.

Hawaii

We got to go on a trip with Brad's parents.  To Hawaii.

Our first full day on the island, we woke up to this view.

And went for a walk around the grounds.

And found lots of cool coral and shells.

We watched the waves crash.

After Doug was done with meetings, we went for a drive.  We went to the Pololu Valley Outlook.

We drove back to the hotel through the mountains.

And wished we'd never have to go home.


(By the way, we took all of these pictures on Brad's new Canon 7D and Alisha's new Brad's old camera.  True story.)

Day at the Cabin

Over Christmas Break, we went up to my parent's cabin by Silver Lake Flat in American Fork Canyon.

  Relaxing,

peaceful,

 and lots of time for Brad to take pictures with his new camera.

Also of note, Wendy took me snowshoeing for my first time.  I'll definitely go again.

(Obviously, I took this one.)