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Volcano Flu
May. 7th, 2009 10:35 pmI just realized I haven't updated here since before we got back from Hawaii... At some point, I'm going to see about doing a fill in the blanks sort of update on the rest of our vacation (since I missed a few days in the middle and a few days at the end). For now though, I'll just say that it was one of the BEST vacations we've ever been on (probably second only to Australia). We're talking about trying to go back once a year... watching for good deals for any of the islands and going with what looks best. There are lots of direct flights from Seattle and the travel time isn't too bad, so we could go for shorter vacations and it would still be worth our while.
I've also come to the realization that I REALLY want to get back to Guam, which will not be anywhere near as easy or cheap as going to Hawaii... and I don't know if I'll be able to do the one thing I'd really want to do, which is get permission to visit Andersen AFB. I'm going to start researching who I'd even have to write to about getting permission in the first place... because I think it might be doable. I'd still want to see the island as a whole, since my family actually did do quite a lot of stuff off base. But my own explorations and adventures generally happened on the base and there are things I'd love to see again after all this time, assuming they're even still there.
And now for the fun stuff... during our two days of venturing around Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the air quality was really, really bad. Bad enough that they had warnings everywhere and had even closed off a huge portion of the park... because it was impossible to breathe without some sort of breathing apparatus in those areas. But exploring Kilauea was one of my childhood dreams, so even after I developed a bit of a cough on the first day there, we headed back and hiked our way across the bottom of the Kilauea Iki crater. There was only one problem. When we left on the trip, I'd transferred things from my messenger bag into a canvas backpack-type purse, but it wasn't until after we spent the first day at Kilauea that I realized I'd left my inhaler in the one at home. Oops.
( Cut to spare my flist the last few days of coughing up my lungs. )
I've worked really hard not to do too much coughing during the times I've had to be in public (the plane ride home was tough), because I didn't want people recoiling in horror, pointing and screaming "Swine flu!!!!!" at me. Although I have been joking with my friends that what I've got is Volcano Flu. The whole thing has at least taught me that a) I was right in how I've been dealing with my chronic bronchitis problem... keep from having too bad of an asthmatic reaction to things and the lungs don't have a chance to get gunked up and b) my decision back in my college days to not pursue geology as a major even after wanting to be one since was two years old was probably a good one (especially since I was largely interested in volcanic research).
I've also come to the realization that I REALLY want to get back to Guam, which will not be anywhere near as easy or cheap as going to Hawaii... and I don't know if I'll be able to do the one thing I'd really want to do, which is get permission to visit Andersen AFB. I'm going to start researching who I'd even have to write to about getting permission in the first place... because I think it might be doable. I'd still want to see the island as a whole, since my family actually did do quite a lot of stuff off base. But my own explorations and adventures generally happened on the base and there are things I'd love to see again after all this time, assuming they're even still there.
And now for the fun stuff... during our two days of venturing around Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the air quality was really, really bad. Bad enough that they had warnings everywhere and had even closed off a huge portion of the park... because it was impossible to breathe without some sort of breathing apparatus in those areas. But exploring Kilauea was one of my childhood dreams, so even after I developed a bit of a cough on the first day there, we headed back and hiked our way across the bottom of the Kilauea Iki crater. There was only one problem. When we left on the trip, I'd transferred things from my messenger bag into a canvas backpack-type purse, but it wasn't until after we spent the first day at Kilauea that I realized I'd left my inhaler in the one at home. Oops.
( Cut to spare my flist the last few days of coughing up my lungs. )
I've worked really hard not to do too much coughing during the times I've had to be in public (the plane ride home was tough), because I didn't want people recoiling in horror, pointing and screaming "Swine flu!!!!!" at me. Although I have been joking with my friends that what I've got is Volcano Flu. The whole thing has at least taught me that a) I was right in how I've been dealing with my chronic bronchitis problem... keep from having too bad of an asthmatic reaction to things and the lungs don't have a chance to get gunked up and b) my decision back in my college days to not pursue geology as a major even after wanting to be one since was two years old was probably a good one (especially since I was largely interested in volcanic research).
