How Far South Can One Go....?

....and still be in the US? You can go where we went today - Ka Lae, HI. It is the southernmost point in the United States. We parked our car at this place and hiked 2 1/4 miles (one way - which seemed more like 10) to a green sand beach called Mahana Bay. If you would like to envision our hike.....picture this....Follow a series of dirt roads over pasture land...insert a TON of wind (there are wind farms down in this area for a reason!)...choose a deep rut to walk in....some of these ruts may be up to 4 feet high on the sides, with the center just low enough for a 4X4 to pass (just barely).....imagine a hill that is the furthest thing you can see in the distance.....take a long time to walk to it....then repeat this process about 10 times. Every time we came up over a hill, we could see another distant hill. Each time, you think to yourself that this "magical" beach is just over the next hill.....not so! We could all swear that the distance was much, much further than promised. After a couple hours, you will reach the top of the cliff in this picture.

Now, figure out how to get down to the georgeous beach below. That tiny speck about 1/3 of the way down the cliff is Jonathan. Once you come this far (remember repeating the walking process 10 times) there is no chance in heck that you're going to back down and be afraid of this cliff now! Here's Jourdan, the first one down the cilff.

The surf at this beach was both amazingly beautiful and scary powerful. We didn't dare let Jourdan swim; he wanted to, but we watched those waves just pulverizing the beach. It's hard to tell from these pictures, but the sand is a olive green color. The ocean was blue, the color of a blue crayon. When the waves crested, the color changed to a beautiful aquamarine before picking up green sand and crashing full force on the olivine beaach. It was beautiful.....and we all know how nothing worth doing is ever EASY.
Here's the kids at the top of the cliff with the beach below after we climbed back out.

On the way back, Julia didn't feel well, and my water shoes broke. It was an answer to a little girl's prayer (quite literally) that a red 4X4 stopped and offered us a ride for the last mile or so. This hike was worth the pain and suffering, but if you have complainers and wimps in your family, don't attempt this one!

Then we went to see Rainbow Falls. Apparently, you can only see the actual "rainbow" in the morning....oh well. It was another beautiful day in Hawaii.