Day One

March 5, 2007, Monday


Wow! Yesterday and today were busy days. Last night, we arrived in Hawaii late. Then we checked in King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. Today, we had a very early start because the whole group needed to meet the scientists that we were working with. After meeting up with the scientists at 9:00 am, we continued to make our way to the Mauna Loa Facility. With a little help from Bill, one of the scientists, we were able to make it to the site. Surprisingly, the elevation was 11,000 feet high! At the facility, there was a probe that measured the carbon dioxide in the air since 1958. When we looked across the valley, we saw a couple white specks on top of the mountain. The whole group decided to take a closer look at the far away objects…

Crossing the vast land, we made it to the famous Keck Observatory. The elevation was over 13,000 feet! Since we were so high, we were lacking oxygen to our head. During our light-headedness time, we toured around the observatory. It was humongous! We could not believe our own eyes. Yet, what goes up must come down.

Slowly, the group drove down the mountain to a lower elevation. And here we are now in Kamuela Inn. Time for a long sleep!