Monday, 10 November 2008

• Haleakala Overnight
  
  Two days ago a group of us went into the crater and spent the night.  For those of you that are not familiar with Haleakala it is an amazing place.  The summit is 10,000 feet.  It is the largest crater in the world.  There are two cabins on the floor of the crater and several camp sites for tents.  We stayed in one of the cabins and that was my first time doing that.  I have stayed several times in tents but the cabins were sweet!  It gets very cold in the crater and snows a couple times a year.  Yes snow in Hawaii.  It dropped to about 40 degrees the night we were there and it was as clear as I have ever seen it.  At the top of the crater NASA has a telescope and tracks space junk.  There was a half moon that hid the stars at first but when I got up to go to the bathroom at 3am it was down and the stars were stellar.  Yes one of the clearest places on earth.  I sat there for about 15 minutes just taking it all in. 
  
  I chose God of Wonders as the song for the slide show because there is no way that you can sit there and look at the starts and space for any length of time and not believe there is a
  God.  When you see something as majestic as that you are looking  God in the eye!  
  
  There is a large lave tube that is about a quarter mile long and up to about 40 foot ceilings in spots. I had never been in there before and it was very cool.  Actually cold.
  
  One of the things that is most amazing about the center of the crater is how quiet it is.  Your ears will ring when you get out because they get adjusted to the quiet and have to adjust to the noise again.  It can get so quiet when there is no wind that you can even hear your heart beat!  It has happened to me twice in the crater.
  
  This has been such a tough and challenging year for our family and this was such a great way to get away from the daily grind and get in touch with God.  I am so glad I went and am so blessed to have friends like those in our group.  They are such a support and so much fon to be around.  We all had a blast and ate so well.  Here is a photo of the crater and you can click here to view the slide show that will give you a taste of being in the crater.
  
  
  

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