If you're considering a vacation in "paradise", please read about the VOG here in Hawaii.

VOG? What the heck is that? It was not that obvious on Oahu or Kauai, but... when our plane landed on the Big Island, we came down through a disgusting DARK GRAY layer that I couldn't identify. It eats away at everything, I'm told, including airplane engines.

The Big Island of Hawaii has a concentration of volcanic air pollution (VOG) that is NOT TO BE BELIEVED! This is because of the continuing and increased volcanic activity here. Kilauea is pouring TONS of crap into the air every day. If the volcano were a manufacturing facility, it would quickly be shut down. VOG has COMPLETELY exceeded any and all government regulations for air quality. PS. VOG extends to the other islands, too. It is WORSE the higher you go -- up to 6,000 feet, so Waimea or the Parker Ranch is not a good alternative. Higher than 6,000 feet, it does improve, but good luck with that.

Suggest you Google this subject <VOG ILLNESS> and make your choices based on knowledge, not hype.

The trade winds have died down this week. The sky is gray with even darker clouds. Hawaii never has real fog, so this is NOT equivalent to Los Angeles or San Francisco. It is a terrible eye, lung and skin irritant, worse in the winter, spring and fall.

Here is a very illuminating article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vog

My activities have been totally impacted by VOG... Volcanic air pollution... that hangs over Kailua-Kona and Waiakoloa, especially in the winter months.

You will NOT hear about this from your travel agent.

FYI, I do not suffer from any kind of lung or skin disease on the mainland.

Hope this helps someone reconsider their vacation with better knowledge than I had.

Cordially,

Radio Lady

Until she blew up and got hot under the collar!

it's only when they go away that we see any up here. Of course, even though global warming's just a myth, :sarcasm: that seems to be happening more and more...

Note: health food stores in Kona sell an herbal tea blend that is meant specifically to counteract vog's effects!

Sorry, but everything is covered in gray haze today and I'm sad to say I am not having a good time.

Thanks, KamaAina...

At least, my husband and grandson are having a good time.

They took pictures in Kailua-Kona today and I'll have to just enjoy those.

Peace, love and happiness,

Radio Lady Ellen

The air is almost completely still.

Luckily, I have a free computer to use right now.

Thanks for your companionship, KC2.

Peace, love and happiness...

RL

maybe the VOG just isn't as bad in Kona as Waikoloa. Who knows? It never bothered me, and I've visited four times. Though we've never been fortunate enough to time it during an eruption, either. I guess the grass is always greener, you know.

I hope you know, RL, I'm having one hell of a time feeling sorry for you! lol

:hi:

we'll talk later.

"'Bye-bye for a while and keep a smile..."

I spent a week in the "active flow" area of the Big Island in June 2005 and had a blast. The kids enjoyed it and I was lucky enough to get some awesome lava photos.

Would love to go back again, VOG or no VOG.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the Hawaiian music (there's a big party here tonight) and glad to see my big grandson, who has rarely been out of Boston since he was born in 1989!

Have a wonderful day tomorrow, folks.

Peace, love and happiness,

Radio Lady in Hawaii

PS. Minnesota Liberal, we did get to Oahu and Kauai on this visit. Thanks for your advice! We live near Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helens. So far, so good. Let's hear it for "dormant" volcanoes... not dead, only sleeping.

:hi:

and have two or three weeks left...they are staying on the big island and kona(?)....they leased a condo on the ocean for two months ! i`ll ask them about the vog when they call.

Mt. Redoubt, AK - 1989
"The most recent eruptions were in 1989-1990, it was the fourth and most damaging eruption this century. The eruptions caused considerable disruption to air traffic. Debris flows in Drift River valley threatened an oil tanker terminal. Damage and loss of revenue from ash and debris flows totaled about $160 million, making the 1989-1990 eruption the second most costly in the United States history."
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/alaska/redoubt.html

I was in Amsterdam with a flight scheduled to leave for Anchorage the next day. Flight ops told us what had happened and that our flight was canceled till further notice. Standby.

We enjoyed a nice 3 day vacation in Amsterdam until things had settled down in Anchorage and we could proceed on our route.
Another airplane wasn't so lucky:

"All four engines of a KLM Boeing 747 temporarily shut down yesterday when the jumbo jet flew through a cloud of ash from the erupting Redoubt Volcano in Alaska, Government officials reported.

The huge airliner descended from 25,000 feet to 12,000 feet in eight minutes before the crew was able to restart two of the engines, and all four were operating when the plane, traveling from Amsterdam to Tokyo, landed at 12:25 P.M. in Anchorage, where it had been scheduled to stop for refueling.

Mr. Steucke said yesterday that the KLM crew members had reported after landing in Anchorage that they had been unable to see the volcanic cloud and that it did not show up on radar.

The plane was flying at about 25,000 feet, 75 miles northwest of Anchorage, when the crew reported smoke in the cockpit, Mr. Steucke said.

After the landing at Anchorage, a scheduled refueling stop, officials of the safety board and the KLM crew inspected the jet. ''It looked like it had been sandblasted,'' one official reported.

The KLM plane was to be flown to the Boeing company's production plant in Seattle, Mr. Steucke said. The passengers continued their trip to Tokyo on another plane.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2D71F3AF935A25751C1A96F948260

Note: The 'smoke in the cockpit' was actually ash, coming in through the plane's HVAC/presurization system.