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We are back home. Hope you all enjoyed following us on this trip.

Fire and Water

Well we tried to go see the lava pour into the ocean. In 1987 when I visited with my family, we drove to the end of the road (lava had recently covered it) and then walked out to see the lava hitting the water. 22 years later, it is still entering the ocean in about the same place. The property owners have returned and many have built new houses (or assembled shacks) right on top of the lava. One place had an orchard planted right in the rock. The county has put in a one lane road over the lava. This is all outside the National Park. The property owners do not allow visitors except between 5pm and 8pm. We got there at 4pm and had to leave before 5pm to catch our flight (which subsequently was 2 hours late). We did not get to walk out to the lava, but we met a very colorful local who told great stories and sold us pictures. I will scan a few and post them soon.

Jennifer took the video below. This is over a mile away. You can really see the power of the steam rising from the ocean.

Volcano Day Part 2

From the Volcano House, this is a view of the steaming bluffs to the west. We walked over to them, but the wind was so strong the view was better from here.


This is a field of A'a lava. It was deposited in 1973, still looks like a moonscape in black. There are just little trees growing in it. The wind up here was 40 mph+.

Jennifer taking in the view from our room.

We drove down to the west side of the active lava flow. We walked out to the shore and looked at the waves crashing into the cliffs. As you can see, the cliffs get under-cut. Eventually all this will fall into the sea. In the vistor's center, they showed us a 25 acre section that fell off in one night. Several people every year disappear into the sea. One of the locals told me that the rangers find rental cars that are overdue on a regular basis. They never find the people. It is kept very quiet so it doesn't scare off visitors.

Volcano Day

This is the Kilauea Volcano caldera as seen from the Volcano House. As you can see, the Halema`uma`u crater is active. At night, you can see the lave dome heaving up and down. The crater is really an impressive sight.


Posing in front of the crater.

This is the Devastation Trail. We started walking down this trail in a rain forest. I kept wondering why it was named the Devestation Trail. Then we came out of the forest and saw the lava flow. You can see the lava in the background above. It was stunning.


Just 100 yards from the lava flow, we were back in the rain forest.

We walked through the Thurston Lava Tube. It was not terribly long, but it was interesting. At the end, if you have a flashlight, you can walk another 335 yards through an unlighted section. We didn't have flashlights and we were the only ones in the tube.

We really got lucky. We were ahead of all the day tourists. We had just about every place to ourselves. If you like hiking and plan a visit here, you need at least two days. There are tons of trails.

1st Day on Hawai'i

We flew from Honolulu to Hilo. What a difference. Hilo is much smaller, more laid back, and definitely more economically depressed. This is more a port city than a vacation destination. But, it was quaint and the people were nice. The airport is about the size of my barn. The biggest difference is I have wireless internet access in my barn. Above is a large Banyan tree that we found near Rainbow Falls in Hilo.


Rainbow Falls claim to fame is that it was featured in Fantasy Island. Hawai'i had received a ton of rain the week before we arrived so the falls were flooding and were much larger than in the TV series.

For the rest of the day we drove around parts of the island. We visited Punaluu Beach. This is a black sand beach along a 30 year old lava flow. This is a favorite spot for Green Sea Turtles. We saw some playing in the surf. None of them came up on the beach, so no pictures. They were hard to picture in the water since they only came up for a few second.

We drove up to Kona and looked for Donkey Balls. Check out their site.

The seas were just too rough for snorkeling, so we went back to the Volcano House. We ate a wonderful dinner at the Kilauea Lodge. It was the only place we could find in the very thick fog. It was probably the best meal we had the entire trip.

Off the air

It is unknown if we will have internet access on Hawaii. If not, we will update in Maui on the way home.

Someone's going to look like a lobster....

First, Oklahomans should be very grateful for the wonderful job our weather forecasters do for us. The day we got here, they said sunny all week. That was followed by three cloudy (sun a few times) and often rainy days. Not unpleasant, but not the forecast. Last night, they forecast heavy rain all day and lasting until Wednesday. Today.... bright beautiful sunshine!!!! They don't even try.

Surfers are out in mass. Tons of people, but pleasant. Being at a confined resort keeps most problems out. They even come around and check for room keys. Staff is great.

The pool was full by 9am. I got down there at 8:45 to reserve a couple of chairs. There were only two left pool side. They started the morning in the shade, but quickly ended up in full sunlight. I am taking a break right now while Jennifer stays in the sun. I had a bet with her that one of us would end up burnt and miserable. Guess who is winning......

After lunch we are moving onto the beach.