We dressed then headed downstairs for breakfast. Larry and Rita were already downstairs as well.
We all went through the buffet line and each of us got a glass of POG juice. Our first experience with it. Passion Orange Guava juice is really quite tasty! Especially when you are eating looking out a giant picture window at the volcano. It was gorgeous. Midway through breakfast the Huhn’s came downstairs. They were smart and had bought pastries at Punaluu the day before to eat for breakfast.
We decided to drive over to the Jagger Museum to get a better look at the smokin’ crater, then drive down to walk through a lava tube. The Jagger museum had not opened yet, but we got to take pictures and read some of the literature around without a crowd around.
We were kicking ourselves for not driving up to the museum the night before and looking into the crater itself…it is heard you can see the orange glow at night! Oh well, it was really foggy and we probably wouldn’t have been able to see anything…at least that is what we have all convinced ourselves. The Chain of Craters road that drove around to the other side of the crater was closed so we doubled back to make our way to see one of the lava tubes. All along both sides of the road, it was somewhat creepy.
Cracks had steam rising out of them…a couple of the cracks had little fences around them so you could walk right up to them and look down…something was causing that steam that was very very hot. We drove down a ways and pulled into a parking lot to get out and look around a bit before heading on down to the lava tube.
It was at the Mauna Iki lookout. It is said that when Mark Twain had stayed at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, he had been there with Mauna Iki was active. He stood at the edge of the caldera and watching the lava steaming and bubbling below. He’s a lot braver than I am that is for sure. If we would have had a bit more time…and a bit more energy, we probably would have walked down inside the crater to look around.
But, we pressed on. A photographer taking pictures of the volcano said it would be hard to find a parking spot at the lava tube and to just walk. It was a nice little hike. Much nicer than the wet hike we had the night before. But when we got to the end of the trail we were disappointed to see the parking lot empty…ugh. Oh well…we’d all end up sending Ryan and Howard back for the cars! It was a short hike to the lava tube itself.
Then you went in. They had even installed lighting so we didn’t need my flashlight. Some lava tubes are tremendously long, but this one was short enough to not creep you out, but long enough that you got the picture. Where we came up out of the tube, you could have kept going…but the disclaimer on the gate you had to go through was a little unnerving. We just went back up. Howard and Ryan brought back the cars and we headed back to the visitor’s center. We listened to one of the park rangers talk and looked around a while, then headed back to the hotel to checkout. We loaded the cars, took a few pictures then went across the street to some picnic tables for a snack. Howard pulled apart the pineapple Ryan had bought on Sunday with his hands and someone got the avocado open. We also had some macadamia nut candies and a couple pastries from Punaluu leftover. It was a perfect snack! When we were done we cleaned up and headed back down the road to Devastation Trail. It’s a trail where you can see, well…devastation. You walk through a beautiful little forest area then all of the sudden everything goes bare.
Lava that bubbles and turns into gas had spewed out of cinder cones around and the fallout destroyed the area. The rock in that area was extremely light...almost weird. Ryan wanted to find a really big one that he could pick up and throw to Howard so it would appear they had super human strength! We walked around looking a bit then headed back to the cars. We all wanted to walk through the Jagger Museum to touch a piece of the newest Hawaiian island that is still under the ocean (we learned about it from the park ranger).
By the time we got back over there, Wesley was sound asleep in the car. We made the trip a quick one. The Jagger Museum was also where they kept all the seismographs…there had been a couple little earthquakes since we’d been on the volcano! None of us felt them though. We loaded in the cars, said our goodbyes to the volcano and headed to Hilo. Now, until now I have failed to mention one of the best parts of the trip…Howard and Ryan on the walkie talkies. HH & KK had the foresight to bring theirs so our cars could talk to one another. Howard and Ryan’s commentary as we drove all over the island were truly hilarious. Also quite entertaining were the variations of stories you would hear being read to Wesley. The book that I would read would be vastly different than the book Howard and Ryan would read. I think ad lib while reading children’s books is something I need to bring into my world. Food for thought…I digress. So we got into Hilo and decided to stop at one of our book’s recommendations called Café 100. More of a drive up, outdoor eatery than a diner or café in my opinion. We had a quick lunch then headed on toward the Inn at Kulaniapia Falls, the bed and breakfast we stayed in our last night.
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