Monday, July 9, 2007

Volcanoes!

Amy and I arrived a the Volcanoes National Park around 5. I wanted to take the 20 mile drive and half hour walk to the end by the water where the lava is flowing but there were earthquakes on Father's Day that collapsed the lava tube and currently, the lava is not flowing. Oh well. We did take a drive around the rim of Kileaua. It was raining and we got our rainbow!


There is a little town near the volcanoes. We had a pretty horrible dinner there!


Post Office.


The Country Goose! The town is full of bed and breakfasts. The recommended ones were booked early so we ended up at the Country Goose. I know, Amy had the same reaction youre having now, but once there, she didn't want to leave. The cabin had everything from a washer and dryer to LCD tv's in each room.






We went to the main house in the morning and Joan made us a beautiful breakfast, There were some nice families there so we all traded stories.



Back to the Park


Amy and I got a face full of steam. Scared us!



Amy was a trooper and kept up with me on those .1 mile hikes!


DO NOT FEED THE NENES!


Kileaua's main crater. It really doesn't come out in pictures how huge it is.



Mauna Loa


This a smaller crater near the main one. If you click you can make out people at the bottom. It was a 4 mile hike down.


The Thurston Lava Tube...



Empties into a rain forest.


Devastation Trail.


Kind of a cool shot of our car and the lava.


We took Chain of Craters road down to the coast. We passed several craters hidden in the trees, then as we descended, we lost the trees and all you saw was lava and the ocean on the horizon. It was about 60 degrees, cold, and damp at the top. By the time we hit the coast, it was 90 and sunny and super windy, I guess no trees to block the wind.



You can just make out the road ahead.



This was a real hike. The wind was very strong in our faces and lava isn't the easiest thing to walk on but we made it to this area where ancient Hawaiian's carved pictures.






We finally made it to the coast.



An offering to Pelle, the Goddess of Fire.



Amy insists he's not a peanut!


Macadamia trees!


After the macadamia nut factory and the candy factory, we flew, with our upset tummies, to Maui. It was dark when we got here so we really didn't see much. We did get the Sebring convertible for the 3rd time! The Four Seasons is amazing. Updates to follow.

2 comments:

Dana W said...

Ok, so my eyes light up at the mention of the macadamia nut factory and cream filled donuts...why is this? I am sure that the other events of the trip are just as fabulous! ENJOY! I can see that you are! Love the pics and commentaries!

Dana :)

mark said...

why do i get the feeling that all of those hikes were your idea?... i am amazed amy was still in the pictures by the end of the day. looks great. please take home 2 sea turtles for me by the way, preferably a male and female. also i wasnt there, but wouldnt that mascot be a macadamia nut, not a peanut?...it resembled a macadamia nut, or a poor man's m&m, think about it.