Day Three, Hawaii 2015 (6/30/15)

My second night of sleep in Hawaii went better than the first.  I negotiated with Tom to have the window closest to my head to stay shut because though the sounds of the jungle calmed Tom, they kind of freaked me out.  We were up and ready to spend the day at the volcano.  Tom consulted with our B&B co-host, Grumpy Garret about the best approach for tackling Volcano National Park.  Garret earned his nickname the previous day by yelling at the kids not to throw rocks.  We learned it was best to have Tom talk to Garret without the kids around.  

Garret laid out an ambitious plan for the day.  I wasn't sure how much we would conquer but we were excited to explore.  

We started our day at the Kilauea Iki Overlook.  This is a popular spot for tourists and tour buses to stop and take in the sight of the crater.   

But we didn't want to just admire the crater from above.  We wanted to get down in that puppy!
Pumped up hikers.

But first, there was a little detour to the Thurston Lava Tube.  

It's dark and wet and awesome in there.  It's also hard to take a picture in the near dark.

Also difficult to photograph?  The four of us on the camera timer.

Nailed it!  Here we are down in the crater ready to cross this lava lake.

It was hot down there.

And a bit windy.

The kids found some steam coming through.  

Crater selfie!  Unfortunately, Tom had to take a call from Expedia during this part of the hike.  Our hotel for the second half of the trip (where we were supposed to check in the very next day) was experiencing "unexpected repairs" and we were going to be homeless.  

The crater was very cool, but the hike out of there was a challenge.  We made it though and moved on to have some lunch at the Pu'u Pau'i Overlook, which gave us more views of the crater we had just crossed.  

Unfortuntely, Tom had to battle with Expedia a little more so the kids and I checked out Devastation Trail which is just what is sounds like - a trail that shows the devastation of the 1959 Kilauea Iki eruption.  No lush vegetation here.  

Finally, Tom had everything squared away.  It was frustrating for him but I appreciated him sticking to his guns and getting us some nice lodging for the second half of the trip.

We were all hot and a bit tired so we climbed into the car to drive the Chain of Craters Road.  It was amazing sight after amazing sight.

At one point, we had decided to stop taking stops and get to the end, but the lure of a sparkling sea of lava was too much to resist and I pulled over again.

I just loved the look of this lava.

We eventually got to the end of the road, which is were the lava field meets the sea.

Holei Sea Arch.  You would think it would cool down at the ocean, but it was actually warmer down at the coast and the wind felt like the hot breath of the devil.

Even though we were tired, Tom talked us into one last hike.  We started off near the entrance of Pauahi Crater to see Mauna Ulu.  Along the way we saw interesting lava formations, like this one that was created when lava flowed up on the trunk of a tree.

At the top, Tom gives us some info about what we see, which is steam from Mauna Ulu.  It didn't photograph that well.

The hike down was...other worldly.  We were so tired and our legs felt like jelly.  It started to feel like I'm was on a lava treadmill since I was taking step after step after step over the lava and not getting anywhere.  But eventually, we did make it to the car and after nine hours (NINE HOURS!) in the park, we headed back to the cabin.  

It was our last night in Volcano Village, so we mustered the energy to see the glow from Halema'uma'u one last time.  We went a little later in the evening (around 9pm) so there was less crowd.  It was spectacular of course and even though we were dog tired and the kids were a bit whiney, we were glad we got one last glimpse.