Big Island

Last island. ;) On Friday (7/17), we flew from Kauai (to Maui) to the Big Island. We picked up our rental car and drove the 40 minutes or so to our vacation rental in Volcano...just outside (east) of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. After settling in a bit, we headed back out for a snack in Volcano then into the park. We visited the Visitor Center then drove into the park a bit to walk through the Thurston Lava Tube and hike a lava crater/lake floor (which was a bit surreal and rather drizzly, so we got soaked during that 4 miles of hiking).

And then we got in the car and made our way to the only public viewing site for current lava in the park. At the Jaggar Museum overlook, we were able to both walk through the museum (which had some fabulous displays and artwork) and see the lava glow as darkness arrived...

It was more impressive in person. ;) And very difficult to photograph, particularly since we'd not brought an actual camera, lol. In any case, after that we discovered that our rental car had heated seats (woohoo! as I was still damp from our earlier hike) and made our way to the Lava Rock Cafe in Volcano for a late dinner. Then we went home to enjoy the gas fireplace! (Amazing...considering that we'd been melting in Kauai just the day before, lol.)

The next morning, we headed out toward Hilo, stopping at a couple Farmers Markets along the way for breakfast and coffee and shopping. (The Saturday Hilo Farmers Market is awesome and well worth the time, folks!) Then we continued on around the island counter-clockwise...stopping at Akaka Falls to enjoy the short hike there:

We ate lunch at a nearby town and continued our drive, marveling at the difference in scenery from one side of the island to the other...from rain forests to desert and sagebrush. By early evening, we'd made it to the west side of the island (the resort-y area) for our luau and enjoyed a beautiful evening of food, drinks and entertainment. Happy sigh. :)

On Sunday, we woke early (despite getting in late after a long drive back across the island in the dark and fog) and headed for the Volcano Community Farmers Market that a potter had told us about at the Hilo Farmers Market the day before. We had a yummy breakfast and enjoyed the sense of community there before heading back to pack our bags and check out. With a wee bit of time to spare before we needed to get to the airport, we went back into the national park. First we checked out the artist gallery next door to the Visitor Center. (It had so much gorgeous work!) Then we drove the Chain of Craters road to the end to see the Holei Sea Arch:

Along the drive, we marveled at the lava meeting the ocean and how the crust of the flow made us think of brownies, lol.

Finally, though, we headed for the airport and started the traveling process that got us home to Denver Monday morning. Whew. :)