Volcano, Hawaii - Day 22
Thursday, July 3rd
Today is our last full day of sight seeing before our return trip home.
As we were getting ready to leave, I snapped a couple photos in the backyard of our Air B&B.
Beautiful flowers and a cute little lizard were a great way to start my day.
As we entered the park today, Mom traded in the pass she had purchased online last night and upgraded it to a senior lifetime pass. It is hard to believe that my parents are able to get senior benefits at this point, but I am excited for her to have her lifetime pass! It got all of the rest of us in with her, as well.
We drove over to the welcome center and Desmond got his Junior Ranger packet. Meanwhile, we got stamps for our National Parks Passports, and browsed the gift shop.
Desmond started right in on his packet, and let us know a few key places we will want to visit.
The first place we wanted to visit was the crater rim trail (which we had been to last night in the dark). It looked so different in the daylight! It was fun to go and see the volcano smoking away, now that we knew just where to look. And, to be fair, in the light of day it is quite obvious. But it was not obvious in the dark and mist last night.
When Desmond had finished up his Junior Ranger packet we went back to the welcome center so he could get sworn in, and get his badge.
It was about noon at this point, and Desmond asked if we could eat at the Volcano House restaurant. This was one that his Great Grandma Mather had texted us about, telling us she had eaten there many years ago. Initially on our first pass through the parking lot and those parking areas anywhere remotely near the Volcano House we could not find a spot. Desmond really wanted to try lunch there, where you can see the volcano from the restaurant, so we started praying for a spot and decided to make a second pass. Just as we entered the parking lot, the car in the very first spot began backing out, and we ended up with an amazing parking spot. Thank you, Lord!
We really enjoyed our time there. There was a bit of a wait for lunch, which allowed us to go look out the window at the volcano, explore the gift shops and so forth. The food was delicious. All in all, it was a great stop.
We wanted to go to the lava tube at this point, but the parking lot was full so we continued down the road a little way to the next point of interest. We had been given a tip by the Park Ranger we spoke to this morning that kids enjoy yelling into the crater here, as there is a nice echo. She did not steer us wrong.
Desmond determined last summer that he enjoys all things cave, and so he was excited to do a bit of spelunking when he heard that there were lava tubes to be explored. Bryan drove us back to the trailhead and dropped Desmond, myself, and Nonnie off.
Desmond led the way down to the entrance of the lava tube, and through it, as we dodged puddles on the ground.
We hiked back to the car on a lovely jungle path that had overlooks out over a vast area below, where other visitors were hiking across an open space in the sun. Desmond decided, and I agreed, that I was very happy hiking up here near the clouds and in among the trees.
From there we drove out to a viewpoint where you could look out to the ocean.
After that we headed back. We dropped off G.B. and Desmond at the house while the rest of us went to the grocery store. We grabbed a couple ingredients for a simple dinner here at “home.”
I cooked up pineapple pork chops and rice, a single skillet meal perfect for preparing in a kitchen with no dishwasher. At this point we are more than ready for some home-cooked food of any kind.
After dinner, we headed back out to see the volcano again at night. We went to the steaming vents pull out and parked where I had requested. We walked to the view point and could see… nothing. It had begun to rain a bit, unexpectedly. The caldera was full of thick fog, and it seemed unlikely we would get to see anything at all no matter which look out we went to.
But Bryan and I still wanted to try. My dad warned we may hike over to the other rim to see the caldera full of fog, and he was right. But the wind was blowing, and sometimes we could see stars. Maybe by the time we got to the viewpoint (about a mile hike from the parking lot called “Devastation”) the visibility would have improved? We could only hope.
We drove over to the parking area mentioned by the ranger earlier in the day. We parked the rental car and started to walk down the closed off road. It has been closed off because part of the road fell into the crater. The half moon was again so bright we didn’t need flashlights for most of the walk. Eventually, we followed the arrows on a sign that said “eruption” and walked a little further on a rocky path.
When we got to the viewpoint, we could see the faint glow of the volcano across the way. (These pictures are taken with a 5x zoom.) I shielded my eyes from the light of the moon to see better.
In my heart of hearts I wished fervently (as all people looking at a volcano must) to see an eruption with lava spurting up dramatically into the sky. The fog blew by the hot spot so that sometimes it could not be seen at all, and other times it seemed quite bright.
Seeing it stirred feelings in me. I was grateful to have seen the glow of this active volcano, and I wanted to see more. I felt a longing to see the Lord display his glory in ever more awesome ways. It felt similar to going to a restaurant and only having a small appetizer. I left feeling an odd mixture of fortunate (many people visit and do not see a glow) and unsatisfied.
Tomorrow, the Fourth of July, is our return home. We plan to drive across the island, and fly out of the other airport. From there it is a direct flight home. We are scheduled to arrive around 8:30 which will feel like 5:30 to us. We have had a wonderful trip, and I am ready to go home. I don’t plan to blog tomorrow. Thank you for reading along!
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