Volcanoes are HOT HOT HOT

When we awoke on Sunday morning, the mysterious illness that afflicted us the night before was still lingering a little. The original plan was to go to Volcano to the Volcanoes National Park and hike the Iki trail, which is a trail through the crater of the volcano. Ever since last April when I saw people down on it, I have wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, we were still a bit weak and that is a trail that can take 3 hours to hike. So we decided to take it a little easier.

We started off at the top of the  crater. Last time, we didn't make it to the Kilauea Crater for some odd reason. This time, I actually got to see the gaping hole in the middle of the earth. It was like being on Mars....if I were to imagine what that would be like. Up at the top, Julie noticed that the smoke was blowing in the opposite direction than usual and that hiking may be strenuous because of the vog. We also noticed that it was much warmer in Volcano than usual. As a matter of fact, it was HOT.

After shopping at 3 different museum stores (I was looking for something specific) we started out on the rim trail. This trail used to be a road, but an earthquake took care of it, so now it's for us to walk upon. We walked about a mile in and to the trail head for the Iki so I could at least see it. At that point, Julie decided to head back to the truck while Candance and I hiked another mile up to Thurston's Lava Tube. Julie agreed to come pick us up, so the hike was the same in distance for both of us; I just got to spend some more time in the woods. Unfortunately, there were tourists. Lots of tourists.

When we came out, I was famished. But, we needed to make a pit stop first. We went to see two friends, Lois and Earl, and dropped off some gifts of plants and spices they had asked for. Julie and Candance met this couple on their first trip to the Big Island when they introduced Julie to the world of Zentangle, and it has been a loving relationship ever since.

After our visit, we headed to the popular Lava Rock Cafe to find that they closed at 4 pm. Pouting ensued. Then they recommended the Thai Thai Resaurant, which was an excellent idea. A thai iced tea to start and finish the meal was quite lovely. I had a version of the popular drunken noodles, but Candance had this green curry burger that was "ono" (that's damn good in Hawaiian).

It was a rainy evening in Hilo when we returned from our adventures. It was a good night for a warm shower and a good book.