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| Moonlight in the morning |
Day 3 is volcano day.
Before we set off, we had a chance to see a big full moon in the morning (left).
Then, we set off to see Kilauea Volcano, a little over 2 hours away. It is an active volcano. We arrived at the entrance to the volcano park around lunchtime, so we stopped in the little town on Volcano for some lunch. We ate at Ohia, a small roadside stop. The food was great, but the lunch rush slowed things down a bit...
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| Lunch in Volcano |
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| Nice Cheetos nutrition... |
In the parking lot at lunch, the kids posed for a few photos:
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| The serious photo... |
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| The not-so-serious photo... |
We made our way into the volcano park and, after a brief tour of the volcano visitor center to get our bearings, we drove to the steam vents. Apparently, the magma reservoirs rise and fall with the pressure of the volcano, so when the magma level drops and rain water starts filling the reservoir, the result is a massive tea kettle that boils over -- hence, the steam vents:
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| Steam vent |
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| April and Rex at the steam vents |
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| The cousins at the steam vent |
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| Party on |
Next, we journeyed up to the Kilauea caldera. The crater used to be deeper, but, over the years, the lava coming up cools and creates a higher floor. Then, over time, the floor collapses and spews up lots of debris.
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| At the volcano |
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| June, Liam, Sean and John |
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| April, Owen, Garrett and Rex |
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| June and Sean |
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| Kilauea caldera |
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| Kilauea caldera |
After enjoying the view of the crater, we went to a lava tube. Apparently, the outer shell of a lava flow hardens while the hot lava clears out, leaving behind a lava tunnel. The lava tube in the volcano park is in a tropical rain forest and it has beautiful surroundings.
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| June walking to the lava tube |
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| April, June and Sharon walking to the lava tube |
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Scott and Sharon looking great
Below is the typical pose on family trips, with Garrett tired and pleading for a fireman's carry. Memories of our trip to Europe, at the U.N. headquarters and Versailles... |
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| John and boys outside the tube |
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| Scott and boys |
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| Inside the lava tube, with John and the boys |
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| The lava tube |
At the end of the lava tube, there is a special bonus. There is another 1000 feet of tunnel, but in pitch black. We used a cell phone "flashlight" and made it. Here is a photo in complete pitch black, with a flash:
The boys had absolutely no fear, except when we said that the flashlight battery was about to run out. Then we saw who was brave...
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Garrett and Sharon
Sharon had to pay a lot for this photo... |
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| Leaving the lava tube. Liam has had enough photos, thank you very much. |
Emerging from the lava tube, John made it.
After the lava tube, we stopped by the only winery on the Big Island, called Volcano Winery.
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| After the tasting |
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| Various wines we purchased for dinner |
On the way back to Kona, we stopped at a black sands beach. When the hot lava meets the cool sea water, an explosion results which produces sand-like pebbles. Pretty cool.
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| Black sand |
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| Enjoying a black sand beach |
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| The cousins at the beach |
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| Protected sea turtle |
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| Owen and turtle |
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| Garrett and turtle |
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| John and Sean |
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| Sean and the turtle |
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| John and June and the black sand beach |
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| Cousins in the surf |
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| Good view of the black sand beach |
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