The Three Coconuts

Friday morning was set, get up, swim at Dig Me Beach, a quick 45 min run, eat, clean up and head to Volcano National Park with a few stops along the way. "The Diesel" already told you all about the swim and finally getting some up close time with Mr. Turtle. My run was hot and humid but loved every minute of it. Got back to the condo and the girls had whipped up my favorite post run and bike b-fast............eggs and potatoes! I smelled them in the condo complex long before reaching the door. You sautee new potatoes or leftover baked potatoes in a little olive oil and season with Lawry's till they are crisp, then whip the number of eggs you desire and poor in on top of the potatoes and finish like scrambled eggs. I'm an egg junkie so it's usually at least 3. Good thing about this dish is you can add onions, peppers, mushrooms, or whatever sounds good. Oh and I almost forgot chase it down with a big glass of Chocolate Milk.

Sorry about that, back to the volcano. We left out about 12:30. Driving south on Hwy. 11 on the Big Island is totally different than going north. The road is curvy and dangerous, but very scenic. It's about 90 miles to the National Park and with these roads is about a 2 hour drive. We made a quick stop at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach got some pics then kept headin south. We had planned to snorkel a little here but the wind was blowing about 40 Knots and the surf was kickin.

The rest of the drive was beautiful, some rainforest, some ranchlands, some areas very dry and arid. I still am amazed at how green everything can be one minute and then how dry and desert -like the next. It changes so fast here.

The assent up to Volcano National Park is about 35oo ft above sea level. There was evidence of old eruptions and new growth of vegetation beginning. The newer eruptions of Kilauea, say from 1979 to current, were just black areas of engulfing mass. About the time we entered the park it began to rain. We were told it rains most of the time at the volcano. The temp at the top was about 70 and did I mentioned the wind was blowing...........well it was..........hard and would continue for the rest of the afternoon..............what I did not mention was that the wind apparantly blows all the time a the south end of the island.

Craters, calderas, crevices, steamvents, rainbows, rainforest, lava tubes, cliffs, roads taken over by lava and repaired, roads taken over by lava and not repaired, and petroglyphs, we saw it all. Someone said "how often do you get the chance to stand on earth that is younger than you are".

I was truly humbled by the visit. If you get the chance to come visit this park do yourself 2 favors, first give yourself at least the entire day maybe two. Secondly, come with no preconcieved ideas on what to expect. The power, the devastation, the miracle of new life forming and then thriving is truly amazing.

It is a 45 minute drive from the visitors center down to the sea. So its 1 1/2 hours round trip with no stops. Well you have to stop because there is so much to see! There are numerous craters that opened up below the main caldera of Kilauea, all with viewing points. As you drive down the mountain you pass through rainforest that have flourish in the aftermath from 100's of years ago. Once out of the rainforest you begin to see devastation with signs that read "lava flow from 1973 eruption" or 1979 or 1983. Suddenly things become alot more real. The drive down a steep mountain that you can easily tell was once cliffs on the edge of the sea. Everything below you and to what is now the coastline is new earth. When you finally reach the sea is where the lava crossed the road one final time and it is here you have reach the end. Looking back up the mountain was my most memorable site. Seeing the tracks of black lava contrasting against areas of new growth was distinct, seeing the beginning point and following it all the way down to the ocean. We did make it to the end of the road where lava had eliminated further passage. The car traffic had been stopped about a mile before the lava blockade (at the location of this neat sea arch---see pic) and as we were feeling the press of time we ran the remaining distance to and from the lava. It was worth it with views of the steam coming up off of the new lava entering the ocean. The climate had changed from light rain blowing sideways at the higher elevations (we were in rain jackets) to muggy and hot where we decided to pick up the pace... yes that is sweat in those photos.... the Diesel finally got a run in.

We headed back up the road with one last stop........the petroglyphs. This is the one thing Julie and Tyler were looking most forward too. It is a 15 to 20 minute walk over an old lava flow to an area of rock carvings by the ancient Hawaiian natives representing everything from life to death.

Short on time and daylight we continued our run.........this time on the lava trail. So at a steady run .7 miles out to the petroglyphs, got some great pics, took in some history, and ran back. We laughed the whole way, the girls overdressed for the temperature and lacking proper support, if you know what I mean and and me in flip flops, knee long shorts, and lacking proper support, if you know what I mean..........forgot my shoes back at the condo. We had a blast.

As hard as we tried, time just got the best of us. We needed to be out of the park by 6:30 to drive the 1 1/2 hours further to the southeast to the viewing point to see the new lava flowing into the sea. Everyone says this is the one sight on the island you don't want to miss. Viewing this at night is a show. Lava hits the sea and explodes into to a red firework like display. By the time we reached the visitor center it was 7:00. They close the gates on you down at the viewing area at 8:00. No way to make it. We were sick. But only for a bit. As we drove back we talked about how some cultures never finish a work of art, believing that no painting is ever more perfect than the subject. We also talked about this being #1 on our to do list.............on our return to the Big Island.

We got back into Kialua about 9:00 p.m. and grabbed a late dinner. Nobody's talking about tomorrow. Check out is at 11:00, flight home leaves at 9:10 p.m. I hope tomorrow is the longest day of our lives.

Aloha!

The Three Coconuts.