Week 3...A Trip to Volcanoes National Park

D, Nicole (another travel RN I met at Hilo Medical Center) and I decided to take advantage of yesterdays sunshine and head to Volcanoes National Park.

We started our day by heading through about a 1/2 mile of lush jungle terrain  which would eventually lead to what I can only describe as wasteland.

Lush forest with ferns in every stage of their lives.

This bird, which I would assume to be some sort of grouse, had the most beautiful red sparkling patch around his eye!

When we made it down to where the lava flow had destroyed everything, you could see lava rock of all shapes and sizes, with layer upon layer of texture.

Here D and I are standing near one of the lava vents where a steam like substance is omitted. 

After our hike through the waste land we headed in to see one of the many lava tubes on the island. This one is a 1/4 mile long and commercialized, so it is well lit and easy to travel through.

After the tube we drove about 40 min to see some of the newest land on our planet.  This lava was from a 2003 lava flow, which is some of the newest lava that is cool enough and dry enough to put you feet on.

Thought this was ironic =) Really? 

Here is where the road got cut off by the 2003 lava flow.

There are so many shapes and styles to lava, this one reminds me of a turtle shell.

And this one above...a pile of cow poo.

  This is known as the Holei arch, carved away by the relentless waves.

 Last stop...the volcano at night! During the day all you can see are the plumes of smoke/steam, but at night you can see the red glowing lava.

Nicole and I doing our best lava dance. 

D and I often comment on how amazing it is to have this opportunity to be living in Hawaii and experiencing new things daily.

Week 2: Living In The Country

During week number two we moved to this more remote little house about 35min outside of Hilo.  I found it on craigslist, a nice guy named Micha was renting it out. It was an adorable little studio for two.

This big old canister is what they call catchment, because they get so much rain here much of there house hold water is fresh and free. (However we were told not to drink it)

We spent my first weekend off touring the island. First stop was the Hilo Coffee Mill's farmers market.

This neat looking fruit below is used to make chocolate truffles!

These hens ruled the grounds...they were running around looking for breakfast leftovers.

French toast, papaya and sausage were on special that morning.

After breakfast d and I took off around the island, checking out a few beaches along the way.

D loves body surfing the waves! 

The sunsets are amazing, and if your lucky you may even spot a whale.

One of our other trips to the beach that week started at the Kona Brewing Company to sample some of their local brews.

I could get used to this!