We headed out from there on the windy (read curvy not blowing hard) road that twists and turns on these tight curves for the majority of the 97 miles from Kona to the Volcano park. Unfortunately, my son is as big of a puker as I am and after stopping repeatedly every few miles, I ended up giving him the front seat and I sat in the back. So, now, we were both sick!! Hahaha!
We decided to stop and check out this beautiful beach called Whittington Park to try and walk off the nausea. It was amazingly beautiful and looked like the perfect place for a picnic. They had all kinds of seating areas and outdoor grills. But, I'm not sure it would be worth that drive just for a picnic and the waves were just crashing here. There was a small section though that was protected by a natural rock wall that looked like a good place to snorkel. In fact, there was one guy snorkeling with his dog...the dog seemed reluctant, but, the dude seemed to be trying to teach him how to swim in the ocean. I'm not sure that's something a dog needs (or wants) to learn!!
The kids did some racing to stretch their legs on the grassy picnic area.
The kids did some racing to stretch their legs on the grassy picnic area.
Just past the park area is what remains of an old dock that was apparently destroyed in a 1948 tsunami and never repaired or replaced. Kind of pretty for some reason.
Just beautiful here!!
We hit the park right at lunch time which was unfortunate timing. So, we ate at the only place available, the Volcano House restaurant is in the historic hotel built in 1846. It's recently been refurbished and you can actually rent rooms there now. Although, our first week there, the volcano was so active, they actually had daily updates on the air quality and visibility was often sketchy. I'm not sure I'd want to stay any closer to the source of the problem!! Anyway, the kids shared a pizza which was absolutely horrific and borderline inedible and Dave and I each had a burger which wasn't bad at all. Then it was off to explore.
I'm not at all interested in the volcano aspect of the park, but, love all the flowers, listening to the birds here, and just enjoying the rainforest aspect of the area! Check this one out, it looks like fuzzy berries and then these red needles explode out of them. So beautiful and they grow right in the lava where you can't imagine any life existing, let alone thriving!
We opted to do the half-mile hike to the lava tube through the forest. The path looks down over Kilauea volcano and is just amazing. Right as we got started, it started to rain, but, it was this weird mist rather than raindrops and the foliage was so thick, once we got on the trail, we couldn't feel the rain any more!
I was fascinated with the enormous ferns along the trail and how they rolled out to form the leaves.
At the end is the paved and lighted lava tube...my favorite kind, haha!
To assure I'd never have to go back, I agreed to drive another 19 miles down the side of the volcano to the coast to see the arch. Beautiful!!
Dave and I were fascinated how the two types of lava (Pahoehoe-the smooth bubbly kind and A'a which is almost like a lava gravel) flowed on top of each other and kind of intermixed here. You'd think it would be one or the other...not both. It was kind of beautiful in and of itself.
Poor Livi Bug missed another nap today...
We rolled into Kona right before sunset and Owen needed a bathroom. So, we stopped at Turtle Beach (Keahou) and watched the sunset for the first time on this trip. It looked like rain had just rolled through before our arrival so, the clouds were low and didn't allow for a very impressive one this time, unfortunately.
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