Thursday - one more day at the park

We spent one more day in Volcano National Park. There is so much to see in the park, that even after an additional day, we decided if we were ever to return to Hawaii, we would make reservations at the Park Lodge (which was under renovation while we were there). Staying at the lodge would afford you the luxury to enjoy the sunrise, sunset and exploring all of the park, not just the highlights. The park is far from the bustling areas of the island for obvious reasons, so depending on where you stay, it can take anywhere from 1.5-3 hours to drive one way to the park. We planned to be close to the park, but even a 1.5 hour trip in the car is long with kids, though they often slept on the way home!

It was a damp, rainy day on Thursday, so we started the day with the Chain of Craters drive. The drive starts close to 4000 ft elevation, and it ends at sea level. The drive brings you to the end of the road. Actually, the road used to extend farther but a recent lava flow closed the road, as you can see in some pictures below.

The girls were happy to be out of the car and on the move! They barely slowed down long enough to enjoy our packed picnic lunch.

 

...and my mother gets a hold of the camera for a rare picture of me :)

 

This is one of the Holei Arches, caused by lava flow and erosion by the crashing waves.

We thought about sending this picture in to our stroller manufacturers. The BOB is a truly capable stroller!

For the second half of the day, we went on a short hike up to the top of a cinder cone. Being the overprotective mother that I am, the hike started off on a rough point. Sometimes when the wind shifts, the poisonous gases from the volcano shift as well. These are particularly dangerous for children and there was a Warning Sign posted at the beginning of the hike. I was rather grumpy and unsettled; I swore I could smell sulfur in the air. Let's just say I have a very overactive imagination. We ran into a park ranger on our hike and he assured us the air today was some of the cleanest on the planet. My babies were safe. Rodney was afforded the luxury of a prolonged, "I told you so." To his credit, he didn't capitalize on my wrong and his right!

We stopped one more time for malasadas and coffee on our way home. I think they tasted even better on our last visit to the bakery.