Aw dude

Richardson Ocean Park prettiness - I went here once to chill and again to snorkel. I saw a turtle and some tropical-looking fish. Snazzy. I like tuwtles.

The first few days were a lot of chilling. I wrote down some things, which will prolly evolve into a post at some point. I also hung out at Richardson Ocean Park, which is quite picture-ful.

Today, I went snorkeling here. I saw meself a turtle, fish, and coral. Pretty sweet. It was also my first time snorkeling, but it was hella fun. My back is hardcore-burned, though. Ow.

First steps inside the crater - It was compared to 'a wasteland' and 'the surface of the moon', the hike through Kilauea Iki Crater is awesome sauce. Totally contrasts the tropical beautifulness of the island's coast.

Thursday, we went down to Volcanoes National Park. We drove around it (though the road was slightly closed due to sulfur), checked out the museums and the corresponding views of the eruption-ness.

When I get an evil lair, it will totally be overlooking a volcano. They are epic.

We then ended up at a parking lot that over-looked a smaller crater. And then we realized, "dude, there are people down there. Walking in the crater!" And we vowed to get down there.
First, we walked a half a mile and were distracted by the Thurston Lava Tube. We waltzed through the 'beginner level' lava tube, which was pretty epic, and was nicely lit and had a gravel floor. Then we were teased by the novice-level lava tube, which required a flash light, which we didn't have. However, we free-loaded off of other folk, and made it pretty far into the tube. It was very worth it, with the added mystery when other folk were going too fast/slow and we couldn't see much of our surroundings.
Then, we at last were ready for our descent into the Kilauea Iki Crater. It was insanely cool. Walking around the nothingness reminded me of the settings of video games. Not sure which one. Definitely building my lair near one of these places.
We kept exploring, using the random steam vents to warm our ankles along the way, and trying to follow the gravel trail which stood out just barely from the rest of the crater. It was misty. We ended up making a longer-than-expected 4-mile trek in sandals. Still totally worth it.
Apparently they also have trails going down in the big crater, but they've been sulfur-closed.
We went to dinner and returned for the canonical 'lava glows at night!' view of the caldera. Some orange-glowing clouds on the ground, and some fantastic black/white clouds in the sky. The Milky Way looks awesome, btw. And there are so many stars. One-up's Eastern Oregon, definitely. Ah, stargazing up on the mountain will happen shortly (planning on tonight!)

Still working on a map-journal. Here are some pictures, while you wait!

VacationTimes2010