Here is an image from the lava viewing area that we went to while visiting the Big Island. This is the place where the lava flows into the ocean, after a long journey down across the landscape. It was mostly a lot of orange colored smoke but there was also intermittent sparks and flames which delivered lots of "ooo's and ahhh's" from the gathered crowd. After the sun had set and the stars began to show themselves it was pretty incredible. Here is a link to a video. right at the end you can catch some sparks and flames: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak17QRlg61I
After Sam and Russell and I arrived on the Big Island, we went into Hilo town for lunch and some camping supplies. We happened upon the weekly Farmer's Market which was a wonderful array of tropical fruits, delicious fresh-made Vietnamese foods, fresh made sweets and breads and more. We bought Jackfruit, egg fruit (Canastel), brown-sugar fruit, as well as avocado, papaya and mountain apple. Our camping meals for the weekend were very tropical!
Hilo town was a cool place because it was really walk-able and near the coast and, well, it had the great Farmer's Market! A lot of the architecture in the downtown area was pretty old, but cared for so that made it more interesting to explore by foot. They even had a "Kress" building, like the ones in downtown Tampa and Sarasota.
After we set up camp at Hawaii Volcanoes N.P. we headed over to check out the park before sundown. The Kilaeua-iki trail and overlook were super foggy. But when we returned the following day, the view was quite clear and you could see the see all of the steam vents.
We also went to walk through the Thurston Lava Tube. There were lots of delicate ferns growing
around the entrance to the tube.
It was pretty dark and damp inside, just like being inside of a cave. The lighting was fun to take photos with. Here is one of Sam and Russell walking through the tube and also some ferns growing out of the light.
