Day 4: Volcanoes Natl Park

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  Volcano, Hawaii, United States
Thursday, November 1, 2007

This morning after putzing around on Facebook and chatting with my mom, I booked a 3:00pm reservation for a helicopter ride to the lave flow.  I would need to leave by 1:30pm (to be there in time for a 2:15 pre-flight briefing)  as we would be flying out of Hilo, which is about 45 minutes north of where I am in Volcano.  Knowing I wanted to save money by eating lunch here at the cottage before hitting the road, I was left with little time to do anything else this morning. 

The cottage is just a couple miles from the entrance to Volcanoes National Park, so I thought I'd check out the Visitors Center, Kilauea Military Camp (where the conference is being held Thursday-Saturday) and various scenic spots around the crater as time permitted.  Once again I was blown away by the impressive views and I wish I had the writing ability to truly express everything I am seeing and experiencing here on the Big Island!  Sadly, I didn't bring the cords I need to upload from my video camera, so those will have to wait until I return to VA.  I have taken a few pictures with my digital camera, so I can at least upload those in the meantime.   Since I can also use my camcorder for still pictures, I've been using that more than the regular camera.

As I drove around Kilauea Crater and discovered the paths that go around and through the crater and surrounding areas, I considered running around one or more of those paths tomorrow morning!  But then I realized not only was that a silly idea, but I haven't run that long of a distance in over 4 years, my recent running history = potential knee/hip issues, and although I have most of my running needs (clothes, shoes, gels, HRM), I was only planning on going out for some short runs, and don't have a running pack for water.  THEN, I saw a group meeting to begin what looked like a BIKE TOUR of the crater/park.  Ahhh, maybe I could do that instead?!  I have been wanting for years to get back into biking again!  But...I have already spent a ridiculous about of money in 3 ½ days and have other adventures planned for next week - I need to keep myself under control!  I don't have to do EVERYTHING...I'll save that for next time.  So instead I'm considering a 4-5 hour hike tomorrow morning.

After having lunch in my fabulous tiny cottage that I seriously think I just may have to move into, I was on my way back north to Hilo listening to more David Sedaris.  On a side note, I had hoped to discover some fun Hawaiian music stations to listen to while I was doing hours of driving on this trip...you know, for some extra "vacation ambience" but all I could find were your typical oldies, Christian, classical, mainstream pop/rock and yes, even country.  What do you expect though, right?  Even though I'm over 3,000 miles from the mainland, and another 3,000 miles from VA, I am still technically in the United States.  The places I have stayed are pretty much in the middle of nowhere, allowing me to enjoy that feeling of being in a completely different, far away land.  But this afternoon as I drove to the airport, I had to battle the Hawaiian equivalent of 29 North or El Camino Real: stoplights, stripmalls, chain restaurants, Sears and Walmart!  I immediately began to feel my blood pressure rise...

Anyway, enough about THAT.  After checking in, I proceeded to the lounge area and played several games of solitaire until the pre-flight briefing began.  There were about 24 people, and we were divided into 4 helicopters, seat assignments based on weight distribution.  I was hoping for the very front window seat and was thrilled when I got it (you can practically see through the floor beneath you!)!  I wasn't nervous at all about my first helicopter ride, more excited, really.  I videotaped a good amount of the trip, knowing that they also record your trip live and will burn it onto DVD as soon as you get back (the chopper is equipped with 4 cameras, 3 on the outside and 1 on the inside, and also records narration from our pilot).  I wasn't sure how good my footage would turn out, so I went ahead and got the DVD as well.  I was shocked by how fast the lava was flowing; I thought it would just be slowly creeping along.  Depending on the lava type, some was moving slowly, but some was also moving as fast as a river!  I'm definitely glad I chose to do the ride rather than the hike to the flowing lava.  Besides the time it would have taken to hike out there and the numerous safety issues, I got to see and learn so much more on this trip!  I think I'm going to watch the DVD now, as parts of it were a blur, especially towards the end.  I thought I was doing so well...and then about 2/3 to ¾ of the way I found myself fighting off a feeling of nausea.  Darn it!  I've never gotten airsick, except when I think I had food poisoning coming back from the Philippines the other year and took over one of the plane's bathrooms.

I was SO close to going up to Mauna Kea this evening, but it looks like that will be happening sometime next week.   The pre-conference concert is tomorrow evening, so I'll probably do some crazy hiking in the early morning, maybe hang out on the beach again mid-day, and/or go to a spa mid-afternoon and try some of these special Hawaiian treatments or massages.  I doubt I'll have much to share until the weekend...maybe some fun (or dorky) church/music inspiration.  Until then...

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