Hilo and Hangin'

One thing I was super excited about on this trip was a helicopter ride over the active volcano and flowing lava on the island. To see this spectacle we had to venture over to Hilo on the rainy, volcanic side of the island (more of a journey than on any other island because Hawaii is so huge). Can you see Hilo on the map? We drove 2 hours each way from Waikoloa on the western Kohala Coast to Hilo on the east. That info is for you Dad, and any others like him (me, for example) who find the logistics of it all quite interesting.



Luckily for us, the skies cleared up for our afternoon helicopter ride when they had been too smoky earlier in the day (yep--from Pele herself) and those rides had been canceled. Sadly, recent underground shifting of vents and lava flow meant that there wasn't much active lava on the surface and hadn't been for about a week. The flows that had been streaming into the ocean suddenly changed paths and so we didn't see any of that fiery red lava hitting the water like I had wanted. Who knew it could all shift so abruptly? Apparently Pele had a mind of her own and decided to slow things down for my island appearance. I actually thought the ride was still amazing and the pilot shared fact after fact about Kilauea, Mauna Kea, and Mauna Loa and how volcanoes work and thrive. It was all fascinating and very humbling. When (not "if") Mauna Loa decides to erupt again the lava could reach the western side of the island in about 45 minutes. Of course I had a frenzied dream about that very thing happening while we were staying there that night... frightening and fascinating at the same time.


Back on the sunny side of the island, we took a late afternoon stroll around the Hilton Waikoloa which was just down the street from the Marriott. It is a huge property and may be a good choice for us if we make it back here with our kids. I have to admit, I am a huge fan of the Big Island. I might just love it the most of all the islands. More on all of that to come...