Reflections of My Travel

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We slept until daylight this morning (after a 0400 work-related phone call). It was nice to feel like I had slept in a little. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep. Everytime I moved or rolled, my back/shoulders/neck screamed at me. But I woke up feeling refreshed. We went back into the park to do some hiking. We stopped at a lookout for the caldera, which was neat. There were steam vents all over it. And we were able to get a good, close view of the Halemaumau crater, which also had steam vents and sulfer banks. It was a little smelly but I didn’t say anything. You don’t want to offend something with such an explosive temper. With some photo stops along the way to better view the lava fields, we made our way down to the Puu Loa Petroglyph trail. It was a 2 mile round trip trail over lava fields to an area where early Hawaiians drew petroglyphs into the lava. They were actually very good. Very well-defined. While taking pics of the drawings, it decided to pour on us (I’m so pleased that we carry our raingear with us on hikes). We finished looking at the rest of the petroglyphs and made our way back to the car over the now slippery lava field. We then did the short walk through the Thurston Lava tube. I was pleased with how nicely the pics show the inside of the lava tube. The last walk we did before leaving the park was the smelliest. We walked about 1 mile round trip to get a nice, close look (read: whiff) of some sulfur banks. They had some really pretty sulfur crystals which was neat but the smell was really foul. We left the park after that and made our way around to Hilo where we had reservations at a little B&B. It’s a pretty comfy setup with a kitchenette so we stopped at the grocery store to get a few commestibles. I’m displeased that we have to work again starting tomorrow. It’s been such a nice few days. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. A workday in Hawaii is still better than a workday in Georgia.