96 Miles to the Volcano
When I heard that Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano was erupting for first time in nearly 40 years I was a bit nervous about flying over to the Big Island. I read that ash was actually falling on people in the town of Volcano (aptly named) and that the lava was moving fast from the edge of the crater.
Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, began erupting for the first time since 1984, ending its longest quiet period in recorded history.
Kilauea crater is a part of the large volcanic complex of Mauna Loa and is actually considered a separate volcano. This is where we were going to go as the powers that be smartly closed the area near the active lava flow!
Our first stop on the way out of town was to check out a very vintage looking hotel that claimed to sell in-house made potato chips. Of COURSE we had to check those out. Ha ha. They were very much like “Miss Vicky’s” and it was fun to have a salty treat as we started our way south.
It was our first experience with a bit of rain for the first part of our travels. But before long the clouds cleared and we found our way to a lovely viewpoint that you can see above.
We had only a few seconds to pull off of the highway and capture the photo of a wild peacock on the side of the road but we managed to do it! We had been enjoying our new audiobook “Remarkably Bright Creatures” when Terry saw it.
Time for a bathroom break and leg stretch so we went to the “Punalu’u Bake Shop” touted as the southernmost bakery in the U.S.A.
We made it in plenty of time for our dinner reservation at the Kilauea Lodge for 6:15 p,m.. I was very happy with our choice despite the big staircase to get into the place. The restaurant itself did have a covered up stair lift but I decided to suck it up and make the climb. I really liked the “International Fireplace of Friendship” with added stones from all over the world.
Our meals were yummy and I even treated myself to a glass of wine!
Finally it was dark enough to drive to the volcano and what a surreal , almost spooky feeling it was to see that red sky and fire breathing crater.
I knew of course that I now had to drive the curvy, dark roads home for that 96 miles but …..it was totally worth it. What a once in a lifetime experience.