Diana's option was to stay fully clothed. I do still have my shorts on, although from this angle it may not appear so.
The original black sand beach along the coast was buried under 50 feet of lava in 1989. Now it's at the end of the road, but it used to continue all the way around the island. With the new lava flow threatening Pahoa, road crews are bulldozing a rough road through the lava to provide an emergency route out of Puna. It won't be convenient though - the normal half hour drive to Hilo would take three hours.
The town of Kalapana is buried beneath this lava.
One of the residents of Kalapana started planting coconuts on the lava flow soon after it cooled. Now it's a tradition to bring a coconut with you and plant it, an act of defiance against Pele I guess.
A new black sand beach forming several hundred yards beyond the spot where the old one used to lie.
We stopped at the Painted Church before heading up the mountain to Volcano National Park. As we ascended we drove into fog and clouds. We set up our tent around sunset, then walked over in the dark to the observation point to look at the Lava Lake inside Kilauae caldera. It was misty, dark, and ...
... super cool.
This lava lake first appeared in 2008, and the sulfurous fumes have closed off a good part of the road and many of the trails that used to lead across the caldera floor, so you can't get any closer than this. We're about a mile away. Still, it's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.
Steam and/or smoke swirled out of the hole, and we watched the light from the lava lake ebb and flow for around an hour, playing on the misty clouds like a flickering cathode ray tube.
Finally we walked back to our campsite. Amy slept in the car, reluctant to tempt fate again with her faulty tent. Good thing, because it rained during part of the night.
Did you two throw the ring in there like we discussed? It's all up to you now; none of us can come help you.
ReplyDeleteWe did, but now I'm very cold, and Diana is carrying me everywhere.
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ReplyDeleteThink about the strawburrries.
ReplyDeleteI can send you some nude photos of me to superimpose on the beach shots. I promise everyone else will look , young, thin, and well endowed in comparison. Or I could be posed on the lava flows to make them look smooth. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAs I drift off to sleep, images of sugar plum fairies garbed in loin cloths, or less, will haunt me for the next couple of nights, for sure. Thanks for that.
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