While we waited for the sun to set we decided to explore around a bit, walking away from where people were congregating. It was weird to walk on ground that was younger than we were! As the sun started to set, we found a great spot to view the steam from and set up the tripod for the camera. We took a number of pictures, and as it got darker, an orange glow started to become apparent from the molten lava pouring into the ocean just below the surface. It was quite a sight! Up on the hillside the magma flowing down was also becoming more and more apparent. We stayed and watched for a while, then made our way back to the car using flashlights we had purchased in Hilo. Back at the Volcano House we had a very nice dinner, then headed to our room where we fell asleep quickly (in spite of the paper thin walls in the room!)

Friday, February 7: We started out with breakfast at the hotel, then headed West towards Kona. We made a quick stop at Punalu'u where we saw another black sand beach (very nice, but we had just seen several over the last few days). Next we headed towards a unique green sand beach (and we found the turn-off in spite of Quizmo being momentarily asleep at the map... :-). The guide book said it was a four wheel drive only road that was 2.25 miles long, little did we know that it was a rocky, sandy road that would require traversing some very tricky conditions. Randy had lots of fun maneuvering the Blazer around the rocks and up over the hills, it was much more intense driving than either of us had ever done before, what a bonus! There were two other sets of people in 4WD vehicles that were ahead of us. At one point they stopped on the trail and could not go further forward. We jumped up on a lava rock about 10 feet tall and looked for a way around. We saw one, and headed across a small field and made our way through, not much in the grand scheme of things, but it did feel like finding the Northwest Passage at the time! One of the other trucks parked and walked, the other followed our lead. After about half an hour, we had completed the 2 miles and arrived at a beautiful secluded beach with a strong green cast to it. We hiked down the side of a cliff and went in the water for a while. It was really nice. On the drive back we followed some trails that went a bit more inland and were somewhat smoother (a relative term in this case!). Back on the main road it felt like we were riding on glass!

Next stop was Honaunau Bay, near where we had stopped the previous Friday. This time we had masks and fins and got in the water. We saw some very brightly colored fish. Randy seemed to be attracting several of them (maybe his yellow snorkel, or the yellow strap on the camera), they came right up to be photographed! After about half an hour we got back on the road and made our way back to the hotel in Kona. We had gone all the way around the island in two days, with an incredible variety of sights along the way. We got some lunch and then Rick took a nap while Randy started working on the web pages. That night we had dinner at the Martini Yacht Club, with a great table overlooking the street and the waves (which came over the wall a few times and splashed some pedestrians). We talked about all the things we had seen on the trip, and where we'd like to go in the fall. It's likely we'll go somewhere that we can do some diving (maybe the Carribbean, Belize, Fiji or even Bora Bora). Once again we got to sleep early; on these adventure trips we do so many things during the day we're ready for sleep early at night!

Saturday, February 8: It was interesting packing everything we came with plus all the scuba gear, T-shirts and other stuff into our suitcases. Fortunately they expand a few inches. While packing we watched the waves outside, and even saw a pod of dolphins swim by, several of them jumping completely out of the water and splashing around. Rick was very excited! We stopped at a bookstore and picked up a few books on diving in different places, then had a sandwich and headed to the airport for the flight back home. 5 hours and we'd be in San Francisco (and heading out to hear Christopher Lawrence spin at a local club that night no less!)

Technical Details: On this trip we used three cameras: a Nikon Coolpix 5700, a Nikon Coolpix 5000 and a Casio EX-S2. We brought an Ewa-Marine underwater bag for snorkeling with the 5000, a compact tripod and a panoramic head for the 5000. For software we used iPhoto, Photoshop and Go Live.