Hawaii - Day Eight

We flew to the Big Island in the morning for the wedding at the Kona Temple.


More plumerias - they are so beautiful!

A Nativity scene. :) Yay Christmas. It is weird to be jacket-less and to know that it is Christmastime.

Me in front of the Temple.

Andrew by a mossy wall.

We were able to go to the Temple and do a session before the sealing. Then we went to the sealing. It was so nice to go to the Temple, and the sealing was beautiful. There is something about going to one and feeling all of those happy feelings that you felt at your own. :)



Andrew and I with Philip's siblings and siblings-in-law.

Fresh from the Temple! Yay for the happy couple.

The families. I love Keola's pose.


Philip's family.

Phil and his two best men - Andrew and the tall kid (I don't remember his name). The contrast in heights makes me so happy.
Phil, his brothers, and his best men.

And then the guys had to lift up Phil and Keola on the chairs and it was so funny.

The Love Boat - only in Hawaii.

Then, Andrew and I headed to Volcanoes National Park. Our drive from Kona was really interesting. We passed through about five climate zones - dry, tropical, volcano flow, juniper-tree-like, grassy plain for cattle grazing, and more tropical. It was so crazy! I loved all the wild, overgrown poinsettia bushes growing along the road. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them.





As we rounded the tip of the island, we suddenly could see...
The plume of Kilauea!

And then we reached Volcanoes National Park.
This is the crater. You can see the path for the Kilauea Iki hike. It would have been so cool to go walk around there and see the steam, but the park didn't want hikers to go around because the Sulfur Dioxide levels were so high. Plus, it was starting to get dark.

This is the jungle in the park (climate change from much of the island!):

Andrew by the jungle foliage.

Me in the Thurston Lava Tube. Part of the tube had lights in it, but we got to a part that you needed a flashlight for, which we didn't pack. We'll remember a flashlight for our next vacation.

We went a little way on a hike called Desolation Trail. I am trying to look desolate. I think I just look stupid.

Then we went on the Chain of Craters drive until it got dark. It was amazing to see how deep and huge all of these craters were.

Then, we drove to Pahoa where we could go to see the lava flow into the ocean. I was disappointed. I hoped that we would get to go up close and actually see the lava splashing into the water. The only thing that you can see is the steam created when the lava touches the water and the red glow is the reflection of the lava on the steam. Amazing, yes, but not what I expected.



Remember how we didn't bring a flashlight? That came back to haunt us. To get to the lava viewing site, we had to walk about a mile on lava flow. It was rough and black (which made it harder to see) and we didn't have a flashlight. Plus, we both wore our flip flops, actually, in Hawaii they are called slippers, so we had inappropriate footwear. But it sure was fun!