Happy Anniversary Vacation Day #2, Part #2

Eventually, we got past the flows that had run across the highway and got to a point where we were headed down towards the ocean.

The view is incredible. Massive volcanic flows from above heading towards the ocean completely covered all vegetation, roads, and homes in that thick, black rock. Well, it's rock now. Here is where Sharon taught me the difference between the types of lava. Basically, there are two different types of lava flows in Hawaii. Pahoehoe lava has a relatively smooth surface and is typically less than 1 meter thick. A'a flows are much more rugged and can be up to 20 meters thick. This difference in flow morphology is caused by variations in the rate of eruption of the lava and the different viscosities; pahoehoe is produced with low-effusion-rate eruptions (less than a few cubic meters per second) that have lower viscosity, while a'a is produced by higher-volume discharge of higher-viscosity lava. (Note: I cheated. I didn't remember EXACTLY what Sharon taught me so I had to look it up again.)

I do remember that a'a lava is sharp and can cut you while pahoehoe is really smooth.

We parked down near the ocean at the end of the road. The road once ran along the coast all the way to Pahoa, just south of Hilo, but a massive flow covered the road and it hasn't been open since then. This is also where you can go to view the lava flowing into the ocean. Here, the hot lava hits the relatively cold ocean water and spectacular waves and steam clouds become a popular tourist spot. However, while we were there, the lava wasn't flowing. Bummer.

But the view at the cliff was worth the trip alone.

We back-tracked and made our next stop at the Jagger Museum. Located above the active caldera, the museum contains many seismic monitors that show you any earthquake activity at several locations on the island. And they were moving! We spent time watching the amazing sulfur dioxide (SO2) clouds coming from the vent. I overheard one of the park rangers mention that should the wind change, the museum is shut down. While there, you could occasionally see the red tint of the lava reflecting up onto the cloud of SO2.

During the day, we also left the park briefly to have lunch in the small village of (ready for this?) Volcano. My tri-tip sandwich was superb and Sharon's pizza was pretty darned good even if it was way too expensive.

Our trip back to Hilo was pretty uneventful and we arrived just in time for supper. We headed out to a small Thai restaurant downtown. I really enjoyed this place because the owner's young daughter was playing peek-a-boo with me and he came out and talked with us during the meal. Seems he would like to start a Thai restaurant here in the Richmond or Houston area! The curry was mild but very tasty and we both enjoyed the meal.

Off to the B&B! By now, it was around 7 or 7:30 and we both were completely exhausted. Man, looking at lava sure does take a lot out of you! So, we headed to bed, sure that we were making a mistake hitting the rack so early. Took me about a minute to go to sleep even with the frogs singing their songs.