Go with the flow....

We were enjoying an open air market in Kona when Hubby heard another tourist talking about a "really great tour" he had taken to the lava fields. Hubby was unable to resist this adventure, there is something about the combination of fire, being a male and a fireman that got his blood flowing...

First thing the next morning, we were on the road to the volcano. It's a beautiful drive, from the west side of the island - dry and full of beaches, up to Parker Ranch - lush and green, to the east side - rainforests and cooler.  We went to the summit of Kilauea and checked out the crater.

The crater inside the larger crater of Kilauea

We visited a park were you can see the devastation caused by earlier flows into the ocean. Owners of the land prior to the eruption are now just beginning to rebuild, although a home was lost last month because of the lava.

The end of the road...

A brave soul, with an ocean view and a "glow in the evening"...

Then on to finding what our fellow tourists later dubbed "The Wetback Tour". As I understand it, the state doesn't let anyone near a lava flow because it is to dangerous. However, if someone owns land on the lava flow, the owner can allow you to visit. So we found Uncle Sam and for $50 cash each, we were slated for the sunset tour. With several hours to pass we walked down to the ocean and watched four young surfers "hang loose".

Catching a wave.

A great black sand beach.

An hour before sunset we went back to Uncle Sam's. He provided us with a flashlight and a bottle of water. We piled into the back of two pickup trucks with 20 other fellow adventurers. Down the highway we zoomed, hanging on for dear life, our hats and our hair flying. The trucks retraced our earlier visit, going back into the park and crossing its boundaries onto Uncle Sam's property.

A home that had been spared by Pelee in the 1986 eruption.

We jumped off the truckbeds and trekked in single file to the lava flow.

I worried about Hubby's safety. He was like a boy in a candystore, slidding down the freshly cooled lava to get "just the right angle" while I stood above feeling the heat radiate through my shoes onto my tootsies!

As it got darker Uncle Sam saw a fresh outburst of lava and pointed us up the hill about 25 yards, telling me anything that wasn't glowing was safe to walk on....

(ANYTIME you would like to look at more lava photos, just ask Hubby. He took over 150 photos!)

Later, we arrived back at the trucks only having lost 2 of our fellow adventures. They had wandered back by themselves thinking they had been left in the lava fields. As our "tour guides" drove us back to our vehicles, it began to pour and we arrived with wetbacks, knowing it had been quite a tour!