Kilauea Lava Flow - Hawaii

Despite protests from some readers, I am not quite done with Hawaii. Supposedly, giving the people what they want is the way to go. Youe way right away is what Burger King would say, but I am not about to let some weirdo determine the direction Pics of ME in Front of Stuff is going. I will type about my visits to New York City to see the Phillies play the Mets or the excitement in Atlantic City when I am damn good and ready to get there. Right now I am breaking down my vacation to Hawaii because I am sure most of my readers, aka CP and I, want to read about how awesome Hawaii was. You just need to sit tight and hold out for the misadventures in which you are included to be featured. Do not worry, buddy, it will be here soon enough. I only have so much time to blog with the job taking up so much of my time.

With that min-diatribe out of the way, back to Hawaii. In case you missed it, unknown and/or known readers, we visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on an overcast cloudy day. Visibility was low, part of the park was closed to visitors due to high levels of sulfure dioxide, and we were time limited due to big volcano attraction closing that evening. The big attraction was the fact that the lava is still flowing into the ocean and constantly increasing the size of the Big Island. The lava flow is at the end of Highway 130 in Hawai'i County on the southeast tip. The viewing area is open to arrivals from 5PM to 8PM and closes at 10PM. Thanks to a tip from a friendly park ranger at the national park, we learned the best time to view the lava is in the evening.

In the past, visitors were able to walk relatively close to the lava so long as they remembered to bring their close-toed shoes, water, and a flashlight. That has changed due to a large portion of lava rock that extended into the ocean collapsed. Instead of being able to walk as near to the lava as safety allowed, we were penned in by ropes and saw horses the locals had erected for the safety of visitors about a mile away from where the lava enters the ocean. Lava is slower moving than Paul Giamatti, but due to its extreme heat danger is never far away.

Did you think I forgot about my challenge, Paulie-Boy?

You can't scare me with that Charlie Manson beard.

While there were opportunities to ride a boat very close to the lava, the boat rides were expensive and we settled for watching the steam-plume rise in the distance.

That is probably the best picture of the lava flow I have. I do have 20 or so more with which CP and I bored our families. If you really want to see them you will probably have to come visit. That or look for CP on Facebook. So for a few hours we stood with many other onlookers and watched the steam plume into the sky. We visited Hawai'i too late to get a closer view of the lava, but unlike other signs posting warnings with my best interests, I decided not to ignore the regulations of the lava viewing point.

We did manage to take this picture.
And do I really need more than that?