Hawaii, The Big Island (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park)

I started my morning with a visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park . I was out at 7:30 AM and got to a few locations, most importantly the Kilauea overlook, before the crowds started showing up. By 9 AM, the hordes had descended. I visited a couple of the less popular locations (meaning you had to actually walk away from the parking area), then decided to go into town check it out and do some food shopping.

Apparently I could not get through the trip without another car issue. As I was pulling into a parking space at an art gallery, I caught the low front bumper on the parking barrier, in this case a wooden log. I tried to back out and managed to partially pull off the bumper, also detaching the signal light plug. Fortunately, today was a lighter day, so I just drove back to the Alamo counter at the airport where I had rented the car. They filled out a minor damage report and gave me a replacement car. I’ll have to deal with my insurance when I return. All in all, just a nuisance.

I got back in my new rental car and drove the Chain of Craters road out to the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs and finally to the sea arch. By then it was starting to get late - Sunset here is about 7 PM - so I headed back to my lodging. And I knew I had an early morning tomorrow as I am joining a local photographer to shoot sunrise at the Waipio beach. More on Bruce Omori tomorrow.

Additional images are found in the gallery.