Hawaii Day 1 - Paradise!

5 hours in a plane all by myself...CRAZY! The sun was setting as we came into Kona.

 This is the view I woke up to with all the island birds singing.

When Dan picked me up from the airport he had a beautiful plumaria lei for me. It could not have smelled any sweeter!

 

 He also brought me this bunch of local flowers he bought at the farmers market. Amazing!

 After a breakfast called a Loco Moco which is a common Hawaiian breakfast we headed out of Kona but quickly had to stop when I spotted this local fabric shop!!! Yes I went fabric shopping in Hawaii!!

 It wasn't long before the lush plant life gave way to the lava fields.

 Our first (scheduled) stop was at South Point, the most southern point in the United States.

 It was a shelf and so (crazy) people were jumping off the cliff into the water. Here is a place just a few feet away from the cliff edge where the water comes through a tunnel.

 The black lava rock and the white coral contrast nicely! ;)

 It was so windy near south point that the trees grow like this!

 And then we made it! Our goal was Kilauea! It was foggy and rainy up there (45,000-ish feet elevation). This was one caldera that you can hike across with steam rising from some spots, we decided not to blow out my knees on the first day as you had to hike nearly strait down and up to get in and out.

 

 But we did hike around it through the giant fern tree forest and rain forest to the large lava tube in the park. It was awesome to walk through it!

 Next we stopped at the steam vents, where the earth is so hot that steam comes up from the ground. The ground is hot to the touch and so these wild orchids grow there!! Beautiful!!

 And then we made it! I STOOD ON A VOLCANO!!! I STOOD ON KILAUEA!!!!!

The different paintings portraying Madam Pele were one of my favorites in all the visitor centers. I wish I could have brought them all home! 

After driving all the way back to Kona (2+ hours) we stoped at a place I had scoped out before the trip. A place to eat traditional Hawaiian foods!

This is ono (fish), taro cooked in coconut milk, and purple sweet potatoes. To drink we had kava which does in fact make your lips and tongue feel a little tingly/numb. The food was AMAZINGLY yummy!!

We also had some poi which is taro root prepared a different way. We saved some for the next morning's breakfast...

stay tuned for the next instalment of photos!!