In January 2003, we went to Hawaii and California to visit our supporting churches, family and friends.

We did schedule in short vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii with Ray's parents... what amounted to the equivalent of a 3 day weekend.  In other words, too short.

This sign was posted next to the hotel lobby counter...

Hilo has the beautiful Queen Liliokalani Gardens right next to the seashore.

Spectacular shorelines seems to be a theme on the Big Island...

Take a step back in history and see some petroglyphs!

And of course, the big event on the Big Island... the volcano!

Lava flows don't pay attention to roads (Sept. 12, 2002 flow)...

Here's our trek across that recent flow to where the 'action' was.  Note the steam in the distance where the lava meets the ocean.

For our safety, the Park rangers kept us a good distance away from the lava flow, so binoculars and camera zoom lenses helped.  Most of the time, the lava flows just under the surface in lava tubes so you can't see much.  Fortunately, when the lava hits the ocean, sometimes chunks break off, allowing us to occasionally see it.  Viewing the flow in the evening is best, as the glow of the lava stands out.  The second photo was enlarged and the contrast tweaked to give you a better idea of what we saw.

A month after our visit, the lava flow changed direction, forcing the Park rangers to move the ranger station and porta-potties  back a couple of miles.  It flowed across the road near where they had us park our cars.