To get the not-so-fun stuff out of the way first, there was some crabbiness between Megan and I (only expected considering we had - at this point - spent 3 whole days together with no time a part and were sleep deprived from having to wake up so early to see the lava), and there was some homesickness on my part (because I was realizing how much I miss having friends around and how hard it would be when Megan left). But beyond those two factors, IT WAS AMAZING!
After watching the first half the last Huskers vs. Colorado after Thanksgiving Day football game at The Varsity, Megan and I headed off to the airport for our Big Island Adventure! We arrived in Hilo around 2:30pm, rented a car and headed to our hotel on Banyan Drive (beautiful, btw). We checked in to our hotel and then went in search for some waterfalls. We saw the rainbow falls (no rainbows though because it was raining), and the "boiling water" falls (I can't remember the real name, but it's called boiling water because that's what the water looks like). We wanted to see the Akaka falls, but we were afraid we would run out of daylight so we headed back to the hotel instead. That night we had a fancy dinner at a nearby resort hotel and then went to bed early because we had to get up at 3:00am to catch our lava boat ride.
The next day we woke up obscenely early and drove to Pahoa to meet our guide for the lava boat ride. It was kind of sketchy, but it worked out in the end. We got on this boat and went extreme boating out to the lava flow (when I say extreme boating, I mean ramming through huge waves and flying through the air to crash down on the ocean top really hard - so fun!). Once we got out to the lava flow I was completely speechless! There are no words - even now - to express what I felt then.
After our boat ride to see the lava, we headed back to shore and Megan and I (after grabbing some breakfast) headed to Volcano National State Park to see the top of the active Kiluea Volcano. We spent the whole day there - going to scenic points, hiking, exploring a caldera, seeing sulfuric rocks and lava fields, and then driving down the volcano to the ocean to see the sunset. It was magical... no joke.
Again, I can't really put into words the amazingness of that day, but I highly recommend everyone go see the lava flow into the ocean and explore the Kiluea Volcano. It is truly a magnificent once-in-a-lifetime experience and you wont regret it! (P.S. All photos are posted on Facebook already... go check them out!)
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