Restricted Video - We took a drive over to Hilo to do a little exploring. Our first stop was Rainbow Falls. The falls are very beautiful with a lot of water flowing and we had a chance to get some family pictures and some of the flora and fauna. The bonus was discovering the big Banyan Tree at the top of the hill overlooking the falls. Time for some more family photos! After our morning adventure, it was time for lunch at the Puka Puka Cafe in Hilo then on to see Kilaeua (next video)
We did a day trip up to the Kilaeua Volcano on the eastern flank of Mona Lea. 3 days before we came up here, Kilaeua had an episodic eruption that lasted about 24 hours and spewed lava 1,400 ft in the air. I wish we could have seen it but I did download a clip of the eruption for the USGS website. After exploring around the crater, we took a ride down the Chain of Craters road to explore the Thurston Lava Tube which has been dormant for about 500 years.