Black Sand Beach and Kilauea Volcano

Black Sand Beach (not for swimming) but we did see some sea turtles floating in the water.
 
Of course we have to get our feet wet!

 and we might have our photos taken with some random Japanese tourists....

 

 get back in the car....

 and now on to...

KILAUEA VOLCANO....

 Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

and here's the crater:

We weren't expecting it to be so much cooler up here...and since we foolishly left our light jackets back at the rental house we used our beach towels to wrap up and stay warm.

Different Types of Lava:

A'a Lava...aka Uh-Oh lava or Uh-Uh lava or Ow-Ow lava (it hurts to fall on this stuff!):

 A short walk to view the Sulphur Banks (close to the Kilauea Visitor Center).  The  flyer we got at the national park entrance had a visitor alert in bold, big letters stating, "High amounts of dangerous sulfur dioxide gas are present at the volcano's summit."  In other words, it smelled like rotten eggs.  And it really reminded us of our trip to Yellowstone last July.  Yes, the smell was bad but I don't think it was nearly as strong as it was in Yellowstone.

  Lovely orchid (not sure what it is):

And then a drive in the dark back to the rental house.  A long but very interesting day it has been!