After we had some dinner at our Airbnb, we headed to Volcanoes National Park (no restaurants anywhere close by). We knew that if we wanted a chance to see Lava, it would be best at night – this was our ONE night to see it! The entire reason we chose the Big Island was to see Volcanoes National Park. Kid #3 LOVES Volcanoes and we wanted to show him an active volcano and hopefully, Lava!
As we drove toward Volcanoes National Park, I noticed the sky was glowing RED! OH.MY! I was so freaking excited. I pointed it out to the rest of my family and we all got excited. We might actually see the lava.
We drove to the Jaggar Museum to park. I was worried we wouldn’t find parking because it seemed VERY busy, but we got a spot right up front. We got out of the car and walked down the path. Tons of people are lined up along the walkway. You could see the Lava bubbling up!!! I was so excited, I could hardly contain it! KIDS LOOK! BUBBLING LAVA!!! I have to say, it was a thrill of a lifetime. It was just right there! So easy to see and get to. It was nearly impossible to take pictures and video – we did our best, but it doesn’t come close to capturing what it was like in person. It was incredible. To see the smoke. To see the lava shoot up into the air. To see the lava bubbling. To hear the lava. Truly a wonderful experience. I felt so blessed to get to share this with our kids.
We explored the little Jaggar Museum, but it was pretty busy! They did have some fun exhibits. After the museum and gazing at the lava some more (I could have stayed a long time!) we thought we would continue on Crater Rim Drive to see some other spots. Well, the rest of the drive was closed. No other lava viewing spots (apparently too dangerous at the time), so I guess we get what we get. At least we were able to see the Lava at the Jaggar Museum – since that apparently was our only option. (well, we could take a LONG, HARD hike to see more, but yeah – that wasn’t happening with our little kids. If they were older, we’d try it, but not with a toddler! Plus we saw lava with a 2-minute walk from the car)
So we headed back to the rental house to sleep because we had been up EARLY for our flight and we were all exhausted. BUT WE SAW LAVA!!! So the trip was made in the first few hours.
Video and a few of the pictures we took below:
