I love me a road trip.  Anyone who knows me well, knows this is an incontrovertible truth.  I’ve personally driven to each of the 10 Canadian provinces, some of them multiple times.  Get me in a car, get me a good traveling companion, and I’m set.  I’m quite lucky to have married an ideal traveling companion, and one who enjoys road trips as well.  And, on our third day in this short getaway, we road-tripped.

But before said road trip, we broke fast at a resort down the road from our condo.  That place was something to behold.  Let me give an example.  In Las Vegas, there’s this tram/monorail that’s handy from getting from resort to resort.  At this Hilton resort in Waikaloa beach, a tram takes you around the resort itself.  Or, if you so choose, you can ride a boat to get around as well.  They have a private lagoon, they’re right on the beach, have various watercraft available… it’s the prototypical beach resort.

I’ve never stayed at a place like that.  I considered it for this trip, but thought if the hotel was too nice we’d never get out and explore.  Where we’re staying, we’re in a condo.  It’s nice, but there’s nothing to do aside from watch TV or swim in the small pool.  So we’re motivated to get up, get dressed, and get out.  I’m happy with that.

After our breakfast, we hopped in the car to make our way around to the other side of the island to see an active volcano.  Now, a road trip is awesome; we’ve established that.  A road trip with the top down on a beautiful sunny day is amazing.  We drove around 100 miles, traveling from sea level up to 2500 feet, back to sea level at Hilo, then up to 3500 feet near Volcanoes National Park.  This island really does have many disparate climate zones.  At Waikaloa, it was around 79 and windy, yet around the north side of the island, up at 2500 feet,  it was less windy, but easily in the low 60s.  In Hilo it was warm again, though more humid, them back to cooler climes in the park.  And despite my sunburned scalp, I think it’s likely I’m going to have a convertible before the spring rolls around.

The vegetation changes so much on this drive.  Here at the beach, it’s pretty much a desert.  There’s savannah grasses, some mesquite trees (called Kiawe here), and lots and lots of lava rock.  Around the resorts there’s the typical palm trees, of course.

But go north and the brown grasses give way to lush hillsides full of green grasses and full trees.  Palm trees give way to Norfolk Island pines as you wind your way through the mountains.  Then, coming along the eastern side of the island, you descend and traverse these enormous gulches, crowded with dense green trees and peppered with beautiful waterfalls.

Hilo is obviously a population center, with a pretty drive along the harbor as you follow the highway through.  We didn’t spend any time there, since we’d be coming back through on our way back from the park, thus we drove straight on to Volacnoes National Park.

The road along the southern rim of the Kilauea caldera was closed due to air quality issues, but we got a great view of the activity from the Jaggar observation center north of it.  The enormity of it is breathtaking.  Alas, this was as close as I was going to get to real lava — your humble narrator, A.K.A. Gimpy McGee Von Urchin Foot, couldn’t make the hike out to where the lava is flowing outside the park.  But, I have an excuse to come back.  We did walk to the trail through the Thurston Lava tube — worth it for the entrance alone.

Upon leaving the park, we made our way back to Hilo.  Approaching the town, it lived up to its reputation as being rainy, which put the kibosh on the top-down driving, as well as any serious sight-seeing in town.  So we made our way back to the west side of the island, in time for a late dinner at Roy’s (which, apparently, has a location on State Street in Chicago).  After a lovely dinner, we adjourned to the condo, thus ending day 3.

This morning, I sit on our balcony for the last time on this trip, as our plan leaves tonight for a red-eye to San Francisco.  We’ll do a little exploring in Kona today, maybe take in the brewery tour at Kona Brewing, visit the Royal Kona coffee visitor center.

Hang loose!