When I entered the KTA Super Store, it was so crowded that I immediately wondered if there was a natural disaster headed our way. Did the locals know something we didn't? Was the volcano going to start spewing lava?
Regardless of the reason, I do not like to shop in crowded stores. In fact, if there are more than X number of people in an aisle, I skip it. X is a number directly proportional to the width and length of the aisle and how badly I need said item.
I got the sunblock, some Gatorade, beef jerky and gummy bears. The Gatorade was $2.00 a bottle! Yikes! It was 11:15 when we left the store.
From the grocery store, we took HI-11 heading toward the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Along the way, we ate our lunch and arrived at the park just before noon. The cost to enter the park was $15.00. Our first stop was to check out some steam vents. When I got out of the car, I realized I was underdressed. It was much colder than I thought it would be. I grabbed a towel out of the car to use like a shawl.
According to the sign, we were standing close to the Inner Caldera. We followed the path and got even closer.
It was windy and the smell was unpleasant.
We looked out at the active part of the volcano, but couldn't see anything. At different times in the past, visitors could actually see red lava. Currently, the lava isn't flowing above the surface, but if you take a helicopter over the caldera at night, you can see the red glow of lava flowing under the surface..
Our next stop was the Jaggar Museum & Overlook. Price checked out the volcano using a telescope.
With the exception of the smoke, there really wasn't much to see. The smell of the toxic Sulfur Dioxide gas permeated the air. It wasn't long before Price and I had headaches. So, we went inside the museum to escape the fumes and to look around.
There are many displays inside the museum, but I was most intrigued by Theridion grallator, also known as the Hawaiian happy-face spider.
I found a great picture on the National Geographic photo gallery. This photo was shot by Darlyne Murawki on an assignment for "Deadly Silk: Spiderwebs," August 2001, National Geographic magazine. However, it was not published. Most likely because these spiders are harmless to humans and rather tiny - just .20 inch
In Hawaii, these spiders are known as nananana makakiʻi.
Hmmm... the name sounds a little bit like "nana nana nana" the childish taunt said before "you can't catch me!" I wonder if they are super fast?
Matt really doesn't like spiders, but learning about these silly spiders set in motion a new quest - find a Happy Face Spider before leaving Hawaii!
When we left the park, it was around 12:40. We still had a few more hours to explore the eastern part of the island.
