My Last Hawaii

I haven’t forgotten that I owe you one more Hawaii post.  I can’t say that I did anything amazing, but it was a lovely button to my cruise ship adventures.  So here’s a brief photo essay, capturing my final travels aboard the Ruby Princess.

Our first stop, as always, was Hilo, an island of which I didn’t have a great opinion, given our rather industrial-looking port and my usual trip to Wal-Mart and/or a simple mall.  But some friends I worked with told me that I just hadn’t seen the real Hilo!  They recommended I rent a car and visit a few places they suggested, so I took their advice and ran drove with it.

Then we drove out to Volcano National Park.  If I went back, I’d probably just walk most places in the park, as it’s well designed for simple hiking.  But it was such an otherworldly environment!  From the steam vents that looked like dozens of small brush fires to the colored sulfur deposit “garden” to the giant smoking crater pictured below, it was much more thought-provoking than ooh- or awe-prompting.  (Interestingly, I just read an article about some astronauts preparing for a Mars mission at one of these Hawaiian volanoes!  Great read.)

Goodbye, Ruby Princess! It was the trip of a lifetime.

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