We checked into the Volcano Teapot Cottage, a little cottage on a large patch of land with a hot tub in a gazebo out back. Everything is a teapot theme. We had dinner at the Thai Thai Restaurant (no, that isn't a typo, the word Thai appears twice) which was very nice.
Friday June 25th we headed down the mountain to look for some snorkeling. Enroute we came upon Lava Tree State Park, so named because there are remains of tree trunks standing as high as 12 feet that were essentially petrified when the lava surrounded them during an eruption of Kilauea in 1790. The flowers and plants were excellent, the most interesting being the trees that gave the sky a Jurassic Park look - we tried to capture it in the picture.
Adam: Is this what you had in mind?
Eve: No you bozo, I said FIG leaf!
Heading further down toward the coast we passed a papaya farm, 
and visited a couple of State Parks on the coast. Getting a good look at the pounding surf.
and visited a couple of State Parks on the coast. Getting a good look at the pounding surf.
We managed to find Kapoho Tide pools, a group of tide pools in a private community. Jim snorkeled a couple of the pools and found the water to be crystal clear. We got some good fish photos but the footing on the rocks around the pools was a little rough.
We finally made our way to the end of the road in Kalapana. When we first visited the area in 1974, Kalapana was a nice little town with a little strip of stores near the water. Around 1990 the volcano wiped out the stores in a lava flow and cut off the road. It is now about a quarter mile from the water, the fill in being all relatively new black lava rock. There has been an attempt to get coconuts growing with mixed results. The coast has a small black sand beach but the surf is pretty high. 
About a mile back from the former Kalapana we saw the Star of the Sea painted church. I had been under the misconception that they were called painted churches because they were painted wood structures. One look in the window made me understand what they meant by painted. The photo is of the flat wall behind the altar. Notice the great perspective painting on the wall. 
We stopped in Pahoa - a reputed haven for ex-hippies and outlaws, - it didn't look nearly that bad. Good coffee house. As we headed back to Volcano, we were impressed by the seemingly endless stream of traffic coming from Hilo. It was the end of the work day and it turns out that the area around Pahoa is loaded with bedroom communities. The commute looked pretty tough. Glad we were going the other way. It seemed really out of character for what seems like an otherwise rural region.
Back at the Teapot Cottage we enjoyed Blue Hawaiians with a black rum layer in the hot tub. 
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