1 At the airport, ready for Hilo, and spotting Gramma and Richard checking in!
2 Big plane. BIIIIG PLAAANE!
3 "Is the pwane going to take off?" "Yes, Ben, it's going to take off!"
4 Mauna Kea! With snow on top!
5 Black cars are good for picture taking! This is just making note of a scratch because they were very relaxed - no walk-around before driving off with the rental!
6 A visit to the HVO was arranged by me - we were able to meet a real volcanologist! The USGS was so hospitable, and Mr. Orr in particular really brought the equipment and science up close for us.
7 This is Mr. Orr. He is a geologist who studies volcanoes specifically. Here he is giving Sam the hammer he uses to grab a sample of molten lava right out of a hot lava stream. They test the hot lava for minerals which can tell them how hot the lava was (before it cooled off in their can) and even something about when the volcano may erupt again.
8 Fire retardant gloves. The lava is over 2000 degrees F!
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12 Putting on a fire retardant suit.
13 This is a piece of rock collected last Tues. It is technically called "scoria," meaning "blown out." If you want to be even more precise, call it basaltic (basalt rock) scoria lapilli ("lapilli" meaning small size, about 2mm to 10cm).
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16 This is a thermal sensor so they can scan up the mountain and see from far away where the hot spots are. The screen would light up showing exactly where they should do testing.
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19 Thank you so much Mr. Orr! We really enjoyed our visit and were able to appreciate what we saw over the next few days so much more thanks to you! Kids - Mr. Orr became interested in rocks as a very young guy. When he was a boy, he grew up near the geysers in Yellowstone, then when he was 12 years old, Mt. St. Helens exploded, leaving ash all over the family's car. From that point on he knew he wanted to study volcanoes. He went to college first, then earned his Master's degree in geology. He now works for the USGS and has been at Hawaii Volcano Observatory for 8 years.
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22 Sam is talking to a volunteer ranger at the Visitor Center. This nice man explained how the Big Island of Hawaii is on a hot spot which causes the lava to come spewing out, creating a new island. As the island chain of Hawaii moves north and west, new islands are formed. Oahu is a much older island, showing erosion and smaller size. A new island is being formed under the water south of the Big Island - it is called Lo'Ihi. It might be 100,000 years before this island breaks the surface of the ocean.
23 On our way home now! I like to ride with my friends. They are very funny. Dave relaxes with his headphones on except for the occasional jab from me to point out passing islands.
24 A cough shot - both boys have colds, but are real troopers! What a great trip!
