Hawaii

Went on to the Volcanic National Park. There was a rain thers waiting for us. We listened to a very good ranger explain the volcanic activity over a table-sized 3D map of the island. Inside we saw a good movie about the formation of the islands (a plate moving north over a "hot spot"; the next island is being formed now uf the south coast of Hawaii). After looking at some art in their gallery, we did the driving tour around the craters, and then down to where the lava meets the water. Well, we tried to get there, but there has been some recent activity (lava ran over the road), and with all the sulfur dioxide and microscopic glass particles in the air, we decided not to hang around.

We drove back to the Manago after that--tailgated relentlessly on the last 30 miles even though I was going 5-10 over the speed uimit on hairpin turns in the rain-- but by then the restaurant was closed. We went to a so-so japanese place about 4 miles down the road. Typically casual Hawaii: ignore the tourists between dropping off the menus, taking orders, and dropping off the food.