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Favorite thing: Explore the Volcanoes National Park. The park is located about 30 miles from Hilo town, on the higher elevations of the Mauna Loa volcano. The chain of craters road winds down from the park entrance all the way down to the ocean, and has crater after crater located on either side of the road.

Fondest memory: I took a hike one day from the Kilauea Military Camp (cabins) down the interior side of the crater, walked across the floor of Kilauea crater to the rim of the Halemaumau pit, then across the crater again, and back up the crater walls to the Volcano House (lodge). It was a great hike across barren land, crossing steam vents and climbing over lava that had been pushed up by the force of the magna beneath it. It was kind of like being on the surface of the moon. In contrast, the walls of the crater were lush and green, covered in various ferns, ginger flowers and tropical plants.