SFO to Kona & Volcano, Big Island, Hawaii (Posted Sunday December 28th from Kona).
 
The day begins early to catch our 9am flight. With all of the weather delays in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest the past couple days, the United terminal at SFO is crowded at the early hour. We drop our bags off and right when we got to the front of the security line, the TSA people start yelling out “Breach”, the line stops moving, and everyone is told to be quiet. Someone ran through security or something and I comment to L’, “This can’t be good”. Fortunately after a few minutes everything is back to normal and we’re at our gate in time to get on the plane. We arrive in Kona around noon, pick up the car, and head to the Eastern part of the island via the northern route.
 
After a brief stop for L’ to caffeinate, we’re on our way.   The weather on the island is highly localized and it can go from sun to rain and back in short distances or time. We hit a little rain, but made it to a vista point at Laupahoehoe. It was just a photo opportunity out of the car and a chance to stretch our legs.
 
Continuing on our way, it’s raining a bit and we decide to save the Akaka Falls stop for another day in hopes of viewing it in the sun. The weather clears up a bit a few miles later and we do the 4 mile Onomea Bay Scenic Route. The road is well named and we stop for a short hike. We can view the coast, a rainbow, and the lush scenery. 
 
Back on Highway 11 heading South East, we pass through Hilo. Hilo gets a whopping 120 inches of rain per year. We continue past it on our way to the town of Volcano. Since it’s getting close to dinner time, we stop for dinner in Volcano Village at a lovely Thai restaurant. Being Christmas Eve, a bunch of the other places are already closed. The food is good and we make it to our B&B, the Country Goose, to check in, unpack and go to sleep.
 

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