Woke up to the sun again... on the opposite end of the island from our rainforest home. Had breakfast (included with the price of the room), and got a mid-morning start heading south on Highway 11 on the western side of the island. The road stays high (about 1,000 ft.) on the lower slope of Mauna Loa as it winds its way through small towns and coffee plantations. The ocean is always visible and can be accessed occassionally, ten miles down and ten miles back, by a road that is steep, narrow, and windy. The only one of these roads we took was twelve miles long. It's called South Point Road and takes you down the southern tip of the island... the southern- most point of the United States.

According to most theories, it's where the Polynesians first landed in Hawaii. Now, there's an abandoned fishing village there, some windmill relics and the new ones that replaced them, and a tracking system for missiles launched from California to nuclear test sites at the Marshall Islands... no longer used. Oh, but what intrigued me most was what Peggy read to me from the guide book as we're making our way down to the tip.

"It's also where some folks think the aliens are going to beam us up. Folks wanting to mke ET contact make pilgrimages here and some have set up permanent residence so as not to miss their chance."

I thought I might stop along the way and knock on some doors to verify this story. Then again...

Farther down Highway 11, we stopped at Black Sands Beach. Yes, the sand was black. And besides getting more pics of green sea turtles on the beach, I got another pic of an odd creature.

Busy day. We ended up back at Volcanoes National Park... coming from the south this time instead of the Hilo side. The sun was still shining, so we reprised our hike of Kilauea Iki crater. Interesting contrast from the same venue as seen in the rain and fog of a few days before.