If walking through the lava tube was like walking through the Kaumana Caves, I wasn't going to do it. Price and I stayed at the car and Matt and Dad went to check it out.

It wasn't long before Matt called to tell me that I should come out and see it for myself. While Matt and Dad were waiting for us to show up, they took pictures at the entrance.

When Matt went to take his hat off for the picture, he managed to drop his sunglasses over the railing! Oh no!

Dad walked through the lava tube alone leaving Matt behind to retrieve the sunglasses. Yikes! They fell into a 20 foot crevice!.

Matt carefully climbed over the rail and proceeded down the slope. While he was down there, a rather large man saw him and said "that's bad ass!" For some, it might have seemed impressive, but Matt's climbed Mt. Brento in Italy AND jumped off!

From the parking area, the entrance to the lava tube was a short walk through a lush green fern forest. 

The Thurston Lava Tube is about 600 feet long and has ceilings ranging from 10 to 30 feet. Along the way, there are lights so you can see everything perfectly.

It's amazing to think that several hundred years ago red hot lava thrust through these tubes.

Five volcanoes make up The Big Island of Hawaii. Volcanoes fall into three categories:

• Active - Erupted at least once in the last 200 years
• Dormant - Haven't erupted in the last 200 years, but will probably erupt again.
• Extinct - Volcanoes that will never erupt again.

Currently, The Big Island has three active volcanoes, one dormant, and one extinct. To learn more about the volcanoes of Hawaii, check out the National Parks website!.

Our visit to Thurston Lava Tube was very cool and it didn't take very long. We still had time to go to Rainbow Falls before heading back to the condo.