Volcano – How many people get to say that they biked down a
volcano with their mom? I do! The group jumped on bikes shortly after
sunrise at the top of Haleakala and down we went. A couple of hours later we were in the little
town of Paia enjoying a breakfast at Moana
Café.
Waterfalls – The main attraction of the Road to Hanna are
the waterfalls. We saw no fewer than six
waterfalls and loved each one of them.
The Maui waterfalls are one of those things that don’t photograph
well. Experiencing them in person does
far more justice.
Beaches – At times it felt like there were more beaches than
Banyan trees. My favorite, Kalama Beach
Park, was just a couple miles away from the condo and along the path that I
would run.
Luau – Luaus are a Hawai’i must. Ours was buffet style. The pork and chicken was excellent. I tried just about everything poi, lomi
salmon, and all four deserts.
Sunrise – We were picked-up at 2AM for this little
experience. We drove for better than two
hours to the top of Haleakala where we dawned winter gear to help protect us
from the elements. At 10k feet, the
temps were in the 30’s and manageable by my standards. The wind, however, had some bite. It made me wish I had my ski goggles and an
extra layer.
Shaved Ice – I wanted to have a shaved ice before I left the
island. When I did, I got it from
Ululani’s Shaved Ice: mango, passion fruit, and coconut were my flavors. They sell three different sizes: mini, small,
regular. I had to laugh because even the
mini was too big for a normal human being.
Anyhow, I repeated this love affair for the next three days.
Vistas – Everywhere I looked was another unforgettable
view. It’s tough to go wrong with
beaches, sun, volcano’s, and palm trees.
I have an odd compulsion that to name inanimate objects (like
trees). I named the palm tree off of our
balcony “Georgina.”
Noteworthy – I had a difficult time getting out of SFO. The Asiana plane
crash happened while I was on my way to the airport. My flight was delayed, delayed, delayed, and
then finally cancelled. I was fortunate
to get out of San Francisco the following day.
During takeoff, I was on the east-facing side of the airplane and had a
clear view of the wreckage. …not exactly
the thoughts I wanted going through my mind during takeoff!