Sunrise Haleakala June 2011
First peek of color
Gorgeous color on the clouds below in the crater
Two very old churches along the road to Hana
This one only holds services if there is a 5th Sunday in the month, it was very very old.
The power of the sea. Along the coast in a small village off the Hana Hwy.
View from the Hana Hwy. looking out to sea.
The three bears falls, Hana Hwy
Sunset from the condo laini, one of the more colorful ones we had.
A funky little wayside stop on the Hana Hwy, good fish tacos. No beer.
Harry and the tattoo lady.
The turtle tat on the back of the head.
Tyler's shark tattoo.
Heather's dolphin tat.
Last dinner in Maui at 3's
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| Harry and I at dinner. |
I was unable to post a blog entry to cover the last 3 days so I will take the time while it is all still fresh in my mind to finish up the trip now that I am home :( The last 3 days were eventful and filled with long days trying to get in the things that we wanted to do and had waited to get to. The first thing on the list was the sunrise visit to Haleakala. Harry and I were the only ones willing or wanting to get up at 3am to drive up there for sunrise. We had been told by many that it was not to be missed even tho' it could turn out to be a total dud if there wasn't a low cloud cover. Since we had been up there previously during the day, we knew how windy and cold it could be. We dressed accordingly. Luckily it was not very windy and it was about 44* not too bad since we live in Oregon and so far summer has averaged just above that LOL. Anyway 3am comes EARLY. We were hoping we would be there in plenty of time and maybe be ahead of the crowd. We got one of the last parking spaces in the lot. People were everywhere. We were also lucky to find a place to set up tripods for a view, not in ideal places since Harry had wanted to be at the rail. I was happy, I could see what I wanted to see. There was a nice cloud cover below and the sky was just starting to show color when we arrived. It was another 30 to 40 mins. before the actual sunrise. I must say it was a sight to see, but not quite as amazing as I had imagined. Looking at the photos I think it looks more colorful that it seemed to the naked eye. Something I can say I have done, but probably wouldn't do again. Ok...........so on to the next day, Tuesday. We decided it was our only chance to drive the road to Hana, another thing you are told not to miss in Maui. To tell you the truth I could of lived without it but had committed to do it. Waterfalls are kind of an Oregon thing for me, pretty hard to beat what we have here. There are other sights on the way but the falls are what people go to see. So up again early, not so early only 5 am this time. The road itself was much better that I had expected and tho it is very curvy 600 hairpin turns is what the book says, I believe it. I will not elaborate on the trip, except to say, next time I have a hair brained idea to follow the road all the way back to civilization, I will be DAMN sure I know exactly what the road is like. To explain, instead of going back up the road out of Hana you can continue on around the end of the island and go back up to the road to Kehei where we were staying. OMG, what a mistake. Harry called it the road to misery, but he really enjoyed it. It was like a cow trail thru the pasture only you have cars coming both ways and it is more windy and curvy than the Hana Hwy. and it is on the side of the volcano and the ocean on the other side. Paved, sort of in places and dirt and gravel mostly. By this time I had a major headache my stomach burned and I was just done with it. So Harry wanted to stop and take photos since he found it so enchanting but I told him he better just get me out of there before dark or else!!! After, god only knows, miles on this road to hell, we hit pavement and actual civilization. Back home for a lovely dinner? that also turned out to be awful. Live and learn. That brings us to our last day, all I cared about was relaxing and doing nothing but we had to pack and get things taken care of for leaving. We did take some time out to make one last trip to the shopping place for souvenirs and such. Harry had decided to get one of those temporary henna type tattoos, then Heather and Tyler wanted one so they got all that done. I made reservations for a VERY nice dinner at the one place there that we had wanted to try call 3's restaurant, for our last dinner in Maui. It was excellent and a very nice end to a wonderful vacation. Even tho' I feel I had to come home to get some rest and relaxation. Too much to do and too much to see. I think every one had a great time. I know I did.
