Maui 9

The route to Hana is technically a highway but in reality just a two-lane road. With our stops along the way, the journey took us between 4 and 5 hours. Not too bad, except for the SLOW car full of senior citizens in a convertible. There must of been a line of 10 cars behind this vehicle and they didn't pull over to let anyone pass for a good 20 minutes.

Everyone says the road to Hana is about the journey and not the destination. So very true! There is no shopping or big restaurants or shows or anything to really entertain you in Hana. We didn't mind though and took a few (short!) drives through town.

Hasegawa General Store is a historic building - the place is still family-owned and sells everything from food to hardware items to videos. It was neat to poke around in there - I bought a cute insulated food carrier that came in handy during this trip. They also had lots of Asian food - Korean kimchi and picked foods.

The other grocery store in Hana - there are only 2 and the prices are crazy high. We purchased a pizza to bake in the oven for dinner. And then realized (after driving to our rental) that we did not have an oven. Oy! I should have taken photos of the "stovetop" pizza oven that D constructed out of a big skillet pan and pieces of the pizza box.

Hana town is really tiny and it seemed like every third home had a room or cottage for rent. And most of these places are expensive and not very nicely-appointed. I looked at so many vacation rentals in my search for an affordable one-night stay and most of the stuff out there is pretty awful. I wasn't about to spend $400 a night at the Hana-Maui Resort so we took what we could get. And what we got was a place with a bedroom in the kitchen, or the kitchen was in the bedroom - either way it was weird! But it was a dry, warm place to stay and we were happy. :-)

Oh, the other funny thing was we hadn't watched tv in like a week because our place in Lahaina didn't have a tv. When we switched on the set in our Hana rental, it was all reruns of old shows - Magnum PI, I Dream of Jeannie, Gunsmoke, etc. D and I joked that we had entered some Hana wormhole or time machine that transported us back to the '80's!

Our parking spot for the overnight Hana rental.

The maintenance  and upkeep on our studio appeared to be minimal. I was concerned about spiders dropping on my head, "Arachnaphobia"-style (do you remember that movie?)

I am not kidding when I say the bugs were out of control in Hawaii. The sun and rain and warm weather must be like Miracle Grow for them. We don't have cockroaches or big snakes or ugly huge spiders in Alaska and THAT IS THE WAY I LIKE IT.

After visiting our little studio rental  it was time for a late lunch. We found a little roadside stand that served Thai and Chinese food, which was so tasty and good. Just as we left the skies opened up and the rain poured down!

And then soon after the rain subsided and we drove to see the Black Sand Beach a few miles outside of Hana.

I wonder if they meant to write "sea arche" or if it's supposed to be "arch."

Sea "Arche"

This hue of green makes me so happy. I may enlarge this photo and frame it at home.

Seas were rough this day and the wind had picked up.

More to come!