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!

Maui 8

On day 8 of the trip we started the long drive down to Hana, where we planned to stay one night and then drive all the way around the bottom part of the island. Most people stop at Twin Falls (below) to start off their trip. We made sure to try and hide anything of value in the Jeep because there were signs EVERYWHERE warning tourists about thieves stealing from cars, especially in this parkign area. So then I thought, are the people in the fruit stand just standing by while cars are broken into? Nice way to treat the tourists.

It's amazing what tropical temperatures and lots of rain will do for plants! The palm, eucalyptus and bamboo trees were a sight to behold.

I am so bad at spotting wildlife - D always sees them before I do. Then I get to take the photos.

This set of "falls" really wasn't very spectacular but it was a short 30 minute hike total and we did get to see some jungle foliage. From the falls, the water was diverted into these concrete channels and down into separate streams. It had rained recently so the water levels were up and the trail was also pretty muddy.

Pretty hibiscus.

LOTS of bamboo.

There were signs posted that asked people to not pick the fruit along the trail. It was obvious that everyone wanted to but the fear of getting caught was stopping them!

Maui 7

Readers, I totally forgot about the rest of my Hawaii photos! That's what happens when you get old - things slip your mind. :-)

Around the halfway mark of our trip I really wanted to visit a place called Black Rock. All the guidebooks and websites sing the praises of this snorkeling beach. The only problem with this is popularity = crowds. And Black Rock is located in the resort area of Kaanapali - very pretty but extremely limited on free beach parking. I think we ended up parking in a hotel garage and paying something like $20 for the whole day.

Black Rock, straight ahead.

Paddle boarders. I may try this next time we go on vacation.

Nice smooth ride with a catamaran - saw lots of these in Maui.

Kaanapali is where all of my friends with little kiddos go to vacation. Super easy to walk straight from a resort hotel room right down to the beach. No muss, no fuss, no struggling with gear in the car, etc. D and I noticed that Hawaii is much more family-friendly than say, Mexico.

Had no problems finding a nice spot on the beach since we arrived early.

Snorkelers at Black Rock. After sunning ourselves for a while, D and I grabbed our snorkel gear and joined in. The water was super clear but there weren't a lot of fish to be seen.

Little birdies looking for food morsels.

This one found a perfect perch for himself on our neighbor's snorkel gear.

Ahhhhhh.....

Some brave souls walked the length of the rocks and then jumped off.

Splash!

The little black speck in the middle of the photo is a turtle.

After a nice morning/afternoon we headed back to Lahaina. I may have gotten too much sun this day and ended up with a mild case of heatstroke. So sad - my feeble Alaska body can't handle the heat!