Road to Hana

Everyone says that the Road to Hana is a Maui must do.   Everyone is right.   We loved the journey as much as the destination.   Since we had stayed overnight in Paia and were nearly at the start of the road (versus coming from Wailea or Ka'anapaali in West Maui), and because we couldn't check into our Vrbo in Hana until 4 p.m., we weren't in a huge hurry to start or to rush through the drive.   We also weren't making a round trip like most do, so that helped us set a leisurely pace.   We enjoyed an early lunch, restocked our gas, snack and water supply, and headed off.  I had downloaded the GyPSy Guide app, which told us where we must stop versus just nice to stops, as well as some great background info along the way.  Multiple friends recommended it, and I loved it from our Yellowstone/Grand Teton trip, so it was no question.   It was either overcast, windy or drizzling most of the day.  But it just added to the rain forest effect!  And we had expected it so had rain coats and water shoes.  

The pictures above are at an arboretum.  It was a short trail with some cool trees like the rainbow eucalyptus.   My favorite stop - and our longest - was the Keanae Peninsula.   The coastal scenery was just amazing.  The water was breaking against the rocks.  William was the first to verbalize that you could "taste the salt in the air."   We were all on a bit of a high.   We were helped along by there being restrooms and the famous Auntie Sandy's banana bread snack bar.  (We bought two loaves.   And then two more when we came back through on the return trip a few days later....) 

John, ever the explorer, was out on the rocks.   William is getting more confident and following/leading his dad into some of these "too close to the edge for mom" situations.   I was safely watching from above when a huge wave rolled in and splashed John from behind.   We all got the laugh though!  And he posed for some photos after the fact!  I mean, if you're going to explore a hole with water in it, you need to be aware of where that water is coming from!

This next set of photos was the next outcropping over near the restrooms.   The foamy surf was left behind when the waves washed in and out.   The guys walked out onto the bigger rocks and then had to wait for the right timing to get back, since that area was intermittently covered in water.    

As I was using the restroom, the guys wandered off and didn't return to the car for a considerable amount of time.  I was eating the warm banana bread and considering whether I needed to save any for sharing (John doesn't love fruit desserts....would that apply to bread??) when they finally resurfaced with a coconut!  They had already de-husked it and were now ready to crack it open to drink.   With some effort, William did break it open on a rock and got the first drink!   We got it completely open and all enjoyed some.   It was good!  And I don't like the bottled kind.   William was very, very proud of this effort!

After the unplanned shower, the coconut hunting and the banana bread, we weren't sure the day could get any better!   We continued our drive of windy roads full of one lane bridges and waterfall and lush, amazing scenery.  Mid-afternoon we made it to Hana and got settled in our Vrbo there for two nights.

Maui Holiday: Haleakala Summit

We enjoyed a vacation to Maui over William's Christmas break.   It was our first trip to the island, and we (I) had put together an itinerary to hit all the "must dos":  beach, pool, dolphins, whales, volcano summit, waterfalls, hikes, windy drives, and food.   Strangely, food is the thing we did the least of....

Since we used Southwest miles, we had to layover on the west coast before the second leg into Hawaii.  On the outbound flight I booked it as a flight to Oakland and then a separate flight to Maui the next day.  On the way home it was a single route with a layover in Las Vegas on NYE.   (Not as amazing as it sounds...).   I was worried about winter travel delays, which is why I built in an entire extra day to get to Maui.   Our trip to the Big Island three years ago was nearly cancelled due to weather delays, so I wanted to be cautious this holiday.   

In Oakland, we had a Saturday afternoon/evening to kill.   I needed to work, so the guys visited the USS Hornet on their own.  And then we ordered a pizza and watched a movie in our hotel room.

On Sunday, we headed back to the airport a little earlier than usually necessary to get pre-cleared for the Hawaii Safe Travels program so we wouldn't have to do it upon landing.   In advance, you registered your trip with the state's website and uploaded a copy of you vax card.   At the airport, they checked all the details you registered, saw the physical copy of your vax card, and then gave you a wristband to confirm it all checked out.   You had to keep the wristband on until you arrived at your lodging in Hawaii.

After a 5-ish hour long flight where we all just did our own thing on electronics, we arrived at OGG.   I reserved a Vrbo the first two nights that was near the airport in the town of Paia.   We grabbed some things at the grocery store and then checked into our condo.  It wasn't a very nice place, but the uncomfortable beds and loud traffic and lack of air conditioner were made up by the location.   With the time difference, we were in bed early.

Our plan for our full day in Central Maui was to do sunset at Haleakala Summit.  Many people want to do sunrise, which requires a reservation, and getting up at 3 a.m.   Many of those early birds do the bike tour and after a van hauls them up to the top to see the sunrise, they ride mountain bikes down the crazy switchbacks.   We passed a lot of those people on their way down.  I remarked multiple times that it looked like a scary and overall horrible experience!   Instead of that, we had a delicious brunch at a place I had pre-screened, then drove to the 10k foot summit, saw the observation station, and then began our arduous hike DOWN!  That's right...right into the crater!   We only had time for a 3 mile descent on the 11 mile long Slipping Sands Trail before it was our 3 pm "what goes down must hike back up before sunset" turnaround.   In total, we hiked 6 miles over around 3 1/2 - 4 hours.   I think it was 90 minutes down and 2 hours back up.   It felt like 3 hours....or 3 days...to get back out!    The altitude was a beast.   

The experience was great though.   We were literally hiking through the clouds.  We saw all sorts of amazing topography, and I was very proud of us.    After the 5:55 sunset, we were freezing and hurried out to be near the front of the line of cars snaking back down the mountain.  It took another 90 minutes before we were off the mountain and back to our condo.  

Christmas Decorations

Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love seeing all the festive decorations in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  My most favorites are Christmas lights (white lights on the outsides of houses) and Christmas trees - all the trees!    After 12 years at our old house, we had fleshed out our decoration plan pretty well.  At the new house it's been a bit of the old plus some new.   We did our two usual trees but we didn't do any exterior lights.  However, we bought several huge wreaths from William's Boy Scout fundraiser, so our daytime exterior decor was lovely.   This year's new interior addition was an 8 foot tall Nutcracker in our entryway.  He played traditional music and made us very happy!

This year with our travels we decided to open our stockings before we left and our Christmas tree presents on New Year's Day when we returned.   I thought it was very clever of John to get my cocoa packets with an owl and nutcracker considering my fall obsessions!

Fall on Arbor

In addition to watching the colors, this fall has been fun for critters.   After my porch pumpkins got some squirrel nibbles, I put one under my office window so I could watch the squirrels in action!  It was a lot of fun to see all the squirrels and birds rotate through the pumpkin buffet.   After Thanksgiving we had an indoor pumpkin that was starting to look bad, so I sliced the top off and put it outside the window.  It was gone in a day.   Literally nothing lefts but a few seeds.  I read that squirrels don't love pumpkin; they just eat it because they know they need to.  The December squirrels were much more aggressive/hungrier than the early November squirrels.  

The leaves didn't really fall until after Halloween.   There were a few trees with my favorite oranges and reds, but most of our leaves were yellow.  So. Many. Leaves!   Our landscapers mowed them up three times.   The first two times was when the township was coming through with trucks to suck them up, so they piled them along the street.  The third time in December they had to be hauled off.   I was actually surprised they came back another day for that.    In mid-November, we had our first overnight guest, Rosie the Dog.   Her tennis balls were sometimes hard to find among the piles of yellow leaves! But our yard has some patchy spots that need filled in, so with the rain, I was glad to have leaves instead of mud from a dog racing through the yard top speed!

Also a big treat for us is the daily owl sightings.    Owlfred Hitchcock arrives each dusk - which in December is around 4:15 p.m. - and perches in the same tree over the hot tub.    His partner, Owlma, usually sits in a tree in the back of the yard, and we listen to them hoot to one another.   One time, as I was walking up the driveway from getting the mail, I saw both of them in the same tree.   So happy I had my phone in my pocket to snap that picture!   Several times we have been too eager in our observations (talking excitedly...e.g. loudly) and caused them to fly off.  I feel bad about that.  But I also enjoy watching them fly!