We ended up in Hawaii thanks to a conference. John has gone to the Society for Abdominal Radiology annual conference several years and we've never gone with him, usually because it's an awkward time of year to take off (cold and flu season for me, school for Will). But, when we found out this year's conference was at the Grand Wailea resort in Maui, we didn't need much convincing to make a family vacation out of it.
We left Saturday morning from Orlando. Everything was a little hectic the morning we left, but it seemed like we were actually on top of things....that is, until we were boarding the plane and looked down at Will's shoes:
Yep, two different shoes. And those were the only shoes he had, other than his crocs. Fantastic.
The rest of the trip went pretty well. We had three flights to get there, with the worst being an eight-hour leg from Dallas to Honolulu. The kids were great, but I can't say much for the flight experience on American Airlines, it was totally like the Greyhound bus to Hawaii. But they got us there alive, so I guess that's what counts. Let's just say it made the 30-minute flight from Honolulu to Kahului (Maui) on Hawiian Airlines seem like five star service--with bigger seats and refreshing POG (passionfruit-orange-guava) juice, we were in heaven.
We arrived in Kahului around 7:30 pm local time (after midnight our time); our luggage didn't make it, but by the time we'd fetched our rental car, the next flight had arrived and yay, our luggage was on it. We drove about 20 minutes to Wailea Beach and arrived at the resort. The kids seemed awfully lively after we checked in, so we ordered a room-service pizza as a late dinner--but they were both sound asleep by the time it arrived. So John and I had a nice, quiet dinner.
Despite the long day and late bedtime, we were all wide awake at 4 am on Sunday due to the five-hour time difference. We took advantage of it, and set out to drive the Hana Highway, the scenic highway that winds from Kahului along the northern side of the island to Hana, a small town on the northwest corner of Maui. The journey is only about 50 miles, but requires about 2 hours of driving because of lots of hairpin turns and 46 one-lane bridges. Add in all the scenic stops, and the highway becomes a whole-day excursion.
We stopped in Paia for breakfast and picked up a picnic lunch for the road. We were on our way by about 7:30 am, which was early enough to miss most traffic. I downloaded the Road to Hana Gypsy Guide before we left, an app that provides audio commentary for points along the highway--it made the trip so much easier since I didn't have to keep checking the map or guidebook.
Twin Falls farmstand stop:
Will and I hopped out to peer over the guardrail at the Lower Puohokamo Falls--that's the big waterfall in the opening scenes of Jurassic Park. You can't see the whole thing without taking a trail (on private property) to the bottom, so we just leaned over as far as we could. :-)
Will and I got caught in the rain on the way back to the car, but our next destination--the Keanae Peninsula--looked to be in a patch of sunlight:
By the time we arrived, it was still sunny, so we woke Anna up for some pictures:
High surf advisory...can you tell?
Back in the car, we drove a little further and pulled off at a trail leading to the Honomanu Bay, a black sand beach. John and Will walked down the trail and checked out the sand--and got their shoes soaked by a surprise wave. Here's a view of the area they hiked to (see the crescent of black sand? The road is above it.):
Next up was the Keanae Arboretum. The trail was muddy and slick from the rain, but we were able to get an up-close look at the colorful rainbow eucalyptus trees:
(Will thought I needed a flower for my hair, sweet boy.)
We admired the Upper Waikani Falls from the car (the traffic was not like that the whole time, btw, just got congested in this spot):
We took a snack break around mile marker 27, at Coconut Glen's coconut stand:
On the menu? Vegan ice cream, coconut candy, and coconut water, sipped straight from the coconut. We chose ice cream: vanilla for Will, coconut for Anna, and chocolate chili for me, all served in coconut shells.
John sampled ours and pronounced Anna's (coconut ice cream with bits of candied coconut in it) the best, but I think mine (made from chocolate and smoky chipotle peppers) was a close second. How often do you get to have spicy ice cream? :-)
Getting closer to Hana, we pulled off to tour the Hana Lava Tube, an underground cave made from previous eruptions.
Kids armed with flashlights:
After the lava tube, we stopped at Waianapanapa State Park. This park had lots to do, so we decided to enjoy our picnic lunch and then check out the park.
A cave formed by the lava:
Anna wasn't a fan of the waves rushing into the cave. Not at all!
Blow hole:
On the way from the blow hole to the beach area, we got caught in the rain. We huddled under the canopy of trees, and Will and Anna found good uses for these huge leaves:
Black sand beach fun:
We used the park's restrooms to clean up, then got back on the road. We arrived in Hana shortly afterward, stopped at the Hasegawa General Store for drinks, and then retraced the highway back to our hotel.
Gorgeous rainbow on our trip back:
We got back to the hotel right at dusk, changed, and then headed to the most casual restaurant at the resort. Right after our food arrived, Anna got out of her seat, walked over toward John, and then vomited on the floor next to his seat. I threw my napkin over the mess and rushed her to the bathroom and then back upstairs to the room for a bath. John and Will tried to eat their dinner, but I think Anna's little episode ruined their appetites. She felt fine afterwards, though, and was soon asking for more food. "I not choke again, I promise!" (Choke is her word for vomiting.)
John and Will came back to the room with my untouched dinner and two stuffed toy turtles the waiter brought to the table for the kids, which was extremely nice considering the mess we left!
*******
Monday was a full conference day for John, so the kids and I were on our own to explore the resort. I watched Anna like a hawk after breakfast, but she seemed just fine, no "choking." We played on the beach for a few hours, then went to the pool. Will looooooved the water slides:
Playing in the sand makes a girl tired:
The hotel lobby was full of large Botero sculptures, all nude, most with, um, generously-sized rear ends. Will and Anna kept pointing at the huge tushes and giggling every time we walked through that lobby, despite my threats, which were probably ineffective because I was having a hard time not giggling myself. So much for art appreciation.
That evening, we went to an outdoor reception for the conference attendees. It was lovely, held right next to the beach at sunset. There were lots of different food stations to try, but we'd only made it through one of them when Anna started crying and saying she was going to choke again. She kept crying, "The ocean! The ocean is making me sick!" There was definitely a strong breeze, as there had been the night before at the restaurant, but I couldn't figure out why that was bothering her. Anyway, we went back to the room, and she never did throw up, but I spend my evening alternating between racking my brain for etiologies of wind-induced vomiting and regretting that I missed the dessert station. :-)
********
Tuesday morning, I woke up early and went for a run along the coastal trail in front of the resort.
I was out there before dawn and enjoyed a gorgeous full moon and amazing moonlit path on the ocean:
After I got back, we went to breakfast and John went to some morning conference meetings. I took the kids back down to the trail to see if we could spot some whales. We were in Hawaii during peak humpback whale season--they come to the warm waters around Hawaii in the winter to breed and give birth, then migrate back north (and around the world) later in spring. We spotted a few whales surface and blow sprays of water in the air.
We also had a lot of fun playing in the rocks and checking out the tide pools:
We met up with John a little before lunch, and then grabbed the car and headed out for our afternoon adventure: a trip up to Haleakala, the highest peak on Maui and the volcano that largely formed the island.
We stopped at Grandma's Coffee House in Kula for lunch and grabbed some yummy pineapple coconut bars for the road. Then we detoured to the Surfing Goat Dairy Farm for an hour or so.
We toured the milking station and met some brand new baby goats:
Then we fed some goats. The kids really loved this part:
I have to admit I was a little envious of those goats--must be a nice life, grazing on the side of a mountain in Maui!
We left the dairy and traveled the curvy road to Haleakala National Park. The most popular time to visit the park is at sunrise--lots of folks get up around 3 am to drive the 2 hour trip to the top and position themselves in freezing weather to watch the sun rise over the crater. It's supposed to be a truly amazing spectacle and I would LOVE to see it...but not with two small children in tow. So we decided to go in the late afternoon and maybe catch the sunset (which is supposed to be equally amazing). I checked the forecast and was glad to see there was only a small chance of rain--but totally ignored the fact that they were under a heavy wind advisory with winds of 35-55 mph.
I first started to realize the wind might be an issue when we stopped at the ranger station just inside the park entrance to take a potty break. The ranger asked us if we were heading to the top--we said yes, and he raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, it's awfully windy up there!" No big deal, we said. Ha.
The peak is at 10,000 feet elevation--so, being an island, it's a rapid trip from sea level to the top, with lots of switchbacks. I was glad John was doing the driving! We made it to the ranger station near the top and got out for our first view of the crater. We were in full sunlight, but the temperature up there was around 40 degrees and the wind was insane! I'd barely cracked the car door open when it was snatched by the wind, and I made John keep a hand on Anna at all times, because I really thought she might get blown into the crater.
But the view was awesome:
Clouds over Maui:
A Haleakala silversword:
We drove a little further to the summit, and walked up to the observation tower.
Those two peaks rising just above the clouds are Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii:
The Haleakala crater is so high and deep that it catches the clouds--you can actually watch clouds plugging up the crater, but within minutes...
...they start to clear out...
...and you can see the crater again:
That trapping is enough to keep the southwest side of the island (along with the islands of Lanai and Kaholawe on the western side of Maui) in drought much of the year.
We drove back down the mountain and stopped at a few of the scenic overlooks. By the time we arrived at the Leileiwi overlook the kids were tired of the cold, so John let me hop out by myself. I ended up having to take a short trail along the side of the mountain and ended up at another overlook into the crater. Because of it's position relative to the setting sun and the propensity for clouds to come up that side of the crater, this particular overlook spot is supposed to be a chance to see the "specter of the Brocken", a phenomenon where, at the right time of day, you can see your shadow projected onto the clouds below, ringed with a rainbow. I got to the overlook and tried to get myself into position with the sun behind me and clouds below me--when all of a sudden, the sun disappeared, everything went gray, and I realized the clouds were rushing up out of the mountain right over me. It wasn't raining but the clouds were so full of vapor that my hair and the camera were soaked within seconds. It was an awe-inspiring and slightly scary few minutes--I would have headed back to the car but the visibility was so bad that I wasn't sure I could see the trail.
By that time, I'd been gone about 20 minutes. John was in the car with the kids and, when he saw how bad the weather had gotten, he didn't think I could possibly be standing out there in it. So he locked the car with the kids in it and walked a little ways down the trail and yelled for me. Getting no answer, he assumed I'd fallen off the side of the mountain and went back to the car! Luckily I had my phone in my pocket, so he called and I confirmed I was fine but scared to move. Anyway, just as suddenly, the clouds cleared, the sun was back, and I hiked back to the car. I did not see the specter, but the whole experience was still a little other-worldly.
On the way back to the resort, I dried the camera off enough to get a few pictures of a full-arc rainbow--I couldn't quite get it in one shot, though:
I think I figured out why the Hawaii license plate has a rainbow on it. :-)
********
On Wednesday, we headed to Lahaina Harbor mid-morning to take a cruise to the island of Lana'i. We traveled with a company called Trilogy, on the recommendation of our guidebook and Trip Advisor.
We boarded a big catamaran with about 20 other tourists. The kids were so excited about the boat ride:
It took almost 2 hours to make it to Lana'i; we were a little slow due to having to detour around a bunch of humpback whales. The whales were incredible, and we had so much fun spotting them from the boat:
These two put on a little show. One of them slapped the water with his fluke eight times in quick succession; I think he was telling us to stay away from his woman:
From the harbor in Lana'i, we took a one-hour van trip to tour Lana'i City. The island used to be the home of a large Dole pineapple plantation. The plantation is gone, and 98 percent of the island is now owned by billionaire Larry Ellison. Our van driver had grown up on the island, with her ancestry dating back 20+ generations on Lana'i. It was interesting to hear her take on their new owner and see the town (population 3200). The main industry on the island right now is tourism, although Larry Ellison is trying to establish an self-sustaining agriculatural system on the island. Lack of water is a big obstacle; the entire island is in the rain shadow of Haleakala and is very dry and desert-like.
After the tour, we went to Hulopoe Beach. John and I took turns snorkeling on the off-shore reef. The water was a little choppy for the kids, so they spent most of the time playing in the breakers and building sand castles.
Those green-roofed buildings belong to the Four Seasons resort (site of Bill Gates' wedding).
I took the trail along the tip of the island to see Shark Point Bay and the Sweetheart Rock:
The rock gets its name from this legend.
We enjoyed a fun barbecue back at the Manele Bay harbor...
...then boarded the boat for the trip back to Maui.
It was really windy on the way back, so the minute we turned from the protected bay back into the ocean waters, my visor went flying off my head into the water. It wouldn't have been a big deal...EXCEPT that it was my Marine Corps Marathon visor. So for Missy, I'm afraid we're going to have to run that race again so I can replace my hat. :-)
Visors were quickly forgotten when we started spotting a ton of whales, though. State law (I think) forbids boats from coming within 100 yards of the whales. So, when a smallish whale (who was clearly unaware of the law) decided to check out our boat, we had to cut the engine and wait for him to swim away.
He swam all around and under the boat for about 20 minutes. I don't know which was more entertaining, watching him or watching all the people on our boat (including the crew) running from one side of the boat to the other, camera-phones in hand:
He kept waving his fins and fluke--we couldn't decide if he was being aggressive or flirting. The boat radio was playing a Marvin Gaye song when he swam up, so we thought flirting was little more likely.
"Well, hello..."
"...how you doin'?"
He eventually decided we weren't all that interesting and swam off.
We got back to Lahaina at sunset:
Such a fun day! I think, next to the Hana Highway, this was my favorite day of the trip.
********
On Thursday, we had lunch at Coconut's Fish Cafe in Kihei (yummy fish tacos) and then went to the Maui Ocean Center.
Will and Anna loved the aquarium, and John and I had fun identifying the fish we'd seen on the reef at Hulopoe Bay.
Really glad I didn't encounter this guy on the reef, though:
From the marine center, we drove back to Lahaina and met up with Melanie and Jim for an evening at the Old Lahaina Luau.
Anna took a hula lesson:
She's a quick study:
Soon it was time to dig up the pig:
Then it was buffet time! Unfortunately, on our way to eat, Anna was struck by the whole choking thing again, and actually did throw up as I was rushing her to the bathroom. She kept complaining about the wind and the ocean again, so I spent a lot of dinner holding her on a bench (out of the wind). By this time I was completely baffled and convinced she had some kind of weird brain tumor (which is what happens when you combine medical knowledge with irrational parent anxiety). She finally relaxed enough that John could hold her and I got to try some authentic Hawaiian food (best part: ahi poke and the purple Taro rolls). (Also, for anyone who is concerned, Anna's been completely fine since we got home, with no further "chokies". I'm still not sure what happened to her, but she might have to stay with Nana if we ever go back to Hawaii!)
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the luau performance:
Will again got the giggles with all the hip-shaking hula-dancing, but he calmed down and watched the rest of the performance fairly respectfully after I explained what was going on. I'm pretty sure I understand why those early missionaries to Hawaii tried to stamp out the hula, though. :-)
********
Friday was our final day in Maui, so we stayed at the resort to enjoy the beach and pools.
This is the view from the beach. That island in the distance is Kaho'olawe, the smallest main Hawaiian island, and the small ridge in the middle, rising just above the water, is the Molokini crater. Molokini is uninhabited, but the crater is really popular for snorkeling and diving.
The ocean was quite calm, so several people were out in kayaks and paddleboards. Check out how close these people got to two humpback whales (you can click on the picture to make it larger):
About this time, John made it to the beach. I pointed out what was going on, so he was all ready to get a paddleboard and join them. When he went to check out a board, the guy working the water gear was refusing to let anyone go out because of some clouds over Kaho'olawe and some whitecaps in the distance. He told John that he thought the wind was kicking up and that it would be a "miserable" experience to be out on the board. John was pretty bummed when he came back. In about half an hour, though, we noticed some new people heading out with boards--the water was already rougher, so I guess the guy just got tired of trying to save ignorant tourists from themselves and started renting the boards again.
So John happily joined them and headed into the waves:
Hampered by the waves and a short board, he only made it to standing position for awhile, but I did get a picture:
When he came back, I gave it a try. I got to a stand fine, but had trouble paddling into the wind, so I didn't get very far. But, besides one other guy, I was the only person actually standing. A group of six people was near me, and one of the women paddled over and asked how I was staying standing. I answered, "Low center of gravity and deathly fear of tiger sharks." I think she was expecting something more useful, but I was being truthful.
I paddled for about 20 minutes, but my arms soon tired and I didn't see any whales, so I went back in. I got the shaka sign and a "way to go!" from the board rental guy, strutted proudly down the beach to John and the kids and said, "I hope you got a picture of THAT!" John assured me that he did.
Later, when I checked the camera, I realized that unfortunately, he had only gotten pictures of me on the way out:
So pride indeed goeth before the fall. The fall, in this case, being pictures of me in a swimsuit from a less than flattering angle. Sigh.
We spent the afternoon enjoying the pools and the waterslides. With John there, Will finally got the courage to do the Tarzan rope swing.
John went first:
Then it was Will's turn:
After getting cleaned up and packed up, we got ready to leave for our 11:30 pm flight home. We enjoyed our last Hawaiian sunset...
...then went to the airport for a surprisingly painless trip home. (Lots of sleeping!)
We all loved Hawaii, and I really hope we get to go back one day!
1 comment:
I cracked up at will's mismatched sneakers! We ended up going to Hawaii with sandals that my daughter no longer fit in to. Oops. I'm still amazed that you travelled that far with two kids!
You'll appreciate this story - as we were getting on our plane in Seattle I had the baby strapped to my chest, a big backpack on my back, and was pulling a car seat and the going couple behind me said "I see you have a lot of stuff. Would you mind if we cut in front of you?". Please cut in front of me...I'd love too lug around 40 lbs for longer than I have to!
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