Thursday- Had breakfast with Steve at a local diner. Went to the Marriot Oceanclub resort in Lahaina, where we met up with Shawn (Rusty's boss) for the keys and inside scoop on the timeshare. Spent the rest of the afternoon in their amazing pool. That evening we went to downtown Lahaina and saw the 3rd largest banyon tree in the world. Mike and Kyleigh both started climbing immediately. Those two are peas in a pod. You can't keep them on the ground. Went to a few shops. Nothing too special. All shops in Hawaii seem the same after awhile.
Friday- Spent the day on Haleakala. A national park/inactive volcano. Elevation at top 10,023 ft. We were completely unprepared for the temperature. It was about 50 degrees with 40 mph gusts of wind. We didn't bring any warm clothes (we don't really have a lot of warm clothes). Steve brought enough sweatshirts for all of us, so we were O.K. We really needed pants, close toed shoes, winter coats, gloves, ear coverings, and thermal underwear. Yes, I've been in Hawaii too long. Idaho winters would kick my tail now. Kyleigh hunkered down in a ball to try to protect herself from the cold. The girls ran back to the car and warmed up in front of the heaters. We wanted to do some hiking but the clouds were really thick and you couldn't really see much so we went to Hosmer grove and had a picnic and just did a little nature hike. That evening we went up to Iao valley. Iao valley is where King Kamehameha brought his troops and slaughtered the warriors from Maui to unite Maui with the Big Island. It is a beautiful place. We then went back to Steve's house where his roommate Roger (a personal chef) prepared us an amazing fish dinner. I would tell you what it was, but the food words were beyond my current chefing level. All I know is that it was really good.
Saturday- Saturday morning we left the marriot to drive to Hana. That's right, we drove up the famous road to Hana which wasn't all that bad, in my opinion. Steve rented us a house in Hana. We checked in and went to the bottom side of Haleakala national park. We did a four mile hike to a 200 foot waterfall and enjoyed a plethera of fresh guava along the way. We went back to our rental and had a really great steak dinner.
Sunday- Sunday morning we hiked to a red sand beach. We snorkeled and played on the "water slide." The water slide was where the waves crashed over some rocks and the water rushed into the center of the naturally protected bay. The water would carry you with it. Adults and kids alike had fun doing this. We had the whole beach to ourselves until the very end. We then went to Wainapanapa state park and swam through the wet caves. When I say through I mean through. Steve had the inside scoop on the wet caves and knows the way through the holes. We had dive lights to see. You had to swim to the back of the cave, then pull yourself up on a rock and slide underneath it into another cave and on and on. My brave little five year old went through like the champ that she is. She complained only once when she told Russ that her jaw hurt from shaking so hard. The water was really cold and she was shivering.
On this trip we also saw our first pineapple truck. Growing up I wouldn't think twice about a potato truck driving down the road but it seemed strange to see a truck full of pineapples. Also, we were driving behind Mike and Holly and Kyleigh said, "Hey, Mike and Holly's car says Merb 002." Their license plate was MRB 002, so we spent the rest of the trip referring to their driver as Merb double 002. Maybe you had to be there to think that is funny but I am still laughing writing about it.
We are so glad we got to go to Maui and see Steve. I loved Maui. Having been to the four main islands now, I would have to say that if you were only going to hit one, Maui would have it all. Even with that soft spot in my heart for Kauai, Maui might have a one up with more options. I guess it would depend on what you really wanted out of your trip to Hawaii. Hopefully we can go again soon, and if not we hope Steve will come see us.
