Jottings

So there's lots of stuff we noticed that's good to remember in some way or another, but not necessarily associated with any certain day.

In no particular order:

Sugarcane: It's HUGE. And I mean huge - perhaps 14 feet tall? And it's everywhere.

Hawaiin Language: They're working really hard on the islands to keep the language alive. Good for them. Many, if not most, parks and natural features, etc., carry at least a partially Hawaiian name. Let me tell you, words can get really, really long! There are only 8 consonants and 5 vowels, so creating words means they get longer as there aren't many short and unique combinations available. I've used a fair number of Hawaiian names in this blog, and, in the interest of full disclosure, must tell you I didn't use all the accent symbols, as I have to admit I don't know how to get to them all on my keyboard. Let me tell you, the park rangers can rattle off the names like we might say John or Mary! For way more information than I want to give here, check out this page: http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Language. A few tidbits: Syllables are never more than two letters long, and words never end with a consonant. Once you learn how to break the words up, they're not so hard to pronounce. Amusing side note: June 8 was Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit came to the disciples and they spoke in tongues). At our church, people said the Lord's prayer in many languages. This included Hawaiian - and it was longer than anything else!

Everyone - islander or not - really does say Aloha and Mahalo (thank you). It's only polite to do the same.

Buildings seemed really flimsy to those of us from harsh northern climates. But really, they're perfect for where they are. Why would you build for -20 when temps rarely stray from the 70s or 80s? So floors are tile - nice and cool (and quiet). Decor is minimal - no need for lots of fabrics to keep warm or block drafts. Really open to the outside to maximize airflow. Many buildings didn't seem to have

regular walls - ceilings and pillars to hold up the roof! That made us wonder what they do when there is a storm with winds. We never did find out. This is the Four Seasons hotel where Kendra's friend works. You're looking into the lobby area - and there just aren't any walls! Our condo had a louvered window right next to the door. In our case, that worked because of the layout. You saw a closet and that's it. But for most of the other units, you could see all the way through to the lanai in the front! We weren't peeking - it's just right there. I'd have trouble with the lack of privacy.

Mornings and evenings were just lovely. Really, the weather overall was fantastic, but could be a bit warm and humid for this midwesterner in mid-afternoon. But both ends of the day were cool with light breezes - absolutely gorgeous.

We ran into people from Minnesota, Wisconsin  and Michigan everywhere. And not just as tourists! I think most had moved to Hawaii. Boy, for the most part, you could see huge amounts of sun damage on them - that tropical sun is not kind to pale skins.

I was suprised - shouldn't have been, but was - by how tepid the water in the taps was. When you think about it, that's perfectly logical, but I missed cool water.

Chickens roam everywhere.  I don't know if they've gone wild or if that's just how they're handled, but they were all over. We play something called the cow game in our family. You count the number of cows on your side of the car, and the side with the most by the time the car makes a stop wins. We changed it to chickens for the duration. Ask James sometime about the chicken on the road to Hana.

Theft appears to be the biggeest crime issue on the islands. We read in our tour books about car breakins (nothing about lodging - just cars) and were warned at every turn to not  leave anything valuable in them. This included warnings from a store clerk and signs by several parks.


We saw this row of actual pay phones at the airport. Been a long time.

Expensive! At least grocery store food is - I'm sure because of the distance it travels. I already mentioned some of this, but here are some numbers: Peanut butter (don't remember the size, but I did compare the same jar) 5.69/2.79, milk (1 pint) 1.99/1.19, cereal 6.39/3.33, cuke 6.49 lb/2.00, salad mix 6.19/2.99. Eating out wasn't much more than cooking at home! Again, we think distance has a lot to do with this. We tried to eat native foods - and they hardly go any distance at all, so they're less expensive. We weren't able to get to farmer's markets, and of course weren't growing anything, so I imagine islanders can eat for less if they choose, but it's expensive for anyone wanting imports (as it were - I DO know we didn't leave the country!).


Bathroom signs - lots of places had Hawaiian clothes on the signs - shirts for the men and mumus (I'm not sure what they're really called...) on the women. It was fun. And notice the Hawaiian word!

Our smart phones worked just fine.  Why they were covered in Hawaii and not in Alaska we'll never know.

It's over already?

1 March, 2014

Alas and alack, the start of a new month meant we flew back to the mainland. None of us were ready to go. Fortunately, our flight wasn't terribly early, so we had time for another fabulous breakfast (including this lychee nut - it was fine) on the lanai. We managed a quick look around the very large yard, which backs up on the Wailuku River - the very river with the things we want to see.
Both stops were only a short drive from the B&B. We first went to the Boiling Pots. We thought maybe they were boiling mud pots, like those you see in Yellowstone, but they're really rapids flowing over and through lava tubes that make it look like the water is boiling. We just saw them from the overlook, but apparently you can hike down to them and even go swimming. Swimming is very much discouraged, as there have apparently been many drownings, but when does that stop people? The Pots are below Pe'ePe'e falls. Before you fall over laughing, it's pronounced Peh-eh peh-eh. I would have liked to hike down for a closer look, but you wouldn't have gotten me in the water.

Then we went downriver to Rainbow Falls. It was pretty, sure, but after seeing the much wilder scenery on the road to Hana, it wasn't overwhelming. This sign and its friend made
us giggle.

I wish we'd had time to go to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens (http://www.htbg.com/), but you just can't do everything. It would probably take a minimum of half a day to begin to do it justice, and that we just didn't have!

So off to the airport and our flight home. Of course we had to go further west, back to Oahu, to get our flight to SF...  I am pleased to report our lunch on the second leg was considerably more substantial than the breakfast on the way out - although we all had snacks along this time, as we just didn't know! And after all kinds of searching, I finally found an article of clothing to bring home - a dress from one of the airport shops! Not where I generally shop, but the price was competitive and the dress far more attractive than the shirts I'd seen. I need to alter it some, but that's ok.

(Side note: I'm writing this on May 30, and this is the first time Joe's worn his shirt - that's how chilly it's been until now!)

We landed in SF, took a cab back to Kendra and James's place and collapsed. It was late, although not horribly so, but flying always tires us, and we'd been short on sleep all week!

We slept in Sunday morning, and had a lovely brunch at the apartment.  Poor James had to go to work, and Kendra just wanted to relax, but Joe and I found it too nice a day to sit inside, so we took ourselves off for a walk. We wandered to Lafayette Park, which underwent a complete makeover within the last year. It was a lovely spot - perfect for an urban picnic, should one be inclined. Then we wandered over to the Blender. Really, it's the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, but it really does look like a blender from the outside! Seriously, don't you think so? I'm happy to report it's much lovelier on the inside. We didn't get to look around much, as a service was about to begin, but I'm happy they get to worship in something that doesn't resemble the inside of a blender! We meandered back to the apartment, passing Kendra's church along the way. It's a lot smaller...

(http://www.panoramio.com/photo/654811)

Kendra took us out to dinner for Joe's birthday that night. I can't remember the name of the place, but we certainly had a wonderful meal. San Francisco is sure a great city if you love good food. Not that you can't find it here, but it seems more concentrated there - like you can hardly walk 2 blocks without finding something good.

Joe and I flew home March 3rd. For once, we didn't have to get up at 3:00 to get a 3:30 shuttle for a 6:00 am flight! We didn't leave until somewhere around noon or 1:00, so our shuttle came closer to 10.  Let me tell you, landing at MSP and seeing that not a single snowflake had melted in those 10 days was a huge downer. We knew it had been cold, but had really, truly thought some of the snow would have disappeared. Oh, well. We had our memories to keep us warm!

James told Joe (who did all the driving) that next time, he (James) was going to be one of the drivers no matter the cost (since they don't have a car, they don't have insurance, and hence must pay the rental agency rate) so Joe wouldn't get so tired. Joe said the part he liked best about that sentence was "next time," as it meant James wanted to travel with us again. It's the first time the four of us have traveled together. We've obviously spent time together, but haven't been on a trip. That's a different way to be with someone, and you never know how compatible you'll be. Well, we were compatible, and really look forward to our next adventure, wherever and whenever it is. It's so great when your adult kid and her spouse want to travel with you!




A Day of Astounding Experiences

28 February 2014

Volcano Day.

This was our day to visit volcanoes. Not that we hadn't been all along - the whole state is made up of volcanic islands, after all - but Volcanoes National Park is in a league of its own and our reason for going to the Big Island. But I get ahead of myself.

Breakfast at our B&B was served on the verandah.  It overlooked a huge back yard, filled with all
kinds of fruit trees.  Our hostess told us most of the fruit in our breakfast was grown right in their yard.  She also said you don't really garden here - you just plant stuff and try to keep it under control! It was quite the feast, with all the fruit, fresh smoothies and homemade breads. It's really a good thing we don't start every day that way, or we'd need to be rolled around. Our fellow guest was there to use the observatory on Mauna Kea. I wish he'd been more talkative, as that must be fascinating work. He said he comes every few months for several days at a time.  Kendra later told us he snored terribly.  Glad I wasn't in the room next to him...

Our hostess kindly lent us a cooler and some flashlights for the trip. I don't know why, but National Parks either seem to have no food or nothing but hot dog/hamburger kind of stuff.  While Volcano Village (yes, that's really its name) is only 5 minutes outside one edge of the park, we didn't know where we'd be at lunch time and didn't want to be stuck an hour away from food, so we packed lunch in. Why flashlights? We'd read that if we stayed to see lava at night, we'd be a long ways from any lights and would have trouble seeing.  It turned out to not be an issue, but I'll get to that in a bit. Or maybe a while - this promises to be another long entry.

We headed off to the park, in jeans and closed toe shoes, with jackets and long sleeves in tow. It certainly wasn't chilly at sea level, but the highest park of the park is over 4000 feet, and is usually cloudy and often damp, plus we planned to stay until after sunset. Pants and sturdy shoes are highly recommended, as volcanic rock is incredibly sharp, and can give you severe lacerations if you fall on it.  We didn't feel like testing that ourselves.

Joe got worried as we drove.  He thought we weren't on the right road as we weren't climbing and couldn't see any mountains.  Well, we kept seeing signs telling us we were on Volcano Highway, and then started seeing altitude signs, and it quickly became obvious we really were climbing! But you don't really see mountains coming - all of a sudden you're just at the park entrance. National Parks are such a bargain - a whole car load is only $10 for the day. And if you ever get a chance to take a tour with a Ranger, do it.  They're always good and they're always free.  We had one with Ranger Travis.  He told us a bunch of stories, wove in facts and told some pretty good jokes. I'm sure he's told them all a few hundred times, but he kept them fresh, and that's not easy. He told us about different flora and fauna, and explained quite a bit about volcanoes, too.  Some of the Hawaiian legends are fascinating,

Lehua flower

like the one about the Ohi'a tree with its Lehua flower. It's too long for me to retell, but you can read it here if you're interested: http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/10/peles_revenge.html.  Another story explained why the island is divided into rainy and dry parts. Then we got to the volcano overlook. The big crater is Kilauea (you can see part of its rim in the background - that's how big it is), and the smaller one with the steam rising is Halema'uma'u crater. The lava lake is in the smaller crater. It varies in height, but is not now visible from anywhere in the park. Believe it or not, visitors used to be able to follow a road out to a wooden fence overlooking the lake. But in 2008, people reported huge increases in the amount of steam pouring out of the crater, and sulfur dioxide levels rose sharply.  While there wasn't the increase in earthquake activity that usually precedes an eruption, the park service closed the viewing area anyway.  Good thing. The volcano erupted soon after, tossing lava chunks the size of washing machines through the fence, utterly destroying it.  People would certainly have died.  Now you view from a much safer distance!


All the rangers wear portable sulfur dioxide monitors. Parts of the park are closed because of high levels of this poisonous gas.  Winds in Hawaii tend to be pretty steady, because of the ocean trade winds, and the visitor center was carefully placed to be upwind of the fumes most of the time. But winds can change, and levels rise quickly, so the rangers have the monitors to warn them if there's danger. There are also places displaying QR codes, so you can use your smart phone to check! I could go on and on about the volcanoes here, but won't. Instead, I'll recommend this page to you (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%ABlauea)- it's chock full of fascinating information. Two things: Big Island is actually made up of five different volcanoes, and it's only relatively recently they've figured out Kilauea is not part of Mauna Loa, and this volcano's been erupting constantly since something

Map of Big Island

like 1983, and incredibly often before that. 

Remember we wondered why Hilo has so few things catering to tourists when thousands visit VNP every day? Well, we got part of that question answered at the visitors center.  They posted signs suggesting what you should do if you only have a certain number of hours in the park - and I think the signs started with a mere 1-3! There really isn't anything else to do on this side of Hawaii, so I can only imagine people fly in, drive up for a couple of hours and fly out. Boy, do I feel sorry for them. We spent the whole day there and could have used a bit longer!

remind anyone of Empire Strikes Back?

After our ranger tour, we went to the steam vents and the sulfur bank. The steam vents weren't much for Joe and me, as we've been to Yellowstone a few times and seen plenty. The sulfur banks were more interesting. This cairn of rocks was put up about 50 years ago, all neat and square as you can see in the black and white photo on the sign.  But look at what 50 years of fumes have done to the rock in the left photo! Joe rested again a bit here, wanting to save his ankle for later.


Thurston Lava Tube

On the way down

We headed back past the visitor center to see the Thurston Lava Tube. We'd seen a little one on the way to Hana, but that in no way prepared us for this! Imagine how much lava it took to create this. We walked through and back to the car, where we - again - sat and ate lunch while it started to mist a bit. We all wanted to walk the trail down to Kilauea Iki (little Kilauea), as we'd been told we could get down to the crater floor. 400 feet down. A four mile walk if you do the whole thing. Yeah, right, with a sprained ankle. But Joe wanted to give it a try, declaring he could rest when we  

 got home. So down we went. The trail wasn't rough and not particularly steep - but of course down is the easy part! We all made it to the bottom, and entered another world. I have to say this ranks right up there as one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.  It's like another planet - all these slabs of black, black rock. We decided to walk along the trail, such as it was, as far as Joe thought he could go. We'd never have done this on a warm sunny day - we didn't have hats or enough water (notice I say enough - we did have some) to withstand the heat that must come off this surface in the sun. It started to mist whilst we walked, and, since it never got any heavier than that, it was ok as it kept us cool. You can actually SEE the ripples in the lava flows (see picture at the end). Big slabs are lifted up, while others have fallen.   We all went about 2/3 of the way across the crater, from number 14 to about marker 11 on this map (from

https://imagidiem.wordpress.com/2010/08/) . Joe figured he'd gone far enough, considering the climb still left.  So he and I headed back, while Kendra and James kept going.  They wanted to make the whole circuit. We made it back to the car only about 20 minutes ahead of them. Joe walked better than 2 miles on that foot, with more to come. And life finds a way. This picture below is what you get nearly 50 years after an eruption, but things will grow.


Next up: Chain of Craters Road. It's really Chain of Lava Flows road, but that doesn't have quite the same ring. You drive through (and I mean through - the road's been cut right through the flows) flow after flow on your way down to the ocean. We really meant to just drive to the end of the road, but couldn't help stopping now and again. It's just so amazing. Some of the lave looked like tree trunks, some of it like water ripples and some like clods of dirt! Who knew? But eventually we got to the end of the road - sort of. The road used to go on from here (zoom in on the sign), but eight miles of it was buried under lava between 1983 and 1991. Hundreds of homes and a visitor center were destroyed, but, since the

The lava just...stops

lava moves slowly, people got out of the way.  It's about a half mile hike from the official end of the road to the actual flows, and this time it was hot. We were still all in jeans, but the sun was out, and it was a humid 80. Joe still made it and even did some walking on the lava - which looked different yet again! Sorry for all the pictures of lava, but we were all fascinated. Some of it even comes down in these fine glass filaments, called Pele's hair. It's illegal to pick these up, as all materials out of a volcano are sacred to Hawaiians, plus you just can't take stuff out of national parks! Make sure to read the sign in the picture below.

 

We climbed back up to the Jagger Museum, overlooking Kilauea crater again. It was nearly sundown, and that's when the show starts.  Although you can't see lava, you can see its glow against the sides of the crater after dark. And the darker it gets, the brighter the glow.  Hundreds show up every night. We got a great night - the clouds meant the glow reflected off them as well. We talked to another ranger for a while. He explained the odd lighting we'd noticed on the island. It's there to protect the night sky for the big observatory. I didn't follow the long explanation, but suffice it to say the nature of the allowed light means it can sometimes be filtered out of the data at the observatory. The fact that much of the island is often cloud covered - and the clouds are below the summit - helps, too. And it turns out this kind of light is better for birds and turtles as well - doesn't interfere with them as much as more standard lighting. Lights were shielded, too - with the light directed downward instead of out in a globe.

Eventually we headed back out of the park.  We hadn't needed the flashlights.  The lava flow right now is so far from any accessible point in the park that you can't see any. Period. Boy, did we hear visitors pestering the rangers about that - like somehow the rangers could make the lava flow just to make these folks happy.  Yeah, it would have been truly fantastic to see lava actually flowing,
but what are you going to do? We stopped in Volcano Village for dinner, hitting up one more place specializing in local foods for a late dinner.  Fortunately for Joe, the drive back to our B&B was more like 45 minutes, on reasonably straight roads, instead of the 2+ hours from Hana!

This picture at the left shows four different kinds of lava. From top to bottom:
A'a - rough and jagged, made us all think of dirt
Pahoehoe - smooth and ropy
Pele's hair - really volcanic glass
I don't know if this is just a version of Pahoehoe, or if it's really a tree trunk in there!

One last geeky thing: Look at the map showing all the different lava flows over the last 100+ years. And that's only at the summit! There are many, many more as you head down to the coast.  From http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/calderageology_map.html

Island Hopping

27 February 2014

An in-between day...  We had to be out of the condo by 11, yet our flight to Oahu wasn't until 4. What to do in the interim? Joe couldn't walk much, we certainly didn't want to go to the beach again (sunburns plus nowhere to clean up) and we didn't have time to take any kind of long drive. I'd wanted to go upcountry (inland and up) as it's supposed to be very different terrain, where the farming goes on and many of the native islanders live.  We met lots of folks who'd moved to Hawaii, but not so many born there.  I doubt we met any actual Hawaiians, as there aren't many of them.  You're not Hawaiian just by being born there - it's an ethnic group. You're an islander instead. I'd read about Iao Valley and thought it sounded like a nice destination for a quick trip - and it was.  Not quite what I thought - it's a state park, not just a valley showing you "real" life on Maui - but certainly a lovely spot to spend some time.

We stopped on the way and got Joe a cane.  He insisted he didn't need it and I insisted he did. He quickly admitted I was right and it was probably the best 20 bucks we spent. He still limped, but could at least get around in considerably less pain.

Iao Valley State Park is know for the Iao Needle. From http://www.gohawaii.com/maui/regions-neighborhoods/central-maui/iao-valley-state-park,

...this peaceful 4,000-acre, 10-mile long park is home to one of Maui's most recognizable landmarks, the 1,200-foot Iao Needle. This iconic green-mantled rock outcropping overlooks Iao stream and is an ideal attraction for easy hiking and sightseeing.Aside from its natural tropical beautiful, sacred Iao Valley has great historical significance. It was here in 1790 at the Battle of Kepaniwai that King Kamehamaha I clashed with Maui's army in his quest to unite the islands. Even with Iao Needle serving as a lookout point, Kamehameha defeated Maui's forces in a ferocious battle that ultimately changed the course of Hawaiian history.

That's the Needle on the right

With the ocean in the distance

REALLY steep hills and valleys!

James, Kendra and I wandered around for a while - Joe rested. The terrain was somewhat steep in places - as you can see - and it just wasn't worth the risk of aggravating his ankle. There's a stream running through the valley - now there's a surprise - and in one area they've diverted it to show how kalo (taro) is grown.  It's much like rice - often grown in flooded conditions.  There really wasn't all that much to see or do here, but we certainly had a gorgeous day and I can't come up with a better

Could it really be a maple?

Sugarcane - wow.

place to pass some time. We headed down to Wailuku for lunch. The boys had the catch of the day, and, once again, it proved to be delicious. It's amazing the food you can get at hole in the wall cafes. We find it's either fantastic or awful, and you never know which!

On our way to Iao, we'd passed the entrance to Kepaniwai Park, so we decided to go back.  What a lovely choice! It's a series of gardens, each showcasing something about a different ethnic group that emigrated to Hawaii at some point in time - Korea, Japan, China, Portugese, American (missionaries came long before Hawaii was a state) and more. It sure was odd to see a New England style house plunked down on Maui, but I guess they built what they knew (NOT getting into any discussion of what happened

Korean pavilion, where we listened to the band

 

SO steep here...

 to Hawaiians after the Europeans arrived...let's just say that some still consider the islands to be occupied by a hostile foreign government).We meandered from one to another, listening to a band practicing. They were pretty good, and it's not hard to sit in a cool, shady pavilion with music playing!

view out the open airport window of Maui's mountains

We headed to the airport, and flew from Maui to Oahu, then on to Hawaii - better known, perhaps, as the Big Island. If you look at a map of Hawaii, you'll see how far out of our way we ended up going. Maui is northwest of Hawaii, and Oahu further west than Maui. So we flew west just to turn around and fly east, back over Maui! We arrived after dark, but fortunately the owner of the B&B in Hilo gave excellent directions and we had no trouble finding the house. We hadn't yet eaten, and asked her for suggestions. She told us that since it was after 8, only a couple of places would still be open. Really? After 8? What is this, downtown St. Paul? I found out later that Hilo's population sits at roughly 40,000  - about double that of Kihei, where we certainly had no trouble finding places open after 8! So it was off to Ken's Pancake House, open 24/7. It was a lot like a Perkins - big portions, not too expensive, breakfast the best thing on the menu - but with a Hawaiian twist, with things like mango syrup. The food was passable and the service terrible.  I think the server made four separate mistakes! Reviews tend to love it, but one apparent foodie on Yelp said Hilo is a restaurant wasteland, and people don't know that food can be so much better and that they could demand much higher quality. We were baffled by the lack of hotels and other things catering to tourists. So many people visit Volcanos National Park, and it's not like you can really land in the morning, tour the park and fly out again.  Or maybe you can - if you are content to only glimpse the park's surface. More on that later. Back to the B&B and off to bed - somehow our days just always seemed to end up going much later than planned...

Sun, Sand, Surf and .... Sprains

26 February 2014

At last - a day of leisure! We planned to sleep in, go to the beach, come back to the condo and relax and then head to Lahaina for some shopping and dinner.  Well, that all happened, but of course not quite according to plan.

What a delight to sleep in and then eat a leisurely breakfast on the lanai! That lovely soft warm air and a gentle breeze...  It's April 17 as I start this post, and I'm looking at several inches of snow.  Hardly normal at this time of year, and I'm bloody tired of it. We thought by going to Hawaii at the end of February, we'd come back with winter's back broken.  Boy, were we wrong.

But I digress.

As I sat and sipped my tea, a yoga class started on the grass below. I wished I had a mat and could go join them, until I watched for a while.  Perhaps it was designed for folks with mobility issues, but it just looked boring to me. I don't think they did a single standing pose - and it went on for 90 minutes!

Eventually we got all our stuff together (leisure day, remember?) and headed off to Makena Beach State Park, better known as Big Beach. On the way, we stopped at (I think) the Four Seasons hotel to see if a friend of Kendra's was working. He's in charge of one of the restaurants there. He wasn't in yet, but we walked around the vast lobby - open to the air! What do they do in a big windy storm? Then we walked around the pool and down to the beach.  This is your luxury place to stay, with little private cabanas and staff to tend to your every need.  I'm pretty darn sure one night in one room there was more than our four nights for four at the condo - where just about all we did was sleep anyway! I felt awfully out of place in my Target coverup...  It's interesting to note that all beaches in Hawaii are open to everyone. The beach in front of this hotel is not "theirs" - anyone can use it.  It's so friendly that way.

When we got to the beach, a sign over the entrance warned visitors to not leave valuables in the car. Everything we read stated this most emphatically.  Apparently breaking into cars is the biggest crime issue on the islands.  We took heed, and carried everything of value with us or left it behind.  James misspoke and told a cashier he'd left his license in the car (it was at the condo) and the guy practically read him the riot act! It was a bit overdone, but at least the intent was good. I'd read Big Beach never felt crowded, even with the parking lot full. Good thing that turned out to be true, as the lot was mostly full when we arrived and jammed when we left! And good thing there are trees on the beach. We promptly set our stuff down in the shade and headed for the water - wearing SPF 50 sunscreen. Ah, lovely warm water under a blue, blue sky... I was astonished at the pull of the water as the waves receded. Granted, I haven't spent much time in oceans, but the pull isn't nearly that strong in Florida. If you go far enough out, you can just bob up and down in the waves, no problem. But if you're closer to shore, right where incoming and outgoing meet, it's often enough to knock you off your feet, even if it's not waist deep! I know this from experience.... I was bending over to try to grab a piece of coral (not many shells there, but a fair amount of coral), and got knocked ass over teakettle.  It would have been funny, but I got caught in the in and out and couldn't get up for 2 or 3 waves. Somehow my sunglasses managed to stay on top of my head - I'm really  not sure how. I went back up on the beach to sit in the shade for a while after that, but had to head back into the water.  That meeting place of waves was chock full of sand - and now so was I. You should have seen the clouds that came out of my suit.  Well, no, actually you shouldn't... Joe managed some body surfing. Kendra and James did some bobbing about, but not too much. James fell asleep in the sun, while Kendra read.  Joe and I retired to
the shade whenever not in the water. We applied more sunscreen. Kendra didn't, figuring being in the shade was enough.  But northern skins burn even then...  Joe and I were fine, but James and Kendra got pretty pink.  She was sore; he wasn't - and his was worse. Go figure.  You could even see where the wires of his headphones had lain across his chest! Of course we didn't realize this right away - but it turned out to be a good thing we all got hungry and left for lunch, or they'd have been really crispy.

Side note: We didn't observe any real tidal action in Hawaii.  I'm not sure if we missed it, or there really isn't any.  I kind of figure the islands just aren't big enough to be affected that way - the ocean must hardly even notice them!



Our lunch  spot - fish feeding from below!

When we got out of the car for lunch, Joe just stopped in his tracks.  He thought it was a leg cramp. Nope. He's not sure how or when - probably when body surfing - but he sprained his ankle.  Did a good job of it, too. We got an ace wrap and iced it and he elevated it, but he could barely limp along. Driving didn't seem to be an issue, but walking sure was. All four of us went out for shaved ice after lunch.  In our three and a half days on Maui (one of those gone for 14 hours to Hana), we'd accumulated 10 punches to get a free one!  And they don't give you a mini for your free one, either - it can be any size you want with any number of flavors on top!

We'd planned to head to Lahaina for sushi, stopping beforehand for a bit of souvenir shopping (Kihei doesn't have a lot besides trinket kind of stuff). Joe wanted a Hawaiian shirt (they have Hawaiian shirt Fridays during the summer at his job), and we were on the hunt for one that 1) was made in Hawaii - lots aren't, 2) was cotton or at least mostly cotton 3) was reasonably well made and (here's the hard one when combined with the others) 4) not over $100.  The rest of us wandered the mall, searching, while he sat.  I finally found one in, of all places, a store akin to Walgreen's! He hasn't had a chance to wear it yet...  I was looking for one for me, too, but either they're not cut for women, or they're all polyester (ick) or they're hugely expensive. I eventually found a dress instead of a shirt in, believe it or not, the airport. Who knew? By then I'd looked around enough to be OK with the price I paid. I'd have been better off going to a fabric store and then making my own, but we ran out of time for that.

James' Japanese beer

We didn't go to the sushi place in Lahaina, as it turned out it was actually a ways north of there, and thus further away from Kihei. We drove back there and went to their second restaurant.  Boy, if you want fresh sushi, Hawaii is sure the place to go.  It's not the only place with really fresh stuff, of course, but I can't imagine it being any more fresh.  I won't eat raw fish, but they had a fabulous selection of either veggie type rolls or others with smoked fish, etc. Kendra and James eat a fair amount of sushi in San Francisco, so they were able to guide our choices.  You can certainly get good sushi here, but it's SO expensive! For a city of about 20,000, Kihei sure had some fabulous food.

The Heavenly Road

25 February 2014

Brace yourselves - you're in for a long read!

Well, the guidebooks will tell you it's the Heavenly Road to Hana, but honestly? They're right when they also tell you Hana isn't much.  This is one time the journey truly is the destination. We read we should start no later than 8 am to avoid crowds. Check (another really early morning, as the start of this road is at least 30 minutes from Kihei). We read we should take our time, but the round trip journey was an easy day. Check - not. We've long since figured out we don't travel the way most folks do.  We much prefer to see one or two things well than race through a bunch of things to get them off our list. But even knowing that didn't prepare us for this jaunt. It took us about 6 hours to get to Hana - not the 3-4 most books promised - and that wasn't the end of the road! Joe ran into someone who took the same drive and absolutely could not see what the big deal was. (I paraphrase) "We got there in about two and a half hours and it's nothing." Joe asked what he'd thought of all the waterfalls. "What waterfalls?" Clearly, this guy never took his eyes off the road and his only goal was to be done as soon as possible.  Boy, did he miss a lot.

I bet some of this has never felt footsteps.

We started out with a car load of stuff. There's not much in the way of places to stop on this road, and we wanted to be prepared.  We had a cooler, swimsuits, towels, changes of clothes, hats, sunscreen, bug repellent, cameras, we bought lunch to pack along - you might think we thought of everything.  You'd be wrong. We forgot our raincoats. And we went through a rain forest. Surprise! It rained.  And it rained - for four hours straight.  I'm not sure that's typical. Kihei is on the dry side of things, but Hana's not. Of course, that's why it's so lush. We heard most rain doesn't last very long, but we ended up in the exception. I hate traveling in wet clothes, and I must admit to being somewhat cranky until I dried off.  But it all ended well.

First of all, some background.

From Wikipedia (the airport is inKahului, and it was about a 20 minute drive to there):

Although Hāna is only about 52 miles from Kahului, it takes about 2.5 hours to drive when no stops are made as the highway is very winding and narrow and passes over 59 bridges, 46 of which are only one lane wide. There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hāna.

Let me say that this dry recitation of curves and bridges doesn't begin to tell you what it's really like. This map does.  All those curves get you back to the narrowest part of a valley, usually with a stream.

The bridges are generally all of 4 or 5 car lengths long, so when I say narrowest, I mean it! Sometimes the curves are so tight you can't begin to see if anyone's coming the other way, especially once you're past Hana. Some places have signs telling you to honk to alert others you're there! And this winding goes on for miles and miles, so you can guess that it's all pretty slow.  That's ok as it means you get to look around - except for the driver! So we stopped where we could.  I had my trusty accupuncture beads in and they worked nearly all day.  Kendra was OK most of the day, but used my accupressure bands as we wound our way home - more on that later.

Since we were on the road, rather than above it, we obviously didn't get a bird's eye view. But others have, and this gives you an even better idea of the terrain through which we drove. It doesn't show the valleys, but you get the idea.

And there aren't any guard rails...

Our first stop was Pa'ia to get lunch. We went to one of the few open places and got what we needed. The store also sold bug repellent.   Now we'd hardly seen a bug to this point, but we'd been on the dry side. I figured the wet side would be aswarm with mosquitos.  I figured wrong - we never saw even one, so that was money down the drain.  At least it wasn't much. The store also sold CDs narrating the road, telling you where you were and when to stop. Unlike most other states, Hawaii has laws forbidding the erection of much signage, so nothing along the road is labeled. If you want to see ABC falls, there's no sign pointing towards them.  The only navigational aid is the mile markers.  So everything relies on those.  James had downloaded an audio tour for a fraction of the CD price so we used that instead.  It worked really well - for a while. Since the area is so remote, the reception wasn't very good and just drained his battery (he bought a car charger in Hana). It was also tied via GPS to your position, so you can't listen to it unless you're at the appropriate spot! The tour also told us when not to stop - either something was further from the road than we had time for, or it was overrated and overcrowded or if it was actually on private property. I have to say, when it told us a place was worth seeing, we ended up agreeing!

The first part of the drive took us through pretty country, but nothing all that amazing.  We did pull over to watch the surfers. There's a place we didn't get to nicknamed Jaws  - because the waves can chew you up. When the surf's up - as it often is in winter - the waves can reach 60 feet.  That's not a typo. Needless to say, it's not the place to learn to surf! The left picture shows one of the many showers  through which we passed before hitting steady rain. The shot below shows the surfers just hanging out, apparently waiting for better waves.  Or maybe they were just hanging out!

Soon after this, we began to hit curves.  And waterfalls. And impossibly beautiful vistas. We stopped at Haipua'ena Falls and got out to hike up the stream bed to see the upper falls.  An interesting side note: waterfalls can vary tremendously from one day to the next.  Rainfall certainly plays a role - flash floods aren't uncommon - but so does irrigation! Plantations on the higher elevations sometimes divert nearly all the water into the fields, and other times release it, so you never know what you're going to see.  Fortunately for us, this stream was low enough that we could easily hike up it (well, more or less - it wasn't exactly a smooth path, but certainly not impassable). And Kendra got to do one of the things on her Hawaii list - she got to stand under a waterfall! The water was surprisingly cold! Joe and I didn't swim here - we'd left our suits in the car.

 Just as we got back to the car, the rain really started. And then it didn't let up for hours. We even ended up eating lunch in the car, pulled off to the side in one of the few spots wide enough to do so. That wasn't all bad, as just before we'd gotten caught in a line of very slow-moving cars. Stopping allowed that block to get way ahead of us and we had clear sailing after that. It was actually hard to get good shots along the Highway. There was certainly no shortage of fantastic scenery, but it proved nearly impossible to pull over and take pictures - the road is just too narrow and curvy.  We did manage a few - including the two below that show the terrain fairly well.  Unfortunately, the rain/clouds made many of our shots rather too dark to show off what we really saw. The road just goes on and on and on - you can hardly believe how long it takes to get anywhere! But so, so worth it.

Our next major stop was Kahanu Garden, a tropical botanical garden that showcases many of the Hawaiian plants  (both native and those brought by the ancient Polynesian explorers) and talks about their uses.  It's also home to Pi'ilanihale Heiau, a huge ancient temple built of lava rock.  Unfortunately, you can't get all that close to it, and certainly can't get to the top, so there isn't much to see but a very large wall.  I'm guessing you could actually climb it, but it's sacred ground, so one just observes.  The builders constructed a giant retaining wall, filled it in with stones and topped it with a 450' by 320' platform. When I said huge, I meant huge! It dates to about 1200 A.D. and some stones came from about 7 miles away. It was built by King Pi'ilani and his heirs. He also gets credit for building a ten foot wide road that circumnavigated the island!  Needless to say, it was quite the undertaking.  No one actually knows how it was used - it may have been religious, it may be

been for housing, and it may have been both. I didn't get to read the guidebook while we were walking - it was just too darn wet.  Even with keeping it sheltered, the poor guide has clearly been quite damp! If it were a library book, I'd charge the last user and then delete it! The park has umbrellas available for use. We started out without rain - but took the umbrellas anyway.  Good thing. It was pouring by the time we were done. At least it wasn't cold? The last part of the self-guided tour takes you through a stand of coconut trees, with a sign warning you not to stand under them because of falling coconuts! But the warning is warranted - we saw them all over the place and they're huge right off the tree! The coconuts you see in the store have had the

outer shell removed - these were at least head-sized. Joe got this amazing shot of a spider web - so incredible in the rain. I never even noticed it. We reluctantly gave back the umbrellas, and contintued on to Wai'anapanapa State Park, home to a rare black sand (let's call it what it is - it's small rocks, not really sand) beach. But not a beach for swimming.  To call this shoreline dangerous is to utter quite the understatement. It's full of incredibly sharp rocks (you ain't seen sharp rocks until you've seen volcanic rocks), big waves and unpredictable currents.  Kendra and James took a quick dip, but didn't venture far - unlike these idiots (in the distance in the picture below) who jumped and dove into these waters. There's a tiny lava tube here - the tunnel left behind after lava made its way to the ocean. And there are blowholes.  The marked one didn't have anything going on - waves coming in the wrong way - but some others did.  You'd see the wave hit shore, and then, a few seconds later, water would spurt up out of the holes.  We didn't linger too long as - you guessed it - it was still raining, rather heavily at this point.

Finally, about six hours after we began, we actually got to Hana. And the books are right - it's not much of a town. We kept going. Believe it or not, the road got even narrower (see the shot below).  But without any trouble, we got to Ohe'o Gulch (often called the Seven Sacred Pools, but that's a misnomer.  There are way more than 7 and they're not any more sacred than any other water in Hawaii - where pretty much all nature is sacred). This time Joe and I got into our swimsuits and headed across one of the pools.  Not quite as fun as it was for J and K, I don't think, as it was more crowded, but still a lovely experience. Thank goodness it had finely stopped raining and it was just beautiful. I read that there are times the rangers close the pools.  Sometimes the water rages so fast it can sweep you out to sea - and sharks lurk at the mouth of the river.  But it wasn't much of a flow whilst we were there, so it was

all good. We spotted these crabs on a rock at the river's mouth - probably would have made a tasty meal!

By now it was close to four, and Joe wanted to head back - in a big hurry.  We had all those curves to navigate again, and the road mostly hugs the east coast of Maui - the side to get dark first. He REALLY didn't want to be driving the worst of the road in the dark! Fortunately, he got behind a couple of islanders.  We could tell by the speed with which they drove their trucks - clearly they knew the road.  Joe figured if they could take the curves at those
speeds, he was safe to follow right along. And he was right.  We made some rapid progress for quite a few miles.  I forget what exactly caused us to lose them - we might have stopped for some drinks and snacks, or it might have been the sight of some of the waterfalls we hadn't stopped to see in the heavy rain on the way out now clearly visible in the late afternoon light.  We made a few very brief stops for photos and just kept going. Joe managed to make it past the "worst" of the curves before it got really dark.  Kendra and I were OK for much of it, but did begin to feel queasy after 90 minutes or so of fast cornering - Kendra in particular.  I pulled out my sea bands. She put them on and reported feeling significantly better within about 10 minutes.  Was it in her head? Her stomach? Placebo effect? Don't know and don't care. She felt better.

We had thought to have dinner in Pa'ia, but didn't see anything all that appealing as we drove its one main street, so just went back to Kihei.  I'd read about a good Indian restaurant, and the reviews were right.  It was so odd to walk in and still be in fresh air - all the windows were wide open to the outside, without even any screens. It would have been a gorgeous view had there been any daylight!

We resolved the next day would be a whole lot more leisurely.  We'd thought about going to the top of Haleakala, at nearly 10,000 feet elevation, but decided against it.  Just getting there would entail another 2.5 hour drive - one way! - and Joe just didn't feel up to it.  Who could blame him? And anyway, what's a trip to Hawaii without going to the beach?

Some random shots of the day to finish up this incredibly long entry!

Ohe'o Gulch

One of the many gorgeous falls we passed.