Maui: Day Three

June 4, 2016
This is going to be a long one.

I got some good advice on things to do while in Maui...but only after we had arrived.
I should have thought to ask for tips early on but didn't.

I got a lot of ideas from friends on Facebook and also in texts and emails.

We had a bit of a list of things that we knew we wanted to do, though we never actually wrote it down in a handy list form.  I would just refer back to my Facebook post and my various texts.

One of the "must do" things was the Road to Hana.

So we took off early on Day Three to accomplish this.

One downside to our hotel was that it was on the far side of the island from some of these well-known attractions.  It was nearly an hour drive to get to the start of the drive to see them...

and then the actual attraction was a drive.  

We spent a lot of time driving. 

First stop: our favorite little bakery.

We got breakfast and the boys got more pie.

I got another brownie that I actually remembered to eat this time.

Since we were using the app to tell us about Hawaii as we drove, he told us of a place to visit that was just up the road from the bakery

so we made a detour and went there first before starting the road to Hana.

This first stop was the Iao Valley.

Here's how Wikipedia describes it since I couldn't think of the best words:

Iao Valley (Hawaiian: ʻĪ-ao: "cloud supreme", pronounced similar to "EE-ow") is a lush, stream-cut valley in West Maui, Hawaii, located 3.1 mi west of Wailuku. Because of its natural beauty and historical significance, it has become a popular tourist location. 

Just so gorgeous.

In this area there is also the Iao Needle.
Wikipedia again:
The Iao Needle (Kūkaemoku) is a famous landmark in the state park, a vegetation-covered lava remnant rising 1,200 feet (370 m) from the valley floor or 2,250 feet (690 m) when measured from sea level.

It was just gorgeous and the area has all these walkways to wind around and explore.

Before we went on the road to Hana, we stopped for some treats.

Frank got one of his favorite things: ice cold fresh coconut with a straw.

Carter got fresh mango.

_____

The Road to Hana is a 3 hour drive into the jungle 

and it's about the drive, not the destination of Hana.

The road curves through amazing jungle, past gorgeous ocean views

and has multiple waterfalls and pools to stop at.

We used the app I mentioned earlier and he gave all kind of stories and facts about the area

as well as advice on when to stop and get out to see something.

It's a very curvy road so I did the driving so as to avoid being car sick.

We stopped at many spots along the way.

It was raining pretty hard most of the day so when we stopped the arboretum, it was really coming down.
I remembered that we had purchased a beach umbrella so we pulled that out of the trunk and used it as we walked around looking at the trees.  It still had the tags on. I'm sure we looked a little funny but it worked.
We passed some other folks who were walking along in the rain wearing just their swimming suits. They were smart.

This is where we saw the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees.

These trees are so cool!

They don't even look real.

Here they are at a distance...hard to see what I'm talking about.

Here are some closeups

While we were hiking around here, we came to a pretty muddy area and I managed to trip and fall into the mud.  I caught myself, so it was just one leg thankfully, but it hurt.

Both of the boys were just standing there staring at me as I was kneeling in the mud, which I gave them crap for later.

I bought this gorgeous hat at Kmart.

My skin hates the sun and I forgot my hat at home so I had to buy a new one and this one was a cheap option.

And gorgeous, obviously.

We visited  the Pools of Ohe'o, also known as the "seven sacred pools" which are about 45 minutes past Hana.

We actually bypassed Hana and went straight there since it was getting late which Carter thought was pretty funny...

taking the Road to Hana and not visiting Hana.

We did visit on the way back just so we could say we'd been there.

This is a gorgeous area with numerous waterfalls that flow into pools and eventually down into the ocean.

It sits on a black sand beach area.

The "sand" is really more like small pebbles, but still cool.

Frank and I took a dip in the pool because it just felt like a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

It was chilly water but so nice and, obviously, beautiful!

More gorgeous views from the drive.

My favorite selfie of Frank

After this long day, we went back to the hotel and had a simple dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches.

We played cards and watched a movie from Redbox.

I won the card game, which is an important tidbit.

Today was also Ryan's birthday.

He didn't get to come with us...kind of a long story...he had originally planned to move to Hawaii in the spring so we thought he'd already be living here.

And then when it didn't work out for him to move, we couldn't find a good enough deal on tickets to bring him along.

Carter would have loved to have another brother there with him...he gets a lot of alone time with us, and although he's a good sport about it, he would prefer to have a brother along.

Happy Birthday from Hawaii, Ryan!