We got up fairly early for our Day Three. 6am may not be early for some but for us, on vacation, it is usually just not done. It was the "exciting" (for the people riding in the car) or "dreaded" (for the person actually having to drive) Road to Hana on our agenda for the day.
I loved the Road to Hana when we did it back in 1994 but I didn't have to drive it and we really didn't do it right. We did very few stops because I didn't have the resources like the computer skills or my great friends on TA to help us plan the way. We also, did a big boo boo that we were not aware of at the time. We drove back on the "back side". It was really a lovely drive but a few spots are definitely not for the rental car we had, so I have to strongly advise, don't do it in your rental car. Not only is is not allowed in your car rental contract, it could be very expensive if you get stuck back there. Rent a Jeep if you want the full experience and you will be fine. That said, we thought it was beautiful, got to see a part of Maui that not very many do, we had no issues with the car, but we did scrape by with about 20 minutes to spare of a big rain storm. Had that happened on that road at that time, we could of been in deep doo doo.
Soooo, this time I offered to do a escorted trip instead of Walter driving. He said "no, it was fine, save the money and I don't mind doing it every few years." Now, remember that was what he said, cuz he changes it up at the end of the day...Hee Hee But I did opt to do many stops along the way this time so not to have to hit him on the head to uncross his eyes at the end of the day!
We left the condo at 7 and headed to CJ's Deli and Diner. This is a little gold mine and they advertised their Road to Hana Picnic Lunch, cooler and all, so we thought it the best choice. Glad we did, because there were not a lot of places on the road open to stop and eat on our way into Hana.
CJ's is located in a little strip type mall called the Fairway Shops. You can see it right on Honoapiilani Hwy. The Hana Box Lunch includes your choice from their menu of a sandwich, a bag of chips, a drink, a pineapple boat, mac salad, a Hana Bar, ice, cooler and all the sandwich fixins. They put all the lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles etc for your sandwiches in separate plastic wrap so the sandwiches don't get soggy, which was a nice touch. The cooler has a $7 deposit on it which you get back when you return it. If you choose to keep the cooler all week, they will give your free ice refills as well. Walt and I had the tuna sandwich, mama the ham and cheese and we were happy with the meal. All this for $12 is great! Walt enjoyed reading the menu and wanted to return for another meal in the future.
Ok, so, we have our picnic lunches and we are on our way. I had purchased a cd for the ride to point out various highlights on the road but to be honest with you, it was more hassle stopping it and starting it. I also had printed off from TA's sidebar topics on what to see on the Road to Hana. We found this easier to deal with. Alot of the places were not for us, because with an 80 year old, you can't take a chance of hiking some of those paths or trails.
First stop was to be Twin Falls and I guess we didn't get up early enough because the parking lot was packed and we couldn't find a place to park, so opted to check it out on the return. The traffic was not bad at all but it was difficult to pull over at a lot of the stops, there just isn't enough room or parking. My mom can't walk very long or far on uneven roads and unfortunately, there were barely any waterfalls to see this time of year right off the highway like I remember from 1994. Hawaii has been near drought stages for some time, I was told by someone, and you need lots of rain for lots of waterfalls, right? I imagine it will be better in the winter season.
We were able to stop by the Painted Eucalyptus Trees. I had never noticed or heard of these til I started my research on TA prior to this trip. Thank you for those who posted info about these beauties of nature! They were awesome to see!
Our next stop was the Keanae Peninsula for Aunty Sandy's Banana Bread and views of the black lava rock against that beautiful blue ocean! Now I haven't tried anyone else's banana bread except for one I bought at the Farmer's Market in Honokowai, but I liked Aunty Sandy's the best between the two. It was also highly regarded in reviews I found.
I actually still have a loaf in my freezer at home which I will share with family for Thanksgiving if they are nice. :-)
We left Aunty Sandy's happy with our still warm bread and drove to the end of the road to view the black craggy coast of the peninsula. It was very pretty and dramatic, kind of reminds me of parts of the Big Island with all it's black volcanic rock.
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| Haleakala in the Background |
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| Very clear day on the mountain! |
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| Waves are crashing |
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| Life sustains among the lava |
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| Surprise! |
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| Walt and I taking it easy |
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| Small tide pool |
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| Beautiful Rock Formations |
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| Mama made it down, no problem! |
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| Lilikoi Flavor for the 1st bowl |
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| Watch for the sign, we almost missed it |
Our next stop was going to be for a little treat before we stop for lunch,
a stop at Coconut Glen's Vegan Ice Cream. OMG......it is absolutely so much better than I had anticipated. It is not heavy and filling like ice cream and you would never know there is no dairy in it, so smooth and tasty!
When in Hawaii, I love to taste and enjoy all the fruits on the islands, so lilikoi was the first for me. Mom had coconut and Walt had the chocolate chili flavor. We all sampled each others and I hate to admit this, BUT, we stopped on the way back to try others! Glen is starting to make the ice creams also in a new place in Kahului with hopes to be able to start distributing to a larger audience. We would hope, hope, hope that he is successful so we can get it on the mainland someday. If not, then all the more reasons to return to Maui, right?
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| CJ's Lunch and this isn't all of it! |
Boy this is a popular place, especially with the tour bus and shuttle companies. I bet we saw 20 come and go from about 5 different companies while we sat at the picnic table and enjoyed our lunch from CJ's Deli and Diner.
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| Yummo!! |
The views from this park are wonderful and it was such a nice, relaxing place to enjoy a little lunch, walk and stretch out your legs after being in the car and for Walt to rest his eyes a bit from the road.
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| Sea Arch |
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| Trail to the Black Sand Beach is not good for 80 year olds |
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| A Beautiful Spot to Day Dream |
After we relaxed for a while it was time to head back on the road. Next stop..Hana!
We drove thru Hana at a leisurely pace trying to remember all the sights and things that we saw on our last trip.
We drove down by the little Hana Harbor. Lots of people were down there with picnic lunches and little keiki's playing in the sand.
We decided that it would be better to go all the way to the Pools of Oheo and Lindbergh's grave then stop on our way back thru town. There was a detour because they were doing something on the main highway, so we followed the signs and made our way back to the main road via the detour.
Now we remembered why we wanted to take the back road on our last visit to Hana. This is the part of the Road to Hana that seemed to be the worse with small lanes, tight, twisty turns and little visibility at times and we hated the thought of doing it again on the return! "We" meaning Walt especially. He was already getting a headache, poor guy.
We finally found a really nice waterfall on the road above the Pools of Oheo and pulled over so mama could get that waterfall picture that she wanted so badly. We had talked about doing the hike of the Pipawai Trail but with wise suggestions from TA friends, we nixed that idea. Walt and I will maybe do that next trip, IF I can get him on the road again.
Mama wanted to go ahead and walk down to where the Pools of Oheo could be best seen. After consulting with a Park Ranger near the parking lot and visitor center, we decided we would try it, he said the hike was easy.
It certainly wasn't a really hard trail, but for mom it was not exactly easy peasy either.
We held her arms thru some of it, and she did fine but die hard that she is, she wanted to go a little further down to the rocks.
We got down there so she could take her pictures, but trying to go back up proved to be more of a challenge.
Even tho I was hanging on to her arms, she slipped and went smack down on her behind and I went with her hitting and scuffing up my knee. We were both ok, but we sure had a couple of big bruises the next day. Those rocks are slippery even when not wet. My advice to anyone with an elderly person, no matter how spry they are is be VERY CAREFUL. There is a handrail on part of the trail but once you get on the rocks it is slippery. Two other elderly women who tried to help us get up, made the comment that it was no trail for elderly, they didn't care what anyone said.
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| Pools of Oheo where mama slipped to the right |
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| Kids having fun at Pools of Oheo |
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| Pools of Oheo |
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| Where the pools dump into the ocean |
We double checked our directions with the park ranger on the way out and she confirmed that the church where the grave is was only a couple miles down the road and that we made a turn where there was a sign for horse stables to get to it. We found it with no problem. The grave is at the Palapala Ho'omau Church that was built in 1857.
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| Respect |
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| Pretty Stained Glass |
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| Church where the grave is located |
Very peaceful, indeed.
It was time to head back. We had one more stop to make in Hana.
We wanted to stop by the Hasegawa Store and see if it was still standing and as unique as we found it the first time. It certainly was and mama found a few cards and a tee shirt, and I got an eco bag.....another for my collection for grocery use back home.
We were going to stop for gas at our pink speedo buddy's station so we could introduce ourselves on the way out of town, but Caddy, you were plum full at each pump with a couple cars and about 4 hogs...not the "oink oink" kind but the "vroom vroom" kind. You had your hands full at the time so I waved on the way out of town and wished you well!
After one more stop on the road home for another taste of Coconut Glen's ice cream we were ready for that condo, some wine and to finish off that Costco Chicken.
Remember at the beginning of the story when I said Walt was ohk with driving the Road to Hana????? Well, by this time of day I said to him "I don't think I will ever ask you to drive this road again, my dear and thank you very much for doing it for mama and me" He said "And you are right, you will never ask me and I will never drive it again!" Poor guy was very patient and he's right, next time, if there is ever a desire to see Hana, we will do a tour company and let them do the driving with the cross eyes!
One last thing for this day 3 blog. We weren't home to view what appeared to be a beautiful sunset, and altho I hate taking pictures from a moving car, I had not one smidgen of nerve to ask "ole cross-eyes" over in the driver's seat to pull over just one more time. I would probably be laying next to Charles and his 6 gibbons in the grave over in Hana and more than likely it would of been by way of catapulting, not being driven over there!
I took the following thru the car windows. They didn't turn out perfect but you can see the glorious colors and just close your eyes and imagine just what that sunset looked like in your mind! I did and it was a beautiful sight!
Aloha my friends! See you in Day 4......Halloween in Lahaina!
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