Maui: Extended Version

We scored this Jeep Wrangler for our rental car. There is NO OTHER way to see an island than with the top down, wind blowing through your hair, and smelling the fresh ocean air! That evening we treated ourselves to a fine dining experience at Mama's Fish House. It was a quaint, partially open-air restaurant perfectly situated in a cove on the north shore where wind surfers were catching some waves. Not to mention the delicious food at sunset- it was perfect!
Here' s our hotel room- we thought it was sweet until we took a tour of the real time share units & then realized that we had been cheated! The room below is a converted hotel room and the other time share units were purpose built & they were BEAUTIFUL! No complaints, though, it was a great deal!
The first day we slept in a little & then drove up the coast to see the blow hole. There are only 7 or 8 in the world & this one was pretty amazing.
Bill enjoyed getting up close & feeling the ocean spray, but someone had to be the photographer!
A little further up we explored these natural pools, called the Ovaline Pools. They are similar to tide pools, but much deeper. One was 10 feet deep!
That evening was our first time to enjoy the Fish Tacos & Hula Pie at Leilani's. Hula Pie is a macadamia nut ice cream in an Oreo shell, with a chocolate sauce & macadamia nut coating and whipped cream to boot!
On Saturday morning we set out for the excursion of a life time! We drove the road to Hana. The actual 'road' was about 1 1/2 hours from our hotel, so we got an early start. The pictures don't hardly do justice to this tropical, windy road!

Our first stop on the road was in the 'Garden of Eden' & we were a bit disappointed at what we got for the price. But the views we did get were beautiful!
The stop below was one of our favorite, again the pictures don't do it justice. The first picture is us overlooking a small village nestled in the trees. And right behind that you see the rolling green hills. We truly were in awe!
There were many other waterfalls that we stopped at along the way- & we have pictures by all of them, but I won't bore you.

This is called Black Pebble Beach. It's a state park & one of the few places where it was posted 7 times that swimming was definitely NOT allowed! We saw many dead jelly fish that had washed up to shore- but let me tell you that Bill thought long and hard about swimming despite the warnings. It's hard for him to pass up any swimming hole- but he passed this one up, thankfully!
Our next favorite stop of the day was this black sand beach. It was definitely a local hang out, with good reason. The sand was warm, there was a perfect break for boogie boards & body surfing, and it was gorgeous!
That concludes our 13 hour excursion of the road to Hana. We were too tired to enjoy our dinner that night, but managed to choke something down before stumbling off to bed. We truly rested on the Sabbath- it was peaceful & relaxing!

Monday morning we were up for another early excursion. We took a boat ride to the Molokini Crater where we did some snorkeling. Here is the crater in the distance, and yes, that is the SUNRISE.
Bill & I had taken our wet suits anticipating cold water. Boy were we surprised at how warm it was! So, we didn't take the we suits on the snorkeling adventure & I ended up renting a top so I didn't get too cold. What a waste of packing space!
Once we stopped Bill was the first person in the water & of course he was the last one out. There were 120 people on board & Bill was sure not to miss one second of snorkeling.
That evening Bill & I attended a Luau. Neither of us have been to an authentic one, so that was a requirement for our trip.
We turned in early- at 9 p.m.- so we could be up at 2:15 to see the sunrise at the Haleakala Crater. Some of you asked if that's b/c we hiked & the answer is no. We had to drive 2 hours to the summit. It's also important to arrive about 1 hour before sunrise b/c the small parking lot fills up quickly. If you miss that parking lot, you have to park below and hike up in the pitch black and freezing cold. We timed it perfectly! There was an observation room where we waited for a long time before we decided to brave the elements & wait outside.
The picture doesn't do this justice, but you get an idea of how amazing it was!
After that it was back to the hotel where we enjoyed lounging on the beach & more snorkeling before packing up. Our last dinner in Maui was at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co.
Believe it or not, there are parts of the island that we left unexplored. Someday we hope to return.....