Day 10: Haleakala Sunrise / Farewell Dinner

 October 14

After our full day yesterday, we were in bed and asleep around 10pm-10:30pm.  The alarm went off at 2:05 am and we were out the door by 2:35am to meet our driver/guide at 2:50am downstairs.  WOW that was a quick turn around and it was EARLY.  The drive up to the top of Haleakala at the ranger station and observation deck at 10,000 feet took a little over two hours.  To be honest the twenty of us were either asleep or half asleep to the point that there was dead silence along the ride.  Add in that it was pitch black and I can tell you from the times I did look out on the way up that when we drove down in the broad daylight after the experience I NEVER would have guessed we'd driven past those views of the surrounding area.  The photo at left shows Kim and I on our first trip to Hawaii in 2007 (our twentieth wedding anniversary celebration) and we are standing in nearly the same place as we were this morning.  Now we'd been told that we should "dress in layers" and the comment was made that it could be "chilly."  But yesterday when we were on the "Road To Hana" and had mentioned to our driver Eric that we were doing this today his comment was, "Oh it's going to be cold - I'd advise you to ask the front desk to bring you some blankets."  I thought this might be a little over the top.....I'm sure that "cold" in Hawaii - much like Florida - would be in the low 60's right?  So I wore a long sleeve T-shirt and had my windbreaker (and long pants).  We had blankets but I really thought I'd use it to warm up on the ride back down on the bus.  When our guide today, Preston, was about to let us get off the van he told us the wind was "light" and that it was 48 degrees out.  Wait....what?  That seems a bit more chilly than I'd expected.  As we got off Kim had her blanket and I left mine.  When she questioned if I was going to bring it I said no.  Then I stepped off the bus into the "light wind."  YOWZA!  "Where are you going?" said Kim.  "To get my blanket!" I said.  And from that point on all four of us were wrapped up like mummies and still we were awfully cold.  Before we check out the pics of the stunning sunrise, let's get a little bit of perspective.....

So we are standing for the photos this morning at about where you see the little white arrow, right along the rail.  Note the arrows above.  It's hard to even imagine just looking at the photos.....it was hard to imagine in 2007 looking in the daylight.....and even harder to imagine in the darkness this morning.  But the crater, indicated by the arrows, is seven miles wide - yes, I said SEVEN MILES.  There's no way to wrap your head around how big an area it is that you're looking at which is ALL a big hole in the mountain top.  To give you some perspective, after we left the crater and were half way down the mountain at 5,000 feet Preston stopped the van to give us a panoramic view of Maui.  The island is kind of in the shape of the number "8" and where the middle of the two circles would be is an isthmus of land.  That expanse of land from shore to shore (indicated again by the arrows) is ALSO seven miles, the exact width of the volcano crater.......as my grandson Oliver would say, "THAT'S CRAZY!"

Now that you've got a little perspective, imagine that my photographs are looking straight out over just a small section of the crater.  I would have had to have done a panoramic / wide angle lens to capture the entire crater with the sunrise.  But obviously I focused on the actual sunrise.  So here's a sequence of photos to try and give you an idea of what we saw on top the mountain......

Here I've moved to the left of the ranger station to get a shot of the left side of the crater

Another shot o the left, five minutes later

And finally the last one, still to the left of the sunrise

There's no way - even in the video I show (which will be part of the highlight video I'll publish after we get home this weekend) - to really capture how very amazing this was, nor how cold we were!  One thing that is captured on the video is as the sun made it's appearance several people in the crowd began chanting the ancient Hawaiian sunrise song....just really cool.  A wonderful experience even if we were frozen to the bone :)  It took us about 90 minutes to make the descent, and kudos to our driver/guide Preston who OBVIOUSLY is the master of this excursion.  He delayed our departure while we warmed up on the bus and he filled us in on some information.  That way (a) we were not caught up in traffic and (b) when we arrived at the local restaurant for breakfast we had the place to ourselves.  Highly recommend this adventure if you're in Maui!  Once we returned to the resort I thought it would be a good idea to get a few photos of the glorious grounds here at the Sheraton Maui so I walked downstairs with the girls who were headed out to the beach, right here at the resort.

The main lobby - note (1) the mountain view (WOW) and (2) that it's all open air, no walls

Our room is on the third level, on the right, about even with the big white building visible over the top of this building

At 4:30 pm we met the group for one final time to have the "Farewell Dinner," to say our good-byes and get our individual directions for our departure tomorrow.  Fortunately the four of us do not depart Maui until 12:30 pm.  We arrive in Los Angeles around 8:30 pm and by 10:30 Sue & Dan will be on a flight to Atlanta and Kim & I will be on a flight to Fort Lauderdale.  We expect to land around 5:30 am, stop for coffee and be on our back porch by 7:00 am!  It's been a great trip - thank you to everyone who's joined us virtually!  I'll leave you with two last sunset shots.

PS - we'll be back traveling with an all-new adventure on November 2 (I know, it's RIGHT around the corner) when Kim and I will head off for the "Lost Continent".......Antarctica!

Day 9: The Road To Hana

 October 13

Well, probably this is one of the few things I've done as a traveler that I'd say it was truly a ONCE in a lifetime event because while we enjoyed the entire L-O-N-G day, I'm not sure I'd ever do it again.  Asked would I recommend it - that's a tough question.....I think I'd have to explain what we did and let the person make their own choice if it would be worth it, especially considering it's a 10-hour adventure.  And I should qualify that by saying, what I'd heard BEFORE our day was that the "Road To Hana" took you up to the town, and then you came back.  In OUR excursion we completely circumnavigated the entire island.....and it's the back half of the drive that would make many people wonder if this is really worth it.  We enjoyed every stop....had a GREAT day.....our driver Eric was amazingly awesome.  But.....well, here's the story........

We knew going in it would be a long day, and we knew that the Road To Hana has over SIXTY, yes 6-0 hairpin turns that wind all the way up to the town.  AND we knew that most of the road was along cliffs and over bridges with deep gorges.  And to be fair we debated about taking this excursion or using the entire day as a "free day" to enjoy the property and the adjoining beach.  But in the end, all the wonderful things we'd see and do made us decide it would be worth it.  The photo above was at our first stop and I could post at least half a dozen of these kinds of photos because we saw so, SO many amazing bays & beaches with the waves crashing.  At this first stop - oh, and did I mention our driver in our independent tour - met us in his Mercedes van at 5:50 am?  Only ten guests along for the ride which made it a very personalized event, and we enjoyed that.  Anyway, our driver provided us with pastries and drinks at this stop.  We moved on and we made a stop at what I'd read was a "YOU HAVE TO DO" stop at Aunt Sandy's which is known to have THE best banana bread on the islands.  And as we approached it's location about 8:25 Eric told us that it was not uncommon for the long to be some 20-30 deep, but because they opened at 8:30 am we thought we'd be one of the first in line and it would be great timing.  Pulled up just as people were beginning to stop buy and sure enough we were about number four in line.  We drove up the road with our coffee (and diet coke) and still hot banana bread to a park and enjoyed every bite.  Also took a selfie of the bay and I also took a close-up of the crashing waves.  They are so loud and so cool.

Then we headed up the road, winding our way to our lunch stop.  Along the way we say so many waterfalls, and even stopped briefly at one so a few of the guests could jump in for a photo op.  We'd pre-ordered a sandwich and Eric had snacks to go along with them as well as fresh pineapple.  Our stop was at the national park with a black sand beach where we could go swimming.  After polishing off the sandwich we changed and went down the 62 steps (was at least that many) to the beach and got in for about twenty minutes.  AHHHHH, so refreshing.  Below is a pic of the bay (you can see the beach on the far left side) and one of the four of us in the surf.

Next stop was the actual town of Hana for another photo op and bathroom stop before making out way along the back side of the island.  Here's where it began to be "tricky."  When we stopped for the banana bread I'd talked with Eric and mentioned I was so, SO glad I wasn't driving....not only the curves - one right after another - but the fact they were over cliffs AND that the lane was often not wide enough for two vehicles which meant you were constantly trying to get as close to the edge as you could to pass traffic.  But then Eric told me that for a couple hours on the backside of the island the road was no longer paved AND there were no guardrails - just a sheer drop down the cliff mere feet away.  Yes, for real.

Typical front side  and backside of the Road To Hana

These photos above hardly, HARDLY do it justice.  And there's just no describing meeting another vehicle midway through a sharp turn, around a cliff and then someone having to back up.  Quite the adventure for sure.  Far less sites to see along the backside, but the vistas were amazing.  The top three, in my opinion....saw a 150 year-old church, that's still active (though most of the population has moved away); saw a 185 foot waterfall.  The last one - one of my most favorite students of all time saw we were on the road and messaged me we had to see "the pools," - we did indeed see the "Seven Sacred Pools."  Apparently these - in a national park - used to be quite a hit for tourists and according to Eric when you'd drive in you'd see well over a hundred visitors swimming, diving, and jumping in.  But for the last few years the park has been closed to visitors as the structure is no longer safe.  

The 150 year old church on the cliff

The 185 foot waterfall

The Seven Sacred Pools

The last hour and a half was just a drive on regular roads again.  We were back at the resort by 4:30 pm which was great timing because we had reservations at Merrimans - a very VERY nice restaurant which sits on the edge of a cliff.  We'd sent our oldest here on his honeymoon and this was their favorite restaurant.  When I made the reservations more than a month ago the seating times were limited, even then.  But we were happy to take a 7:15 pm slot just to be sure we'd be back in time.

Merrimans Maui

Another classic Hawaiian sunset

It was a fabulous dinner - a great way to end another wonderful day.  Back to the hotel at about 10pm with just four hours ahead for the wake-up call to head off on our sunrise excursion tomorrow on our last day in Hawaii!

Day 8: Island Hopping to Maui / The Plantation & The Luau

 October 12

Welcome To Maui

Today we were up early (the first of three consecutive EARLY riser days) to be able to head off to the airport and board our quick island-hopping flight to our final island stop of Maui.  I loved the Kona airport because it's ALL open-air....even getting on and off the plane you use exterior ramps & stairs.  Our flight was on time and it was 20 minutes from take-off to touchdown.

Once we landed porters picked up our luggage while we waited for a short time on the air-conditioned bus.  The we were taken to the Maui Tropical Plantation.  It was a nice place to stretch our legs and take in some very gorgeous scenery.

Back on the bus where we were taken into town where it was very much like walking around Key West.  Because our rooms would not be ready until late afternoon it gave everyone a chance to grab lunch on their own - which we did at the Cool Cat - and do a little shopping, which we also did.  The bus picked us up about 2:30 and by 3pm we were in our rooms at the Sheraton Resort Maui with a gorgeous view of the ocean.

We had about two hours before we met Annie and the rest of the group and headed down for the luau.  There was a smattering of spotty rain for the first half hour, just enough to key a rainbow over the festivities!  The food was great.....the entertainment was great.....and sitting with a table full of new-found friends made the evening all the more the better.

As the sun set the highlight of the show was the fire dancers, and they got a big ovation.  Great way to top a great day!