Dave and I have a goal to visit as many National Parks as we can. So when we found out we were going to Maui, naturally we needed to visit Haleakala National Park. Joe had really wanted to "see" a volcano and this would get us as close to one as possible. My niece, Dorothy, had just returned from Maui and she had told me about the app GyPSy. I had downloaded it and I downloaded the drive to Haleakala volcano. It was a very cool app and we loved listening to the narration and the story about the island Maui on our way up the mountain.
This curvy road (think Yosemite) and narrow road (think Million Dollar Highway) had these unique parts to it where it narrows to one way only. Thank God the GyPSy app narration would alert us that this was coming up. You basically have to stop and let one car come from the other direction and then you go. Yikes. There is also a very popular bike ride on this road. Or should I say bike fly or bike coast. People rent bikes near the top and "fly" down. So not only are you being aware of the narrow parts of the road, but also the bikers flying down the mountain. Good times!
Down by the beach it was a warm 80 degrees. Up at 9500 feet we were at about 50 but very windy so it felt colder. We took some photos at the top but we were pretty socked in with clouds.
About 1/2 way up to Haleakala
Those clouds though
More clouds (at the top) 9500 ft
Joe, McKenzie and Dave wanted to do a bit of a hike to see if they could see more. The other carful started down the mountain.
Sliding Sand (no thank you)
On our way down the mountain we found some shops and we went back to a place that William and Crystal had found (a pie place). They said they were delicious. I had a bite of the banana creme pie and it was delicious!
Look at the size of that avocado!
The line was consistently long here.
Pie Time
After we came down the mountain we were headed to a Maui Sunset Luau Dinner Cruise on the Pride of Maui. We got there a little early, but we headed down to the dock.
Pride of Maui
Sunset photo
Dave and I
Jess, me, Joe, McKenzie
Titanic
We did see whales a couple of times. Not up super close, but it was still very cool. AND we saw dolphins. I got a bit of a video of the whales.
I was thrilled with the day but also very ready for bed. I was thankful that Wednesday was a "free" day for me. 5 of our group would catch a flight and go to Pearl Harbor and 3 of us would stay in Maui. I was planning on staying in Maui and I was more than fine with that.
WOW! 2022 already. January of 2020 Dave and I had the entire year planned out with travel. Ben had just graduated high school early in December and Dave and I were ready to go! Little did we know what was to come. Life has changed in many ways these past two years, but that is not what this post is about. Every year with Hunter Douglas we have the opportunity to hit a sales goal and "win" a trip. They have different levels of trips. Over the years, we didn't care much about winning the trips because I was "that" mom who didn't want her kids staying with "sitters." As the kids have gotten older, we've taken a few of these trips as we have won them. One was a cruise to Bermuda. And one was a trip to Munich. Two years ago, we said, "Let's try for Maui." It was the highest level trip. We had never tried for the highest level trip. Thing is if you don't make it, they don't let you slide down a level. You just ...
View from my room 4 A.M. that's the time I woke up this morning. Hawaii is 4 hours earlier than home; so 4 am seems fitting. I made sure I did my daily Wordle puzzle and then I got to unpacking. It was still dark out so I couldn't see the ocean, but I could hear it. One of the perks of the trip and for being a Centurion dealer (sell Hunter Douglas exclusively) was a gift of Maui Jim sunglasses for both Dave and I. We had actually received this gift a few years ago on a Bermuda cruise so this time we picked out glasses for Jess and Joe (our kids). Ben, Dave, and I would have needed to add prescription lenses to them to make them workable for us, but Jess and Joe don't. These were the ones we could choose from. Maui Jim Sunglasses Off to breakfast with Hunter Douglas. They have a breakfast set up for us each day. I met a lady at breakfast who had traveled from New Jersey. She said she was in bed at 5:30 p.m. la...
That Sunset!!!!
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