Mahalo Hawaii

Yesterday, we said goodbye to family and to Maui as we flew back home. We were packed up and ready to leave by 10 am. We said goodbye to the remaining family who were leaving later in the day and headed to the airport. We had short flight to Oahu and then a long flight back to San Diego. The flight was about 5 hours long and it was cool to see the sunset was 40,000 feet in the air. The flight provided our speed, altitude, and estimated time of arrival on the screens in the seats in front of us. It probably didn’t interest any other passengers, but I thought it was awesome. Around 10:20 pm we landed in San Diego and were picked up by dad.

A poorly taken picture of the sunset from the plane

Though this wasn’t a traditional road trip, it’s been one of my favorites. We’ve hiked, we’ve swam, and we’ve went to museums. Out of all the activities we did in Hawaii my favorite was eating dinner each night with my whole family. My brother Zach said something I think is true. We see our Dad’s side of the family usually once or twice a year and usually not everyone at one point. When we do, it is only for a day. So was nice to slow down and savor the time spent with each family member (even if we did wake up at 1:30 am to do a bike ride). It was a real treat to be able to spend an entire week with all my uncles, aunts, and cousins playing games and catching up on everyone’s lives. Hawaii did not disappoint with its beautiful nature, great beaches, and surprisingly tasty POG juice (passion, orange, and guava). However, I am mildly bummed we didn’t watch Lilo & Stitch during our trip, but I guess I’ll just remember its most notable line: “Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”

My family

For a different perspective of our trip to Hawaii, you can read my mom's blog here.

Special Sauce, Special Birds, & Special Suitcase

Yesterday, we got to sleep in after two days of early starts. It was a much more lax day with no scheduled hikes or 2 am bike rides. Once everyone woke up and was ready, we headed to the Gazebo, a small restaurant my grandparents had eaten at before and highly recommended, for brunch. The restaurant was located on a hotel’s property next to a pool and was quite little, housing maybe 40-50 people at a time. They didn’t take reservations, so we waited in line as people finished eating and another group ahead of us would be seated at the former’s table. The restaurant did provide umbrellas for people to use for shade while they waited in line. We waited about 45 minutes before our group of fifteen were all seated (though in smaller groups of 2-4 people per table). Once were seated, we ordered our food and enjoyed the view of the beach adjacent to the restaurant. Our waitress was nice and surprisingly funny. She came by at one point during the meal to offer us the “special sauce” and accidently squirted some on Joe’s shirt. We were all momentarily stunned at this unfortunate event until we realized the sauce was a yellow string connected to a fake condiment bottle. The waitress had fooled everyone at our table and I have to give her props for performing the prank perfectly. Our food was delicious and besides dodging the occasional bird, the Gazebo was a fantastic place to eat. After eating, our group split up, with some going snorkeling, some returning to the villa, and my group going back to the Lahaina shopping district to do some more shopping.

The Gazebo

Tight spaces

My Mom, my Grandma, my Uncle Mike, and I drove to the Lahaina shopping district to check out some more of the shops and so mom could visit some of the educational buildings in the area. We looked through a few stores as my mom and uncle both bought shirts and I bought some souvenirs for two friends of mine. Mom bought a funny, but truthful description of the Road to Hana shirt and my uncle purchased a Maui t-shirt. Afterwards, my mom went to the Baldwin Historical House to learn more about the man from the Sugar Museum mentioned a few days ago. She and grandma walked through the historic courthouse located next to the Banyan tree too. Once the shopping and learning were over, we drove back to the villa. After an hour, my mom, my Aunt Jackie, and I were headed to a nearby wildlife refuge to observe the different animals living there.

On the drive to the wildlife refuge, we had to drive farther up the road and down another road in order to turn around since you could only enter the refuge from the opposite lane (apparently Hawaii doesn’t believe in left turns or u-turns on their roads and intersections). Once we arrived at the wildlife refuge, we headed down a boardwalk and read placards about the refuge and the animals that resided there. We saw 3-4 different birds and watched them try to catch the fish swimming under them in the wetland.  After walking to the end of the boardwalk, we walked on beach right next the refuge for a while. Aunt Jackie saw a turtle pop its head up at one point, but I didn’t see it. It was around 6:15 pm, so we headed back to villa for dinner.

The boardwalk through the animal refuge

A bird

Walking down the beach

Dinner was leftovers night. All the leftover food from previous dinners was placed on the counter and we were free to eat any combination of food available. For some reason, no one tried a carne asada and kalua pork quesadilla between two personal pizzas, a kalua quesapizza sandwich if you will. After dinner, my mom and I dropped my dad at the airport for his flight home and stopped at Walmart so I could buy a new suitcase. The one I brought with me to Maui unfortunately had its zipper break off the moment I opened it in the villa. I guess a five year old suitcase couldn’t handle my master packing. Anyway, I purchased a slightly larger suitcase and was able to pack all my stuff into it with little hassle. Today, we say goodbye to Hawaii and fly back to San Diego.

To read a different perspective of today’s events, you can read my mom’s blog here.

Road Trips Really Aren't for Sleeping

Yesterday, we woke up really early at 1:30 am and were driving to Haleakala National Park at 2 am to see the sunrise. We also were going to bike down the dormant volcano, so we headed to the bike shop to get our bikes and take a shuttle to the top of Haleakala. Our driver was funny and provided us with trivia about the volcano and the island of Maui. We arrived at the top of Haleakala around 5:10 am and waited a half hour for the sun to rise. There was a decent amount of cloud cover but we could see the sun rising slowly over them. As it became brighter, we were able to view the 3000 feet deep crater of the volcano which looked a little bit like the surface of the moon. Finally, the sun came out and a traditional Hawaiian song/prayer was sung as it rose over the clouds. It was a majestic sight and I probably would have appreciated it more if I wasn’t sleep deprived. After the sun came up, we got back in our shuttle to drive down to the start of our bike ride. 

Before the sunrise

Sunrise

The crater

We got “the best bikes” according to our driver and began the 6500 feet decent down Haleakala. The ride down was a little scary at first as I sped down the road and getting a feel for the bike. Once I got used to the maneuverability and riding next cars coming down the road as well, the ride down was a lot of fun. I did become anxious when a car was coming down and riding right next to me for about thirty seconds. We were told before we started biking not to look behind yourself while riding and to stay in a straight path close to the right side of the road when cars drove by. I did all these things, looking only in my peripheral vision, but this car wouldn’t pass me. I slowed down and the car slowed down too. Eventually, the car passed me and I continued my peaceful descent down Haleakala. We ate breakfast at the Kula Lodge about hallway down the volcano and then continued our bike ride. We arrived back at the bike shop around 10 am (though it felt like 2 pm because we’d been up so long) and turned in our bikes and gear. 

The Road

The bikers

The Breakfast

We drove back to the villa, but stopped at a shaved ice shop on the way. The shaved ice was really fine, almost like snow powder, and mine came with three different flavors and sweetened condensed milk. I ordered a small shaved ice and was surprised at how big of a serving it was, being larger than my fist (I can’t imagine how big the large size is). After shaved ice, we headed back to the villa, took naps, and prepared for dinner. It was my family’s turn to cook dinner and we made a pizza bar. There were so many topping options, we rivaled Pieology. I manned the oven and kept times for everyone’s pizzas as they cooked. After cleaning up, we watched a movie called Lucy and it was time for some well needed sleep. Today, we are relaxing and going to a restaurant my grandparents recommend.

To read a different perspective of today’s events, you can read my mom’s blog here.    

Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads?

Yesterday, we drove the Road to Hana to do some hiking and admire the vast nature Hawaii has to offer. It was an early start as we were all in the cars and driving by 6:15 am. The drive to the actual hiking trail was about three hours long through some of the craziest roads I’ve ever seen. The Road to Hana should really be called the Half-a-Road to Hana as it was one of the narrowest highways we’ve driven on for a road trip. There were many tight turns and even points where only one car could drive a portion while the opposite lane waited for the car to go past them. I don’t think mom drove faster than 20 mph at most throughout the entire drive on the road. I tip my hat to her for impressive driving skills navigating through the continuously narrowing road that I certainly wouldn’t have driven a go-kart on. If the Road to Hana wasn’t crazy enough, some of the drivers on the road were even more so. One driver that stood out was one driving a yellow pickup truck speeding past our single lane and unsuccessfully trying to maneuver past a delivery truck that was already halfway onto a one car lane bridge (with passengers in the truck’s bed no less). After a long and slightly frightening ride, we made it to our hiking destination around 9 am.

We took a two mile, one-way, hike to a waterfall whose name escapes me (please refer to my mother’s blog post). Before we started the hike, we walked down to see the natural pools formed by the waterfalls and shoreline. We’d hoped to swim in them, but they were closed due to some flooding cause by earlier rainfall. Alas, we started our hike to the big waterfall. The trail was a bit muddy in places and had a few flights of stairs to walk up (mom’s favorite). Along the way, we saw a few other waterfalls and took a group photo next to large tree similar to the Banyan tree mentioned in an earlier blog post. Part of the hike was through a bamboo forest with varying thickness and heights of bamboo. Besides looking cool, the bamboo also provided cool shade from the sun. Afterwards, we made it to the big waterfall, which reminded me of Yosemite Falls due to its height. After some pictures, we headed back down the trail to eat some lunch.

Hiking up the trail

A waterfall, but not the waterfall

Bamboo

The Waterfall

Lunch was deli sandwiches and we got back on the road after we packed the leftovers. The drive back was just as long as the drive there. We were all pretty tired from the hike and returned to the villa in the late afternoon. Dinner was carne asada and it was delicious. Today, we do a bike ride down from Haleakala Park. We are leaving at 2 am in the morning to see the sunrise, so apparently sleep really isn’t a part of vacation.

To read a different perspective of today’s events, you can read my mom’s blog here.