Maui Part 2

Thursday we got up early to go on the Road to Hana. We were lucky to get the best van driver/ tour guide. She was so funny and could talk about anything and then make it funny. We were very entertained. The only rough part was my cold. I had to blow my nose every stop we made. 

The road to Hana offered the most beautiful views of the island, we also saw a lot of beautiful waterfalls. We stopped at Paia to see these huge sea turtles. From there we stopped about every half hour for bathroom stops, eucalyptus trees, bamboo forests, and water falls. It was too cold to swim in the first waterfall we stopped at. Marshall swam of course but I just walked around and took pictures. 

They call these the rainbow trees because the bark is always peeling off and the color underneath changes from green, red, yellow, they are multicolored.

We made a stop for this famous banana bread. It was the best banana bread I've ever had. The craziest part is that it doesn't have butter or eggs. I just don't know how they do it. It was so moist and buttery tasting. Mmmmm.

We stopped at black sand beach for lunch and to explore and hike around. It was so beautiful with the black sand and rock, bright green vegetation and bright blue water. 

I wish we would have had more time to hike round and explore. The day was fun and we saw a lot of beautiful views but it was just a lot of sitting and not as much active time hiking and swimming. I think I had in my mind it being a lot of hiking and swimming in waterfalls. Instead it was a lot of driving and looking at waterfalls from the van window.

We did enjoy our van mates. For being a day in a van we were grateful to have a fun driver and fun passengers.

The road after the black sand beach was sketchy. With the weather we weren't sure if we would be able to do the full loop but thankfully the weather cooperated and we could do the whole road to Hana and see the back side of the island. There were stretches of road that were wide enough for only one car. Thankfully we didn't have any circumstances with another car coming the other way and having to navigate around them.  

We enjoyed trying mountain apples from this fruit stand as well as sugar cane. Marshall remembered having some as a kid in Samoa so he was really excited to try the sugar cane again.

They call this a mini Hawaiian grand canyon.

We had to get a pic with Nancy, the best driver tour guide!

That night we were on our own for dinner so we went to a restaurant next to our hotel. We had fish tacos that were really yummy. As far as food went for this trip, we had meals provided on the first night and last night and on the excursions. The rest of it was on our own. We were in a very expensive part of the island so everything was so crazy pricey. On Tuesday we each tried a Poki bowl. It was good and fun to try but not something I would want again. On Friday we went to the hotel restaurant for lunch and had yummy fish tacos. Something we missed out on being at a resort and kind of stuck at the resort was trying local food, hole in the wall type of places. Knowing what we know now, we should have taken an Uber on our last day and gone to some local shops and restaurants. It would have been fun to get some shaved ice. The hotel had a shaved ice truck but we didn't really want to spend $10 on a snow cone we could get in Lehi. 

At the mall...

Lunch on Friday

Friday was our last day. We enjoyed bobbing in the water. We bought a cheap snorkel and found some great snorkeling right out from our hotel. We also enjoyed watching the boats come in and out.

Front walkway at our hotel...

View on Friday...

Birds around the gardens

Last night in the warm pool....

We left early Saturday morning and flew to Vegas and then flew home. We got home Saturday night. 

Our kids were in good hands while we were gone. Grandpa and Grandma Lowry and Betsy each helped. The timing of our trip with James's soccer tryouts wasn't the best. He gave us a reports about how it was going and he got rides with his friends. He called us after the first day of tryouts and we were so happy he made the first cuts. Then the second day we were on our way to dinner when we found out he made the team. We were ecstatic! There were over 75 boys who tried out and about 40 boys cut. So it was super exciting for James to make the JV team. When I was in high school there was a freshman sophomore soccer team. Lehi tried to get a freshman sophomore team but it was denied. SO again, I'm glad he made the JV team.