Sunday was the day for the Road to Hana. This would be an all day trip as we left a six am. We had to get back to the airport to catch the highway to Hana and that was about 45 minutes just to get there. A few miles past the airport it quickly turns to a twisting two lane mountain road and the scenic views, pools, and water falls become the stops along the way. For anyone on Maui for the first time this is a must trip, but leave early and pay close attention to the guide book, if you don’t have one get one if not you will miss out on many opportunities.

A page of pics will be available as their are too many to show here. At the end of the line, so to speak, is Hana and the Haleakala National Park. This is where most turn around and head back however if the road is open you can continue on and go all the way around the island. The park rangers said the road was open so after spending an hour at the park we were back at it. Much of this section is not paved and narrower as in many places only one car can pass for stretches of 500 feet or more. This is common on the road to Hana but it is all paved and the one lane sections are much shorter so it’s easier to know when to stop or go. With no more pools or falls to see from here on out it was just scenic views and cattle. Yes that’s right cattle, ranching is big on this side of the island (south east) so we passed many fences and crossings but saw few homes.

So after leaving at six am we we back at the resort at 6:30, just in time for dinner as the family was cooking out on the grill. What’s nice about the resort is if you want to cook your own meals you can. Rooms come with cooking appliances, utensils and their are four community gas grills. Needless to say we had a day.

Saturday was a day to venture out and find a beach on the south side of the island. We had head weather on that side tends to be better and the over all chance for rain was less than the days before. Little did we know what the day would bring !!! The drive to the “south side” was 45 min to an hour. We were also staying in this area our last two nights so we wanted to check out the Renassaince. We found a beach used by the Westin which also had public access. The surf was also light as what was at the resort could get heavy as the drop off on the beach was about 20 feet out. This beach had less of a slope more suited to families with small children.

The plan was to scout out a spot and then let the rest know and they could join later. That fell through as my niece’s hives did not get better so my parents stayed behind with my sister… you know how the grandkids get the priority and all. So after a few hours on the beach we were getting hungry and headed to find something to eat. We found a great place on the second floor of some retail shops called LuLu’s. Excellent food and great atmosphere as the entire place is open air with televisions, very much like a sports bar. So while sitting their sipping on a Kona Longboard the phone rings, it was the realtor. Now I forgot to mention a couple things, first just before leaving we put the house on the market. Second when we woke up in the morning we had voice mails from the scheduling service as someone wanted to see the house in the afternoon.

So after the realtor apologized for calling while we were on vacation she said we had an offer on the house… what!!! was our reaction. Of course we listed the house to sell and figured being gone, both us and the dogs, would make it easy to have it shown but an offer after three days and on the first showing, crazy. We listened to the offer and couldn’t really believe what we were hearing but then the closing date was mentioned. That was going to be a problem to meet that date we would have to find a place barely 12 days after we get back. I didn’t want to say no but also didn’t want to say yes. We countered with a closing date at the end of the month for more time and they came back with the last friday… the deal was done. In a matter of minutes in between the time it took to order lunch, have it served and eat the contract was agreed on and getting put together. O my what have we done and “is this really happening” came to mind after the phone calls were done.

It was an interesting day to say the least.,,, remember what day it is !!!

Friday came with more clouds and rain off an on. We could see a trend starting here but if you believe the weather man it would be gone once the weekend was up so their was hope. We decided late morning to head north on a scenic drive to see what we could find, The views were spectacular as we stopped at the mushroom rock, the blow hole, and the light house.

We had to hike a little at times which was good as vacations always tend make it easy to “pack on the pounds”. On the trip back to the resort we stopped at a local surf spot before getting dumped on by an afternoon shower, sorry no pics of the surfers. So it looks like we left at the right time as we missed most of the rain while on the road.

Thursday was partly cloudy in the morning and rain in the afternoon. Conversation with the family led to comments about whales being seen from the beach and sure enough you could see them jumping, splashing and coming up for air. Apparently they come to the area to mate before heading back to the cooler waters of Alaska, but that’s about all I know. We stayed at the resort and laid on the private beach before heading off in the afternoon to get groceries. Needed to get the necessary supplies of beer, pineapple (for Kay), and munchies .. and of course lunch meat, bread, etc.

Today we left for eight days of r and r, the first true vacation since our honeymoon in Marathon, FL. We were off to Maui, HI with my family. The first time for us and my sister’s family but the third for my parents. Our first stop was a layover in Dallas, TX then on to Maui, eight hours in the air with the option of a box lunch at four dollars. My have the airlines changed in the last few years on long distance flights.

We took off around 8:15am and arrived in Maui at 3:30. Of course the weather their had been unusually wet and when landing we were welcomed with rain.

. But that’s ok we had eight days… later we learned some folks from Vancouver, BC were to be there for 18 days and left after 12 straight days of rain. Picked up a Jeep from the rental and it had a half inch of water in the drivers side foot well, we promptly exchanged it for another one.

The drive to Kahanna Sunset was filled with great views as expected but traffic was ridiculous. Settled in for the evening after meeting the family, they left two days ahead of us, and the room was very nice. Even had wireless internet access for ten dollars a day or 30 a week.. not to mention having a cell signal.