Maui- Day Six

Let's continue on our journey (ignoring the fact that we are SO glad our vacation was last week and not THIS week- holly molly earth quake in Japan and Tsunami sweeping through the Pacific- yowsas!!). Also, for your enjoyment I have added Paul's favorite song from the island radio- give a listen and thank me later!!

Now on with the good stuff:


Friday March 4th- Haleakala Volcano/Crater

We awoke to rain, and lots of it, with wind, and lots of it. We had been scheduled to embark on an extreme ocean rafting whale watching expedition. They were telling us "up close and personal interactions". Paul was SO SO excited about this one. We headed to the Harbor despite the fowl weather only to be informed that all water excursions that day had being canceled- the winds were just to strong. Disappointed, our heads hanging low, Charlie Brown music playing in the background, we walked our sorry little selves back to the car (so long $8 parking for nuthin'). As we started driving back to our hotel I remembered that we still had our National Park ticket from the day before- it was good through Saturday- and they had told us it worked for the Haleakala park as well. Inspiration comes in all aspects of our lives- the day was saved! Remember how I told you that the island is divided down the middle- one side is a lush wet jungle receiving the third most rain in the world, while the other is a desert, only raining two or three times a year- well this little fact made for a pretty wonderful day!

As we approached that side of the island the rains cleared, in fact we could see blue skies! We began our climb up the mountain. Haleakala is over 10,000 Ft. tall (Mt. Timpanogas is just over 11,000 Ft). This drive is so impressive because you zig zag the entire distance from sea level to the peak in about 30 or so minutes. The vegetation changes before your eyes and the temperature begins to drop quickly.
We stopped at a lookout on the way up that had beautiful views from right inside the cloud line.
By the time we reached the visitors center we could see the storm sweeping up the north side of the mountain and dispersing over to the other- it was moving in so quickly! We decided to drive past the visitors center and go straight to the summit- HOLY COW!! The fog was so thick we could hardly see. It was a thick mist, we got wet just sanding in it for a few seconds. We could hardly open the Jeep doors because of the strong winds and then made a mad dash up to the observation shelter that would block the winds and let us catch our breath! I couldn't believe how strong the winds were- while Paul took these pictures I really thought I was going to blow right off the edge and plummet into the depths of that volcano!Still this pictures totally crack me up I could barely hold on!!!
These are space and weather observation buildings with huge telescopes- would have been amazing to see if they would let us in!
Because of the fog we couldn't see anything so we drove back to the visitor center. Here is a map of Maui and the volcano (Our condo was located on the Dark Brown side just north of Lahaina) The last time this volcano erupted was in 1790.

When we walked in we told the guy behind the counter that we couldn't see anything out there and he looked up and said "give it a minute- weather moves pretty fast up here". Sure enough not two minutes later the view opened up before us and it was awesome: (All the little volcano looking mounds are the lava tubes that release the lava flow)
We left and drove our way back down (one of the activities that you can do here is watching the sunrise up at the summit and then biking the switchback road back down to the bottom. It wasn't in the cards for us this trip- but I think that would have been a kick to do.) and the storm decided to follow us. Wouldn't you know our luck- it was raining on the driest side of the mountain- absolutely pouring dropping inches of water in seconds. What are the odds that this would happen on the weekend we were there?!

Lucky for us our night plans were indoors. We booked a dinner/show combo to see the play 'Ulalena - A story of Hawaii's People, and then dinner at Chris Steak House on Front street. We found this to be a really nice way to close out the vacation. The show was so wonderful. I would call it Cirque du Soleil meets Lion King. It was a fanciful, musical depiction of Hawaii's history. My favorite part had to be when Pele (Volcano/Fire Goddess) erupted and the red lava spread out of her across the stage and up over the heads of the audience. I also loved when the players became the ocean sea life moving thought the audience. The music was fantastic!

Next we made our way through the rain and puddle filled streets to the Steak House right on the ocean and enjoyed a luxurious meal- cooked to perfection. I believe at one point Paul declared that this was the best steak he had EVER eaten- now that is a good meal!

So, the day started out with gloom but ended with both of us smiling. There is something to be said about just going with the tide and seeing where it takes you. Really, I would have been sad to say we came and never even saw the volcano, so it worked out for the best.

Tomorrow- sadly we say goodbye to paradise.