March 20th
On Saturday we gave our poor sunburned bodies a rest by driving up to the summit of Haleakala, Maui’s dormant volcano. We did it last year as well, and I also went up during my first trip to Hawaii in 1999. Some valuable lessons for visiting the crater:
• It is hella cold 10,000 feet up in the air, so dress appropriately. The first time I went I was wearing shorts and a tank top. This is not appropriate!
• The road is really windy, so if, like Sym and me, you are prone to carsickness, take precautionary measures (take Gravol, skip breakfast, etc).
• Don’t expect to be able to buy gas or snacks or anything except for books up there.
• It only costs $10 to get in and if you are doing the road to Hana, DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR RECEIPT because it’s good for three days and you can also use it to get into the coastal part of the park at Kipahulu.
It was pretty cloudy in the crater that day, but you can see some better pictures from last year on Taylor’s flickr.
There was also a heart cloud last year.
It’s windy up there as well as cold.
Symphony with the observatory, which just serves to make the landscape all the more Martian.
Practically the only picture I have to Taylor NOT taking a picture/doing something with his camera.
See?? Luckily that means there are actual pictures of me!
Symphony was really crabby, so I tried to get her to smile by tickling her. Obviously this backfired!
I took this picture of Taylor about to plummet to his doom from the Leleiwi Overlook. This is at 8,800 feet and is where I always have to stop and throw up. Good thing there is a parking lot!
Symphony and me on the trail to the Leleiwi Overlook. I look weird because I just puked up Jolly Ranchers and coffee.
This is the same ahinahina I took a picture of last year:
I swear, one year I will be there to see one of these damn things blooming! (In case you didn’t know, they only flower once and then they die.)
I would say this day was just okay; I think we got better pictures at the crater last year, I got really nauseous on the way down and had to take more Gravol so I basically fell asleep, and Symphony was CRAB. BY. the whole time and whined non-stop about being hungry, which is annoying when you are 10,000 feet up a volcano with no stores or restaurants! We ended up stopping at a McDonalds in one of the little towns on the way back down the mountain just to shut her up! I don’t even remember what we did when we got back to the condo, just napped and read I guess- wait, I just cross-referenced with Taylor’s flickr and we watched the sunset at Keawakapu Beach. I remember now that there was a really high tide and huge waves that evening.
Next Up: Beach Day #2 & Happy Anniversary 😀
Yer kid is wearing my sweater!