Friday Oct 25 Maui Seaside Hotel
Today was travel day from Kona to Maui. We arrived and were able to check into our room. The hotel did not look like much from the outside, but once in the property it was really cute. It was ocean front with really pretty landscaping. We ate dine at a Phillipino restaurant that was excellent ! We then returned and sat out by the pool with our own fire pit, it really was a great stop. Tomorrow up and we head the Hana highway.
Today was travel day from Kona to Maui. We arrived and were able to check into our room. The hotel did not look like much from the outside, but once in the property it was really cute. It was ocean front with really pretty landscaping. We ate dine at a Phillipino restaurant that was excellent ! We then returned and sat out by the pool with our own fire pit, it really was a great stop. Tomorrow up and we head the Hana highway.
Sat Oct 26, 2024 Hana Kai condo, Hana
We were up and at it by 8:00am. We had our trusty Shaka guide on with the plan to drive pretty much straight through to Hana, then explore south oh Hana, then head north tomorrow and explore everything north of Hana. We stuck pretty much to the plan but did make a couple os stops heading to Hana, and saw beautiful waterfalls one after another. This whole area is under a flood watch. It was drizzly / raining off and on, but not bad at all. The waterfalls were all roaring ! The wired thing was that all I read was how crazy busy the Hana highway was. I don’t know why but there was hardly anyone on it. We had no problem parking at anything we wanted to see, no traffic so pulling over for picture taking was a breeze ! The waterfalls were all roaring from the r3cent rains. I learned that the Hana highway has a total of 620 curves. At parts only one car could pass, especially at most of the bridges. We ate at truck stops for both lunch and dinner, delish food ! Highlights today were all of the waterfalls, Charles Lindbergh grave, the Seven Sacred pools- Oheo gulch, and at least 20 amazing* waterfalls ! Tonight we are at the Hana Kai condos. Our condo looks over the ocean with a beautiful black sand beach right next to us. We have a great balcony, so views can not be beat !
We were up and at it by 8:00am. We had our trusty Shaka guide on with the plan to drive pretty much straight through to Hana, then explore south oh Hana, then head north tomorrow and explore everything north of Hana. We stuck pretty much to the plan but did make a couple os stops heading to Hana, and saw beautiful waterfalls one after another. This whole area is under a flood watch. It was drizzly / raining off and on, but not bad at all. The waterfalls were all roaring ! The wired thing was that all I read was how crazy busy the Hana highway was. I don’t know why but there was hardly anyone on it. We had no problem parking at anything we wanted to see, no traffic so pulling over for picture taking was a breeze ! The waterfalls were all roaring from the r3cent rains. I learned that the Hana highway has a total of 620 curves. At parts only one car could pass, especially at most of the bridges. We ate at truck stops for both lunch and dinner, delish food ! Highlights today were all of the waterfalls, Charles Lindbergh grave, the Seven Sacred pools- Oheo gulch, and at least 20 amazing* waterfalls ! Tonight we are at the Hana Kai condos. Our condo looks over the ocean with a beautiful black sand beach right next to us. We have a great balcony, so views can not be beat !
Sun Oct 27 Aston Pakeepa ( or something like that)!
Up this AM and out by 7:30 because we wanted to go to Wai’anapanapa State park and you have to reserve one of the four time slots in advance because it is so busy/ popular. Well we arrived for our time and there was only one other car there. It was a beautiful black sand beach, an arch and blow hole. We warned to be careful n hiking trails and reminded that the area was under a flood watch. Stopped at a food truck for breakfast, then onto to the Kenai peninsula, and a great stop at a botanical garden with amazing rainbow eucalyptus. The bark on the Rees actually looked like it painted! We stopped a lot along the way at viewpoints and interesting photo points. We really enjoyed stopping at Hoopika beach. Was hoping to see kite surfers, no success, but it was loaded with surfers so still entertaining. We then made a slow trek to our current condo. The view is spectacular, we are oceanfront literally 20 feet away from the water. Now hoping for some down time for the next five nights.
Up this AM and out by 7:30 because we wanted to go to Wai’anapanapa State park and you have to reserve one of the four time slots in advance because it is so busy/ popular. Well we arrived for our time and there was only one other car there. It was a beautiful black sand beach, an arch and blow hole. We warned to be careful n hiking trails and reminded that the area was under a flood watch. Stopped at a food truck for breakfast, then onto to the Kenai peninsula, and a great stop at a botanical garden with amazing rainbow eucalyptus. The bark on the Rees actually looked like it painted! We stopped a lot along the way at viewpoints and interesting photo points. We really enjoyed stopping at Hoopika beach. Was hoping to see kite surfers, no success, but it was loaded with surfers so still entertaining. We then made a slow trek to our current condo. The view is spectacular, we are oceanfront literally 20 feet away from the water. Now hoping for some down time for the next five nights.
Mon Oct 28 Aston
Today was quite an interesting trip. We drove the northern loop of Maui but what we did not know was about 15 miles of it was single lane, Curley, with no shoulders. Did I mention part of it was cliff side with no guard rails as well ? It made the Hana highway look like a 4 lane expressway ! We stopped at 3 gorgeous beaches, drove through amazing green hillsides and valleys, and through several small towns. We had a great little walk down to a rocky area known as Dragons teeth because the ocean has left the lava rocks looking like jagged teeth, then onto Slaughterhouse beach that was deserted except for one guy and some chickens, then Honolulu beach, then hiked out to an area with a fabulous blowhole at DT Fleming Beach park. ! We continued around through Kakakuloa, Waihee, Waiehu then made a great stop at Iona Valley state park. Gorgeous scenery and a famous outcropping that looks like a skinny tall hill… From there we circled back down to the Honopilani highway which was a repeat route that we drove over on yesterday from the East coast. Turned out to be a 7 hour excursion road trip !
Today was quite an interesting trip. We drove the northern loop of Maui but what we did not know was about 15 miles of it was single lane, Curley, with no shoulders. Did I mention part of it was cliff side with no guard rails as well ? It made the Hana highway look like a 4 lane expressway ! We stopped at 3 gorgeous beaches, drove through amazing green hillsides and valleys, and through several small towns. We had a great little walk down to a rocky area known as Dragons teeth because the ocean has left the lava rocks looking like jagged teeth, then onto Slaughterhouse beach that was deserted except for one guy and some chickens, then Honolulu beach, then hiked out to an area with a fabulous blowhole at DT Fleming Beach park. ! We continued around through Kakakuloa, Waihee, Waiehu then made a great stop at Iona Valley state park. Gorgeous scenery and a famous outcropping that looks like a skinny tall hill… From there we circled back down to the Honopilani highway which was a repeat route that we drove over on yesterday from the East coast. Turned out to be a 7 hour excursion road trip !
Tues Oct 29 Aston
Today,s adventure was to the summit of the Haleakala volcano! It was so cool driving up in to the clouds, through the clouds, then looking at the clouds down below us ! We had planned to some hiking, but cut them short because it was only about 50 degrees and the wind was really wiping between 25 to 30 ! The volcano crater was absolutely breath taking - lots of photos ! We then headed back with a stop in an old cowboy town called Makawao for lunch and some shopping. Very relaxing day with wonderful scenery !
Today,s adventure was to the summit of the Haleakala volcano! It was so cool driving up in to the clouds, through the clouds, then looking at the clouds down below us ! We had planned to some hiking, but cut them short because it was only about 50 degrees and the wind was really wiping between 25 to 30 ! The volcano crater was absolutely breath taking - lots of photos ! We then headed back with a stop in an old cowboy town called Makawao for lunch and some shopping. Very relaxing day with wonderful scenery !
Wed Oct 30 Aston
Todays adventure was a drive down the south coast. We stopped at a farmers market, a really cute old Congregational church, then spent a lot of time at the end of the road at a preserve. We returned early afternoon and decided today would be our beach/ pool day so we lounged about. We then headed out to a very tourist but fun Luau. Of course Jin got on stage and proceeded to do a mean hula ! We have tried to stay unplugged but with the election next Tues., we have been watching some news. All polls are favoring Trump, but anything can happen between now and then !
Todays adventure was a drive down the south coast. We stopped at a farmers market, a really cute old Congregational church, then spent a lot of time at the end of the road at a preserve. We returned early afternoon and decided today would be our beach/ pool day so we lounged about. We then headed out to a very tourist but fun Luau. Of course Jin got on stage and proceeded to do a mean hula ! We have tried to stay unplugged but with the election next Tues., we have been watching some news. All polls are favoring Trump, but anything can happen between now and then !
Thurs Oct 31, Happy Halloween..
Today was an unexpected fantastic day ! First the morning was just rainbow after rainbow that continued for the entire day !We decided to drive the back side Of Hana/ upcountry and would see how far we could go… we’ll it turns out we almost made the complete navigation except the road was closed for approximately 2 miles due to a landslide over the weekend. Everyone talked about how the fought the road was and that you needed a 4 wheel drive but we had no problem with our Kia Soul ! We made fun stops at a western store, then at a winery where did a flight of pineapple wine tasting. The trip was just beautiful, beautiful shoreline, lots of gorges, farmland and ranches, then a section that was very dry and arid. As we approached the end and were only two miles from the southern most point we had driven on the Hana highway, it started to get very tropical and green again. We took loads of photos it was so scenic ! We kept expecting for the road to become unprovable for us, but is. Never happened. There were some gravel dirt sections, and some. Very narrow single lanes, but for the most part it was a paved 2 lane road. For our last we watched a beautiful sunset from our balcony with cocktails, then walked to a big selection of food trucks and brought dinner back to our room for private ocean front dining.
Today was an unexpected fantastic day ! First the morning was just rainbow after rainbow that continued for the entire day !We decided to drive the back side Of Hana/ upcountry and would see how far we could go… we’ll it turns out we almost made the complete navigation except the road was closed for approximately 2 miles due to a landslide over the weekend. Everyone talked about how the fought the road was and that you needed a 4 wheel drive but we had no problem with our Kia Soul ! We made fun stops at a western store, then at a winery where did a flight of pineapple wine tasting. The trip was just beautiful, beautiful shoreline, lots of gorges, farmland and ranches, then a section that was very dry and arid. As we approached the end and were only two miles from the southern most point we had driven on the Hana highway, it started to get very tropical and green again. We took loads of photos it was so scenic ! We kept expecting for the road to become unprovable for us, but is. Never happened. There were some gravel dirt sections, and some. Very narrow single lanes, but for the most part it was a paved 2 lane road. For our last we watched a beautiful sunset from our balcony with cocktails, then walked to a big selection of food trucks and brought dinner back to our room for private ocean front dining.
Fri 11-1-24. Maui airport - heading home
Our flight is not till 8:00 pm tonight, so we did not leave our room to the largest check out at 11:00am. We then went to Kaanapali beach, and walked airing Whalers village. Next stop was the. Marina for lunch. We then had about 2 more hours to kill so we headed to Hoopika with hopes the windsurfers would be outlawed. We arrived and they sure were, the wind was really honking ! We sat and watched for about an hour - it was so much fun watching them. We then headed to the airport adn are now in the lounge waiting for our plane to board. So, Hawaii, I finally visited my 50th s and that’s a wrap !
Our flight is not till 8:00 pm tonight, so we did not leave our room to the largest check out at 11:00am. We then went to Kaanapali beach, and walked airing Whalers village. Next stop was the. Marina for lunch. We then had about 2 more hours to kill so we headed to Hoopika with hopes the windsurfers would be outlawed. We arrived and they sure were, the wind was really honking ! We sat and watched for about an hour - it was so much fun watching them. We then headed to the airport adn are now in the lounge waiting for our plane to board. So, Hawaii, I finally visited my 50th s and that’s a wrap !