Entry tags:

photos, travel

Hawaii, Day One
We went to Hawaii to visit Joe's family for a week in June. I won't bore you with the trip down, so here is day 1.



2:30 am - The alarm goes off. We're going to drive up Haleakala and watch the sun rise from the summit and get in some hiking before breakfast. Joe's family has told us the drive is at least two and one half hours from where we are staying, so we need to get up early to be in time for the 5:45 sunrise.

4:30 am - We get to the summit. Obviously, our time estimates were a bit off. But here we are! And this is the view:

Clouds over Haleakala. The valley is below us.

It is incredibly cold and windy this morning - the temperature is a balmy 50 degrees but we feel much colder due to the wind chill. Luckily for us, we were forewarned by Joe's parents so we were wearing jeans and sweatshirts. It was still freezing, but worth it.

5:45 am - The sun comes up! What a beautiful morning!


The sunrise!


6:30 am – We return to the visitor’s center. Our hike starts from here. We are taking the Sliding Sands trail to a small crater or cinder cone about two and one half miles down. We will then return the same way. The hike is interesting – it is like hiking on the moon made of soft sand. The sun is much more fully up, so there is plenty of light, but the moon is also still up, which creates an eerie landscape.



The moon (a little blurry)


We’re not the only people on the trail – in front of us there is another couple. They stir up a lot of dust, which makes my photos weird. Behind us there are a few teenagers who appear to be attempting to take the name “Sliding Sands” literally with a boogie board and some cardboard. Fortunately, they give up after a few attempts. It is illegal to leave the trail in the park, even if it is desolate and there is little chance of getting lost. There is always the chance of disturbing the ecosystem. After about half a mile a runner running into the crater passes us. I suppose 10,000 feet does count as altitude training. A mile and a half in, we run into the second couple. It turns out the man is a Notre Dame graduate (sigh) and we get to talking. They take pictures of us and we persuade them to join us for the rest of our hike to see the silverswords and the crater.



Joe and I in Haleakala


The silversword is a plant unique to Haleakala that blooms every three to twenty years. They are making a comeback. Due to the dust and my lacking photography skills, I only got one mediocre photo.


Silversword or the Dr. Seuss plant


We reach the cinder cone and hike around. It is beautiful, but we realize we are late for our 9 am breakfast appointment with Joe’s family in Makao. We head back up the crater. We realize that hiking down was the easy part. Imagine hiking uphill on a soft sand dune for two and a half miles. Also, the trail doubles as a horse trail, which means Joe and I make up songs about avoiding horse poo (Poo to the right! Poo to the left! Two plops this time! Three plops this time! We make it out of the crater around 8:30.

9:30 am– We meet Joe’s family in Makao from breakfast. We meet at a small restaurant called Casanova’s, a favorite of Dr. Feehan’s and recommended in my guidebook. I get a brie and sundried tomato omelet. Joe gets a southwestern omelet. We also split some carrot-poppyseed bread. I mess up my camera changing lenses and as I fiddle with the settings, I miss out on some really cute photos of Kellie and Mike while Connor is napping. After Joe and I change (though there is no way to remove the dust) we head over to Joe’s grandmother’s house.

11 am – We meet Joe’s grandmother. She lives just past mile marker 17 on the Road to Hana on about 70 acres of land she and Joe’s grandfather bought back in the 1960s. She is very excited to meet Connor – her second great-grandchild. Connor cooperates by being on his best behavior. She wants to show us her land, but it is raining, so we sit up on her upper deck and had beer instead. She likes me because I like beer. She also has a cake for Connor, so we eat cake in her parlor. After a few hours, we leave to go back to Wailea, where we are staying.



Great-grandma, Grandma, and Connor (yes, he really is that cute!)


3 pm – On the way back to Wailea, we pass the sugar cane factory, which is visible from the entire island. I take some pictures of the one Hawaiian thing I am certain is not a byproduct of tourism.



The sugar cane factory


3:30 pm - Joe and I stop by the front desk of the resort to pick up our tickets for the luau the next night. We wander the mall, which is like any other mall, but we don’t have malls where we come from, so it is exciting. We buy Kona coffee for everyone.

4 pm – Joe and I go to the beach and get some sun. Not too much sun, but enough to know we’re in Hawaii.

6 pm – Joe and I help grill dinner of chicken and steak. We go to bed not long after dinner. We are very tired after getting up early for the sunrise.