HALEAKALA – WANDERING WHYTES

We were looking for something special to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We talked about where to go and quickly settled on Maui. Leann visited Hawaii with her parents but I had never been there. We had a rule that we had to visit a state together for it to count. This trip completed our goal of visiting all 50 states and was a great place to celebrate 30 years together.

We made a deal with the girls, we will pay for the house you just have to pay for your flight. They all agreed and joined us for the trip. Leann found a a great house (and deal) on the beach in Olawalu, this was our base camp for the week.

Turns out there was a very large mango tree by the house. At night we would hear the falling mangoes hitting the roof. Next morning we picked them up and had fresh mango every day.

Hard to beat this for your morning coffee.

This is a lot nicer than our typical “basecamp”. Mike and I were pretty excited when we learned the lead singer of Metallica had a house down the street. We never saw him

We headed to the beach for sunsets and they were usually pretty good.

Ioa Valley State Park

We took a drive along the coast before heading to the state park, we wanted to see if there were any whales, nope

The “kids” headed to the beach, Leann and I went for a hike near the house

Interesting how dry this side of the island is compared to where we were the previous day

Kula Botanical Garden

Haleakala National Park

Makena State Park & Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area

The beach was closed to swimming. The waves were big and the beach dropped off sharply to the water, not sure if you could even get out

Wonder what Julie was trying to capture?

Road to Hana

If 620 curves and 59 bridges sound like fun you have to do the road to Hana. Waterfalls, beaches, lava are an added bonus. Full confession: we did not make it all the way to Hana, our turn around spot was Waiʻānapanapa State Park which I still cannot pronounce.

The scenery was nice but the little towns and quirky people you meet added to the ambience. 1960″s anyone?

Mongoose in top center of the picture. These were imported to keep rats out of the sugar cane fields. Bad move, they decimated the wild bird population instead. Seems like something bad always happens when man tries to outsmart mother nature

Molokini Crater Snorkeling

We booked a trip to Molokini Crater for a day of snorkeling. The boat holds about 20 people, the crew were grilling burgers before we departed, smelled great. They are not allowed to cook at the crater but wanted the burgers ready to go once we left. They also had a full bar on board but that also was not opened until we left the crater. I guess they thought snorkeling and drinking do not go together,

2.5 miles off the shore of Maui did not keep the people away.

Plenty of people and plenty of bird crap on the crater

Leann and Jamie beating kids to the slide

Departing, now about that burger? Drink? Unfortunately we were also headed home the next day

We had a late flight for the return home and decided to take the coast road around the west side of the island to Kahului airport. The views were worth the extra road time.

I am so happy that our daughters have a good relationship with each other. That was not always the case but we enjoy the periodic vacations where we are all together, this was one of the best.

Where should go for our 35th?

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