Abbott Amazement Journal: 2010 Hawaii Blog

2010 Hawaii Blog

November 23, 2010 at 6:27pm

Wednesday, November 10
4:30 a.m. Maui time / 6:30 am “body time”

I'm used to being up by now...texting with Mary Lou and checking my FaceBook...but I don't think the lobby is ready for me at this hour so will start a blog of our Hawaiian vacation.

After a 5+ hour flight from San Diego and enduring a “sleeper” documentary about 2 Girls in Hana, we landed to delightful temperature with only moderate humidity on Oahu. From there we caught an inter-island flight and arrived in Maui about 4:45 San Diego time...which, given the time difference, left us some “tourist time” before dinner.

The first order of business was to pick up our rental car...with a pre-paid reservation for a mid-size. They didn't have any mid-size when we arrived so they bumped us into a standard—a Ford Focus. After loading the luggage and doing the usual walk-around and check-out we headed for the highway only to hear what we think was a transmission “whine” so we turned right around and went back. This time there were no more standard cars but a full-size had just come in so we were “bumped” into a cherry red Chevy Impala. So far it's doing great...except when lowering the electric windows with a loud screech. The extra leg room is great...but Judy would have preferred a smaller car for traversing the switchback roads.

So cute! There was a mother hen and a flock of baby chicks patrolling the parking lot. Not fast enough grabbing for the camera. One of those snapshots recorded on a flash of memory.

OK...second try we were finally on our way to the Iao Valley with its green “needle”. For those on FaceBook, I was able to upload several snaps of the park...rushing streams, bright flowers and LOTS of green. I was really pleased to note how many of the plants are replicated in the pots on my California “lanai".

Wednesday – After I had quietly managed a warm bath and booted Judy's little computer I found out she was awake too. We decided to take up management's “aloha” gesture of early morning hot coffee in the lobby and use their WiFi to check our e-mail/FaceBook messages. The offer was welcome, but while it was HOT, the coffee was NOT Starbucks. We joked that perhaps they'd forgotten to put the beans into the pot.

We breakfasted on fresh Papaya on our lanai, loaded the car and headed across the Island toward Hana. I've heard SO much about “the Road to Hana” but nothing I've heard did it justice. I wanted to snap a photo at every corner...and those don't BEGIN to replicate the reality. I don't have the vocabulary to describe the many and varied shades of green in the canopy, with splashes of bright colors where flowering shrubs poked through. From the tree branches hung enormous Golden Pathos and other kinds of vines and the roadway was littered in several places by fallen wild mangos.

We started with the sun rising into a largely blue sky at a surfer beach just outside of Paia.

At the second stop we hiked about ½ mile from the highway to view a double waterfall. Not only did we walk in, but once there, we climbed a considerable distance down a wet, rocky face, clinging to tree branches. The falls were beautiful though...worth the effort. The early morning was redolent with the scent of damp earth, and echoed with the music of various song birds. Everywhere we looked there were more and different flowers.

Judy said the foliage enroute to Hana shows best when slightly damp and sure enough, we got to check out the windshield wipers before long. (She mis-spoke and called them “umbrellas” so we share an inside joke about our car's unique equipment!) The entire day was peek-a-boo but the only time we got caught in a downpour was just after pulling off the road to check on candied ginger. It wasn't sufficient to make the gullies run, but it did cause little water falls from between the rocks alongside the road.

Stories about the Road to Hana are not exaggerated! It is, indeed, very twisty and narrow with spots where one car must wait for another to cross a one-lane bridge...and sometimes the intake of breath is about all that separates the sheet metal when passing oncoming traffic. I now have a t-shirt proclaiming that “I Survived The Road to Hana” but, surprisingly, there is a thriving community … complete with airport and docks...whose residents drive big, mean-looking trucks and apparently don't worry about “wrinkles".

We continued beyond Hana about 9-1/2 miles to where the National Park of Haleakala comes down to the sea. For the same price as a vehicle admission I acquired my life-time pass to National Parks... interestingly the card depicts a cactus flower (Arizona?) ...definitely NOT a Hawaiian variety. From the park headquarters we walked a loop whose outer boundary was “the Seven Sacred Pools”---one of which is something like 40 feet deep, eroded into the lava rock by the force of rushing waters during rainy season. The return loop was uphill, quite steep in places...and then the rain started! Good news!..we didn't melt.

Before heading back I promised to treat Judy to a coffee and following directions from “a local” we found a shop called Sweet Licks which consisted of a tent and a garden building fitted with a freezer, a coffee pot & a cash register. We ordered ice-cream sandwiches of home-made chocolate chip cookies and Macadamia Nut ice cream. (which eliminated the need for dinner!)

With the time we saved, we went shopping at WalMart that evening for wardrobe supplements which we were advised would be needed the following morning on Haleakala. Good call! We each got fleece pants and coordinating long-sleeved “sweat” shirts.

Driving in the valley at night, the lights of the houses on the mountain slopes put me in mind of lava flows. It was really very pretty.

We got up at 4:30 a,m, and drove up a curvy mountain road; the higher we got, the tighter became the hairpin turns. About 7 miles into our adventure, we rounded a curve and found a large brown heifer in the middle of the road, She and her companion took their own sweet time in meandering to the side so we could pass....while Judy hyperventilated. Further up we started seeing blue flashing lights which we eventually discovered belonged to a police car investigating an accident. Never did learn any details. And after that, suddenly there was a siren and more blue lights behind us! Turned out that was a park ranger who was apparently late for work. At all the other times, it looked as though we had the entire mountain to ourselves. So we were VERY surprised when we arrived at the summit and found the parking lot totally packed with vehicles. Some were tour buses but a lot, like us, in private cars. And, oh my, the interesting assortment of clothing. Some had come prepared with parka-like jackets or rain-slickers, others had taken a blanket from their bed and wrapped themselves in it.

The posted elevation at the lookout was 9,740 feet and when the sun rose at 6:25 am, the temperature was 47 degrees which is “freezing” in the tropics! I've seen the sun come up many times, but this day and at this elevation, it was spectacular!! Judy commented, and I agree, that while we came to see the sunrise, what we enjoyed most was the colors in the clouds preceding actual sunrise while the sky was a most delicious shade of raspberry, which softened to pink tinged with gold. At the precise moment,, a native Hawaiian “sang” an authentic call to the sun. Very appropriate and hauntingly beautiful.

I'm not sure at what elevation planes fly, but Judy and I kept commenting that we were going “way up high, where the airplanes fly”...which is what Mom used to tell Sammers about where the moon could be found.

Once the gate opened, we drove the final mile or so to the observation area on the top of the mountain. The elevation of the parking lot is 10,000, with another 400 or so feet of hiking up to the glass-enclosed building. One interesting thing I learned from the signage—Haleakala is almost twice as large below sea level (19,000+ feet) as above.

After breakfast and a nap, we went shopping...both at the outdoor malls which my girls would call “a mercado” and at Hilo Hatties “tourist trap”. We HAD to use our coupons for a “free” coffee mug! The Maui mugs are pink...we subsequently also got the yellow mugs for Oahu and royal purple mug of Kauai. I indulged in selecting an oyster which yielded matching white pearls, which I had set into earrings. The design of the setting is called “Road to Hana” which seemed appropriate.

That evening we drove up to Lahina (the “dry side” of Maui...and where the big hotels are located). Sheraton-Maui was advertising a sunset cliff dive to be viewed from their poolside. The pagentry started by blowing on a conch while a costumed runner lighted the tiki torches around the pool and down the path toward the cliffs. Once at the appointed spot, he removed his lei, held it aloft, tossed it down to the water and then dove into that spot. I think they said the dive was 30 feet.

We thought we'd eat there, but once the performance ended, the observers left so we did too. Judy knew “a little hole in the wall place” called Aloha Plate where we sampled the local menu at an outdoor table. The underside of each table umbrella was outlined with with little white lights...and we could see the lights of boats in the harbor. At the table next to us the couple was apparently a local lad entertaining a “howlie”girl by telling her all manner of lore...some undoubtedly true but some quite imaginative. Good entertainment!

Next morning we returned our cherry red Impala and flew from Maui to Oahu. The reservation for a car Judy had booked for Oahu had gotten misplaced so Judy's friend Janice picked us up from the airport and relayed us to the home of Judy's friend Hiroko. Both ladies are in the Gideon Auxiliary. Almost right away Hiroko and Judy left for a meeting so I had time to enjoy Hiroko's beautiful condo and pocket garden (and I also took a nap). Meanwhile Judy enjoyed driving Hiroko's new sports car—a Volkswagen Psaat (sp?) We nicknamed Hiroko “hot rod Momma” though Judy did the driving.

That evening we met other Gideon Auxiliary friends from the mainland—Heather, Sheryl, & Janet—for dinner at the Hale Koa with Hiroko and Janice. It was the night of the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, also at the Hale Koa so there were lots of Uniforms and their ladies in gorgeous gowns. One gentleman we spoke with said it was his 62nd ball; he served 27 years. The most interesting part was how trim he still looked in his dress blues.

Hiroko was a most gracious hostess...pampering us with special treats. Saturday morning while we were enjoying our flavored coffee in her dining area, we heard an unusual sound. I thought there had been a car crash, and in a way that's what it was. A young man had crashed into the fire hydrant just down from Hiroko's condo and we had a geyser in the park for probably 40 minutes.

Next, a woman began hanging Christmas ornaments on a shrub just beyond the wall of Hiroko's garden (which seemed quite unusual). The explanation was clear when a professional photographer appeared to take family photos...after which all the ornaments were taken away again.

Saturday was the Gideon Auxiliary training meeting for which the ladies (including Judy) had traveled from the mainland. It was a fairly small group—about as many locals as visitors. After the meeting some of the ladies gathered at Hiroko's house to visit and later we all went out for “dinner” (at Taco Bell) before Heather took Emily to the airport for her return flight to Hilo, and the rest of us went to Hilo Hatties near Waikiki for yellow mugs!

Judy and I had an early flight on Sunday from Oahu to Kauai...and Saturday evening we started talking about the possibility of Hiroko coming with us. Her daughter Naomi thought it was a great idea and encouraged her to join us. They went online and were able to book another ticket for the same flight. That's when we found out why we had booked a 2-bedroom time share when Judy and I could easily have shared smaller quarters. (aside from the fact that the 2-bdrm suite was all that was available on Kauai when we booked!)

While Judy was picking up our Kauai Impala (white), I phoned to confirm our arrival at Wyndham Bali Hai. They assuured me that we were expected but cautioned that traffic would be exceedingly heavy as the locals were having a memorial for Andy Irons that afternoon. From what I read in Monday's paper, he was a local who made a name for himself in surfing competition. He died last week in Texas at age 32.

With that caution and a whole day ahead of us, we explored the opposite side of Kauai—the dry side—starting with “the Grand Canyon of Hawaii” in Waimia Canyon. The colors are gorgeous and a pretty contrast to the dark green conifers...with a blue ocean in the distance. We toured a coffee plantation and sampled their 22 varieties. We saw the original sugar refinery of Kauai down near the salt flats. On another former plantation, the sugar is processed into rum with equipment resembling a boot-leg whiskey still (for 1200 gallons)...sampling allowed! They offered a “to die for” macadamia nut cake “marinated” in rum.

Toward evening we found a pretty spot for dinner...a beautiful grassy court in the center of a resort with bright flowers...overlooking the ocean, with an attentive waiter who served us dinners with such lovely presentation that we took photos of the plates before eating! Happy memories of a delightful dinner!!!

By the time we continued on, it had grown dark. The traffic was minimal and the road well marked. We knew we had about 27 miles to Princeville (where the Wyndham resorts are located). After we had driven for what seemed a long time and we thought we should be close, Judy saw a sign that said Princeville was 21 miles. What!?! Then she re-read it—2.1 miles. Has anyone ever seen a mileage sign with 1/10ths of miles on it?? That is the only one I recall ever having seen.

Anyway, we overshot our turnoff and ended up most of the way to Hanalei (and across another of those single vehicle bridges) before we got turned around. It became a comedy—we would call and the resort would give us directions, but we seemed unable to identify the landmarks (in Hawaii, “dark” is a LOT darker). Then we would get to laughing at the situation which only made it worse. At last a security patrol came to our rescue and gave us a escort. If not for that, I'm thinking we might have wandered around all night. They told us to look for a fountain...but it wasn't lighted. They told us to count 4 speed bumps but we thought we'd surely missed the way before reaching the first of them.

Then after getting checked in, we spent another 10 minutes wandering around looking for our building. I have seriously never felt so frustrated or inept. The units are 4-plexes...2 up and 2 down. We had an “up” with a view of the tree tops. It was like living in a tree-house; a very beautiful tree house. The beds were wonderfully comfortable and by that time, all we wanted to do was climb into them.

Monday we took a driving trip to Hanalei, where the movie South Pacific was filmed. That will give you some sense of the beauty of the area. The water was a gorgeous teal/aqua; the sand was “white” and the road was edged with lush greenery. My favorite memory of that day was watching the little fish in the tide pools. It reminded me of our time in Brasil almost 20 years ago...tropically warm water and salt-water fish.

Tuesday we went to the Fern Grotto on a flat-bottomed passenger ferry that held about 70 people. More photos of more kinds of foliage...it was so beautiful. On the way back down river, we were entertained with local music and a hula dancer. It was in the gift shop at the landing that I found my favorite souvenir—a photo of a Bird of Paradise blossom with a green gecko on its tip. So, on my 3rd trip to Hawaii, I finally brought home my gecko. (Third time's a charm..??)

Wednesday morning we got a very early start back to Lihue to turn in the rental car (9 am) and catch our flight to the mainland (11 am). We bid adieu to Hiroko at the airport in Oahu. And about 5 hours after that, we were back in San Diego where Mom and Randy met us.

Back to reality. Back to much cooler than usual San Diego temperatures. Back to switch gears and be ready for Mary Lou's Christmas warehouse distribution which started on Friday morning. Whew!! I still have suitcases in my living room.

toward Iao valley