Annual Valentines Day Trip to Hana

My first trip to Hana was Feb 14, 2008. I was here for the job interview and wanted to see as much of the island as possible, in case it would be my only trip to Maui. The following year - Valentines Day 2009 I found myself on the road to Hana again and decided to make a tradition of it. I have favorite places I stop each trip, so this year I decided to visit all new places - except for the annual Wailua Falls picture

Wailua Falls - the drought has completely dried up the falls

I was so shocked by the dryness and had to get a close up.

And this is last year's picture - when there was actually water!

Upper Puohokamoa Falls - even with the drought, it was pretty incredible. The falls tumble over 200 feet and even the trickle was impressive.

Upper Puohokamoa Falls

I stopped at Uncle Harry's for banana bread and talked story with a local man. After a couple minutes, we discovered we were both LDS and had common acquaintances. I love how small Maui is!

Uncle Harry's banana bread wasn't so fantastic,

So I stopped at my favorite place for Banana Chocolate Bread - how divine!!

Nahiku Church

Palapala Ho'omau Congregational Church

Palapala Ho'omau Congregational Church

Charles Lindbergh's grave

Park overlooking Kipahulu coastline

Oh how I love my island home!

3 months?

Doug planned to live in Maui for a semester, but that semester extended to two and then he added the summer, so I was lucky enough to have my brother here for almost an entire year! It's a little lonely around the house now, but I'm so grateful he stayed longer than the original 3 months. One of the many bummers about him moving is that I'm terrible with remembering to take pictures and I don't have my own built in camera man anymore. So here are some of our pictures from the last year (hopefully they aren't repeats of old posts).

Greenwood Sandwich - Kahaili filling

One of Doug's sunset pics

Double rainbow on the back side of Haleakala

Kalaupapa

Cardwells visit from Utah

Not really a hike, but not sure what else to call it

A couple weekends ago, some friends and I went on a little adventure - not really a hike, but that's the easiest thing to call it.  It was a little tougher than I expected and have decided to stick to the better marked trails in the future.  But, once it was over and no one got hurt, it was an amazing experience.

The group - Miles, Clayton, Doug, Kahaili, Heather

This was right before entering the lava tube

About 10 minutes into the "hike," we entered a stream and walked up it for a little over a mile.  The water went to my waist at some points, but when I lost my footing it of course went much higher.  Thank heavens for the walking sticks!

Kahaili relaxing in the branches.  This was amazing - at some points it was easier to climb through the branches than through the water.  If you look closely, you'll see Kahaili doesn't have shoes - a true native.  The rest of us haole people were hiking in our shoes.

We "climbed" up this rock/waterfall area.  Miles actually pulled me up while Doug and Clayton held my feet.  Little people really shouldn't attempt some feats.  Thankfully they were good sports.

Lava tube that we swam, climbed, and hiked through.  Again, thankfully I had some help from the guys because some of the rocks weren't intended for short legs.

Waterfall at the end of the hike.  Miles is at the highest point, Doug and Clayton at the middle, and Kahaili is in the middle of her jump.  Someone had to stay back to take pictures.  Actually, after the previous climbs, I was more than happy to stay on solid ground.
Now that it's finished, it was a great hike.  But again, I've decided I'm much more of a trail hiker than an adventure seeker.

New Kitchen Toy

I've never been much of a shopper unless it is for kitchen equipment.  Because I love beans but hate to cook them for hours and hours, I've wanted to get a pressure cooker for quite a while.  I found a great deal on one so here is my first attempt.  The beans came out a little mushy - probably would have been better if I made them into refried beans, but the chili wasn't bad.

Here is the lovely dinner.

And here is my new favorite kitchen toy.

If anyone has pressure cooker recipes, please let me know - I'd love to try them.

Some of my favorite pictures

Disclaimer: I wish this was a display of my own photography skills - I shamelessly take my brother's pictures as my own.   But these are beautiful, aren't they?  So why don't you come visit to see it all in person?

Iao Valley looking out to Kahului.  This was the sight of one of the great battles against Kamehameha the Great and the people of Maui.

USS Arizona at the Pearl Harbor Monument.

La'ie temple at night.  Unfortunately it's closed for renovation right now, but we were able to visit right before the renovations began.  Fortunately we have the temple in Kona, so we aren't without a temple!

Sunset from Kula, about 10 miles from my place.

Maui isn't all beaches and tropics - this is at the top of Haleakala, our dormant volcano.  The terrain makes you feel like your on the moon.

Another of my favorite shots from the top of Haleakala.

Kelli Jo visits paradise

Kelli Jo's adventures in Maui 2009 - don't you want to come visit also?

Black Sand Beach, Waianapanapa State Park 

Kelli, Heather, and Doug island hopping to Moloka'i to hike down into Kalaupapa, the old leper isolation settlement.

Doug and Heather from the top of the pali, with Kalaupapa in the background.

Hiking down was a little harder on the knees than we expected, but it was soo worth the effort.  I felt bad for the people who took mules down because they couldn't stop at their leisure to enjoy the beauty and take pictures.

Another shot of Kalaupapa from the top of the pali.

Our stylish tour bus through Kalaupapa and Kalawao.

Then onto Oahu to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Road to Hana - in the rainbow eucalyptus grove/forest.

Close up of a rainbow eucalyptus

Kelli Jo and me on the back side of Haleakala.

 

Oheo Gulch.  Unfortunately it was closed for swimming due to heavy rains, but it was definitely beautiful even without taking a dip.

Not so funny

Well, it would have been funny watching us try to scare the darn thing out of the car.  By the ordeal's end, all the contents of the car were strewn about the driveway and we had one dead cane spider.  You'd never have believed it was harmless by watching us chase him around.

And a close up of the darn bugger.