Final Day in Hawaii

We went to the summit of Haleakala twice. We went up in the morning. Haleakala is the largest dormant volcano in the world, I guess. We saw an endangered plant called Silversword, went to the Visitor's Center, and headed back down. We went in to town and decided to walk around town for a bit before our snorkel/whale watch cruise. Again, I got a call telling me that our cruise was canceled. They offered another place and we decided not to do it. They told me they would refund my money.
We spent some time shopping before heading back to Haleakala. We were almost back at our campsite when I figured we might as well go see the sunset, so we did. It was beautiful, but I have to admit that nothing compares to a North Dakota sunset for me. Nothing can be as magnificent.
Along the road to the summit of Haleakala, there are these interesting signs for Nene crossing. I had to get a picture.

Day 4 and Counting

We woke up without any hurry, packed up our camp and left. We left for our snorkel/whale watch cruise. We got there early so we continued on to Lahaina. I wanted to try a falafel, but the place that sold them doesn't exist. We went to Cool Cats for lunch instead. It was pretty good. Unfortunately, while we were sitting there, I got a call informing us that our cruise had been canceled. They offered to let us try the next day.
After eating, we walked around Lahaina. We saw the largest Banyan Tree in Hawaii, planted in 1957. Banyan Trees branch out and look like there are many trees, but it is just one big tree. Can you believe that one tree can make a small forest? It was pretty cool. We went to the courthouse, rebuilt ruins of a fort, and an outline of Kamehameha III's brick palace. It was kind of lame, but the Banyan Tree was cool.
Then we left. We stopped at a couple of beaches along the way, but decided to go back to Kanaha Beach Park for a swim. We swam for a bit, bathed in the sun for another bit, showered, and left.
One more day left in Hawaii!

The Slow Time of Maui

Happy Mother's Day!
Sunday, the day of rest. But what do you do if every other day of the week is a day of rest, too? Well, since it was Sunday, we found out when the local ward met. I called a number a learned that it started at 10:30. We got ready and found the church easily. The theme for the day was motherhood (big surprise there). The talks were great and everyone was very friendly. One lady, Darlene, asked me to say the opening pray for Sunday School, so I did.
Darlene taught the Relief Society lesson. She was very funny and taught the lesson well. She also directed the music. She has a really great outlook on things. She believes that if someone asks her to do something, they really must need it so she says yes. She told a story of seeing that the Bishop was trying to get a hold of her on her caller-id. She sent him an email saying she doesn't get home until 11:00 each night, but so as not to waste his time, whatever he needed, the answer was yes. More people need to be like that.
After Relief Society Meeting, she invited us to her house to eat. We were very grateful. She invited another lady, Betty, over. Betty brought some ribbon leis, tea leaves, apple bananas, and mangoes. Apple bananas taste a little different, but I wouldn't say they taste like apples. It was good and so were the mangoes.
For dinner we had a wide selection of foods including hot dogs, sushi rolls, turkey or chicken wraps, chips, and potato salad. We had cake and ice cream for desert. After dinner, we sat and talked about many things. I felt at home. Eventually it was time to leave. We were there from 2-6 pm. Right before we left, Darlene showed me a little poi ball technique.
We went back to the campground for our last night on the beach.

Maui - Day 2

We went on the Hana drive to the 7 Sacred Pools. The drive was long and slow, but mainly because it was a very windey road with a mountain on one edge and a cliff on the other. At some points, there weren't even two lanes.

On the way there, we stopped at a Botanical Garden. That was very pretty, but $10 to get in. We did get to see the rock from the opening sequence of Jurassic Park, a waterfall, a peacock with spread feathers, and a very old mango tree.
Finally, we reached Hana. The drive was alright, but I don't think either of us would have done it if we realized what the roads were going to be like. But, we continued on to the opening of Haleakala National Park and Oheo Pools. We paid the entrance fees which also work for the entrance at the other side of the island. We hiked to the pools, and took pictures before heading back to our car. When we arrived, we realized that we had to return the way we came. We turned around for the long and stressful drive back to Kahului. I swear I almost had a heart attack several times, but the Lord protected us.
We spent the rest of that day relaxing at our campground, reading. Then something creepy happened. We were reading on the beach when a guy came over and tried to talk to us. He wanted us to put down our books because "he" was "more interesting." We didn't because he was creepy. I did feel bad about that, but I didn't want to encourage him. He said that his friend really wanted to meet me, but he was too shy. He asked us if we drank and we told him no (of course). He said that his friend doesn't drink, either. His friend walked over, but left soon after that. Luckily, it didn't take much time before that guy followed. Luckily, our time at that campground would be over in two nights.

Maui

One nice thing about that hostel on Maui, they had internet, so we didn't have to go searching for free internet access. I checked my email that morning. Unfortunately, I didn't double check our return flight information. That wasn't very smart.
We left the hostel around 9:30 and went to get our camping permit. We had to wait until noon to set up camp, so we went to Iao Needle State Park. It was rather disappointing. I thought there was going to be a nice hike, but we could only walk a short distance to an overlook. So, we went to Kanaha Beach Park where we were to be camping for the next three nights. At first we weren't really
sure where we were allowed to camp, so we picked a spot, set up our tent and walked around a little. Then we decided to go get food. As we were leaving, we found the real campsite, so we moved our tent to a better location, then we left.
We ended up at Maui Mall where we walked around for a bit and decided to see a movie. We had time before the movie started, so we decided to get something to eat. We went to IHOP. Next, we both called home.
After the movie, we stopped at a grocery store to get some food and went back to our tent. We spent the rest of the evening on that beach, reading and wasting time. It was a very relaxing day.