dear finn,
when we told people we were going to maui, the one thing that almost everyone told us to do was the "road to hana." i really didn't have any idea what it was, other than a scenic drive, but because so many people raved about it, we decided we better give it a go. we were a little nervous, because it supposedly takes all day, and we didn't know how well you'd do sitting in the car all day, but you were a total champ and made the drive very enjoyable for us all. :)
i didn't take very good notes of the different places we stopped along the way, so this won't be a very informative post. all i can say, is that the drive was the most lush, green and beautiful drives i have ever taken! it compares only to the amalfi coast in italy, but even then you can't compare because they are totally different. basically we were driving on a cliff on the north coast of maui. it sprinkled on and off the whole drive (which i'm assuming is always the case, otherwise how would it stay so green?!), but the mist was actually really nice. there are tons of different stops you can make along the way...hikes you can take, beaches to visit, waterfalls to see, etc etc. we didn't do all of them because it was a hassle to take you in and out of your carseat and we were also pressed for time (we had to make it back to catch our flight home that night). but we did stop at the "must see's," and let me tell you, they didn't' disappoint!
i'd have to say my favorite stop was the black sand beach. i had never seen one before, and it was gorgeous! the sand was totally different than white sand...it didn't feel as nice and didn't come off your toes as easily, but i still really loved it. there was this cool little cave that you had fun exploring in, and a beautiful arch that everyone was taking pictures of. it probably had a name, but like i mentioned, i'm bad with the details. ;)
another one of my favorite stops was the wailua waterfall. this is one of the most famous waterfalls in the world...it appears in lots of magazines and apparently lots of photographers come from all over the world to snap photos of it. it was huge, and obviously gorgeous!
i was bummed that we didn't make it to the red sand beach or the seven sacred pools. the cd we used as our guide said not to stop at the red sand beach unless you are very physically fit and capable because the hike to it is grueling. well, since we didn't have a hiking backpack to put you in, and since i'm pregnant, we decided to skip it. hopefully we'll get to go back another time. the seven sacred pools are at the very end, and take at least a couple hours to hike to, and we just didn't have enough time. so we definitely need to go back and do the road to hana again some day!!!
you didn't start to get fussy until the very end, you good little boy! and by that point, we were all sick of sitting in the car for 6 hours, so who could blame ya for wanting to get out of the car and run around a little? ;) despite the long time sitting, i am glad we did the drive, because it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.
love,
mom
