An Event of a Lifetime

Posted on November 16, 2016November 16, 2016 by Dusty Roads

I had my sister and me booked for an event that was billed as “The Event of a Lifetime”.

Located at the foot of the West Maui Mountains is the show Na Lio.

Promptly at 5 pm 2 shuttle buses would pull up to the front of the resort to take us to the ranch. But which resort? I still had not met our coordinator. All communication had been by phone, text or an itinerary left for me at the front desk.

I finally got an actual address but them I couldn’t find it. Driving around I spotted a post man. Surely he will know where this address is located.

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Turns out he did and the “Pink Pyramid” strikes again. The address I’d been searching for belongs to that big pink resort right next to the Ka’anapali Beach Shores! Once inside we found the ping pong tables and settled in to wait. It wasn’t long.

After being given a lei and the courtesy photo we all climbed aboard for the short ride to the location where tables were all ready set up and waiting for us.

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After an excellent dinner the show began. Slack Key artist, George Kakumoku, Jr started the action off .

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The show is the story of horses in Hawaii.

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The story is told in song and dance (Hula)

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and with the horses. The 2nd story line is the story of young love that triumphs in the end.

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I’m not sure which was more amazing, the dancers or the horses.

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At the end of the show the riders brought their mounts to the edge of the stage and we were invited to meet them and say hello to the horses. We were given carrots to feed the horses.

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One of the horses liked my lei better than the carrots. He got a big bite of it before I could get it out of his reach. As it was just flowers there was no harm done and the rider and the others standing with me joined me in a good laugh.

Then it was back on the shuttle buses for the return to the resort.

Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on November 15, 2016November 15, 2016 by Dusty Roads

After wrapping up our Aquarium visit we decided to do a little exploring, Sandy had heard of a place with wild animals, like a sanctuary. I tried a google search on my phone but the only thing I could find was the Kealia Pond Wildlife Refuge. Off we went to check it out.

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Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is one of the few natural wetlands remaining in the Hawaiian Islands. Located along the south central coast of Maui, it is 691 acres of wetland which provides a home to the endangered Hawaiian coot.

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Upon arrival it looked pretty quiet but there was a nice boardwalk so we decided to just take a walk. I wasn’t expecting anything special. Boy was I surprised.

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The first bird we spotted was a “stilt”. These are striking black-and-white birds with very long, thin red legs, the Black-necked Stilt is found along the edges of shallow water in open country.

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Once we spotted one, we began to see them all over. They were funny little birds with those long skinny legs and we had a lot of fun watching them as they hunted tiny minnows in the shallow water.

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Sandy spooked one stilt and when it took off it spooked another bird. This time it was a heron of some type. I thought it was a green heron but some folks came a long with a bird book and said it was a Black Crested Night Heron.

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What ever it was, it was a willing subject for a photo shoot once he roosted again. He stayed put while I snapped away.

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There were a number of white egrets. According to history these are cattle egrets.

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They are an invasive species brought to the island by man to control such pests as fleas, ticks, flies and other cattle parasites.

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Last but not least we came upon a pair of the endangered Coots. They are really cute little birds. They reminded me of the common mud hen in Florida but they don’t have the red coloring.

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It would have been nice to walk further along the board walk but truth be told, both of us were getting tired and it was a very hot, sunny day. Time to wrap it up and head back to the car.

Searching For “Jaws”

Posted on November 13, 2016November 13, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Heading back down the mountain was even more of a trip than going up. Now I could see more of what Sandy had been watching.

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The weather was even more diverse as the fog and rain had rolled in . The summit and higher elevations was sunny and bright but as we come down the mountain the fog was like soup and then the rain really began to fall.

We stopped at several overlooks but nothing compared to the view at the 2nd Visitor center.

Finally, back at the bottom, I checked the gas again and it had miraculously returned to the 1/2 tank level. Even so we found a gas station quick and topped off the tank.

Now it was back on the road to Paia.

Just outside Paia we hit the traffic. Its just a little 2 lane road and it was stop and go with the emphasis on stop. We were looking for Mama’s Fish House. Once we finally got through town we spotted it on the left. The surf was clearly visible and raging as we pulled into the parking area. As we were waiting in the line of traffic a Hawaiian Santa strolled past, white beard and all. His photographer on his heals. Clearly they had been doing a photo shoot for something. We couldn’t resist. Sandy rolled down the window and greeted the jolly old elf.

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A valet stopped us before we could find a place to park. Too bad for us, there was no room at the Inn. The valet informed us that the restaurant was closed to anyone without a reservation. He recommended we try “Colleen’s” so off we went in search of lunch. Next time we’ll make sure we have reservations.

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Colleen’s wasn’t on the water and wasn’t on the main road. It looks bigger from the outside than it is but the food was excellent and the staff were fun and knowledgeable about the area. According to the waitress the top surfing area in Maui is “Jaws” and suggested we shake off the disappointment of Mama’s Fish House and go looking for that. She said it was a side road just a little farther along the main road.

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So that is exactly what we did. Unfortunately we didn’t find it. We ended up going way too far and apparently hit the upper end of the road to Hana, narrow, twisting with one car bridges all in the pouring rain. The search was an adventure in itself but finally we called it an afternoon and headed back to Ka’anapali. We’ll have to did deeper into “Jaws” another time.

Onward and Upward

Posted on November 12, 2016November 12, 2016 by Dusty Roads

As we left the first Visitor Center I was getting concerned about the gas situation. I could not see how we had used so much gas but I didn’t want to get stranded so I told Sandy we might not get to the summit this trip.

The road up the mountain was very winding. Cue music to “the Long and Winding Road”.

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Soon we were passing through fog and clouds and the air was becoming cooler.

We started to see elevation signs. I was having a blast maneuvering around the hair pin turns but Sandy wasn’t enjoying it quite as much. She had a pretty tight grip on the seat and didn’t seem to be looking out at the passing views much. I only caught glimpses but what I saw was pretty spectacular.

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Suddenly we were above the clouds. The sky was blue and we could see the 2nd Visitor Center ahead. As we pulled into the parking lot the gas gauge hovered around the 1/4 mark. Even though we could see the summit from the lot, I was just afraid to go any further. It made me think of a scuba dive. When you have used 1/2 of your air you turn around. You don’t push it so that’s what we decided to do but first we wanted to take some pictures.

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I started looking out over the side of the mountain. Impressive but it didn’t really get me excited. It looked like it might be a little higher if we walked from the parking lot up to the Visitor Center, elevation 9,740 ft! I’m so glad we did. We would have missed the best vista if we’d stayed in the parking lot!

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That’s when the strange and amazing landscape revealed itself. I found myself looking down into the remains of the crater which was sprinkled with cinder cones! This area is known as the Sliding Sands and it is beautiful in an alien sort of way.

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I could have stayed right there admiring the view but others wanted even more and followed a trail from the parking lot heading for the summit.

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Although we did not get to the summit this time. (We plan to return with a full tank of gas) We could see the Observatory complex on the summit.

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Because of the remarkable clarity, dryness, and stillness of the air, and its location above one-third of Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the limited light pollution, the summit of Haleakala is one of the most sought-after locations in the world for ground-based telescopes. As a result of the geographic importance of this observational platform, experts come from all over the world to take part in research at “Haleakala Observatory”.

Next time we’ll definitely make it to the top!

Haleakala

Posted on November 11, 2016November 11, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Leaving the Banyan tree behind we started for Paia. But sitting at a stop light we saw a sign for Haleakala National Park. You guessed it…diversion #2. It was about 10:30 am by now and we thought it would be a just a quick side trip. After all, we weren’t going at sunrise or sunset, the 2 most popular times to visit.

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The airport shuttle driver in Albany had told us that we should make the drive because we could see the whole island from the summit and it would be worth it. As we entered the park a sign warned that there was no gas available in the park. I looked at our gas gauge. It was 1/2 full so I figured that should be enough. The sign also said it was 22 miles.

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Haleakala, aka “House of the Sun”, is a dormant volcano that is famous for its sunrise and the people that take the bike tour to see it. They take a van to the summit and after they watch the sunrise they bike down the mountain.

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The operative word here being “down”. They really fly! All along the road were warning signs to watch for bikers. There were a few hard core bikers that were going up. I guess there are always going to be a few people that have to do it the hard way!

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We made it to the first check point with no problem. Sandy had a National Park Pass so we only had to stop at the gate to pick up our brochure and show the pass. The entrance fee without the pass is $20.00 per vehicle in 2016. The price is scheduled to go up in 2017 to $25.00.

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2nd stop was at the first visitor center.

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Here we made a rest stop and chatted with the rangers. We learned that the park is home to the Nene, the Hawaiian Goose and state bird. There is a pair that lives near the station but they only come out when it rains to play in the puddles. We didn’t see a Nene but we did see some little birds that seemed to be hunkered down. 017