The Road to Hana Revisited

Posted on February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 8 Comments

What a gorgeous morning. It was quite windy but it was warm and the sky was a brilliant blue with white cloud accents. It seemed as if the storm that started my day had passed through.

I’d spotted at least 3 whales from shore so that bodes well for the boat trip on Wednesday. My UTI was either gone or in check for now so all was right with my world.

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I continued driving on RT 30. Eventually it would turn into the notorious Road to Hana, one of the top 10 deadliest roads in the world. Sandy and I drove part of it in the rain our first day in Maui in November. We then took the tour that drove us the whole way. I was willing to do the first section because that didn’t seem too bad but not the rest. Today I was just looking for the park where we saw the beautiful surf and the rainbow.

I didn’t remember it being too far out and it was a two lane road there.

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I was stopping often to take pictures. I was seeing things I hadn’t been able to see from the tour bus or notice in the rain. It was just beautiful. I also think it was much more green than when we were there in November. Probably because of all the rain in Maui’s winter. I was really intent on what I was doing and lost track of mile markers. The resort said not to go past mile marker 38.

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Suddenly I was looking at a long downhill stretch that was one lane. OOPS! I think I went too far. I could see a line of cars stopped that were going in the same direction I was . No place to turn around either. So taking a deep breath I eased forward.

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This section wasn’t too bad and I didn’t meet any cars coming up. Probably due to the traffic jam ahead of me. I crossed the one lane bridge and started the climb up where I’d seen the cars stopped. I had a whole line of cars behind me when, close to the top, another car rounded a blind corner and we were nose to nose on one lane. A cliff face to my right and a deadly drop off to my left. Somebody was going to have to back up!

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For some reason my mind chose that moment to flash to Josh Gates and his series “Expedition Unknown”.

We pause now for this commercial break or until I can get my panic under control!

Whales From Shore

Posted on February 11, 2017February 11, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 6 Comments

Everybody said I’d be able to see whales from shore in February and they weren’t kidding. I found my turn off but there weren’t any surfers there today but I was able to drive down much further.

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I found a little surfboard memorial. I guess its like the crosses on the side of the road. Somebody died there. A surfer didn’t return.

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As I turned away something caught my eye. I’d swear I saw a huge splash but there were a lot of white caps so after watching for a few minutes I went back to the car. As I was turning around I saw it again only this time I was looking right toward it. Right after the splash was a blow! I decided the first one was probably a whale too. By the time I’d driven up the dirt road I’d seen 2 more. Cars were lining up along the road and people were running around with binoculars.

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A bit too crowded for my taste I headed on up the road looking for pull offs where I could either find scenery or a view of the ocean for whales.

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Everywhere there were people lined up. Pull outs were full of cars. Some regular visitors I spoke with said they had never seen it like this.

From the shore you glimpse the whale but its more the splash that catches your eye. There’s not much to photograph at that distance.

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I figured I’d continue on a bit. I wanted to try to locate the park Sandy and I found in November. I know it was on the Road to Hana but I don’t recall it being very far along it. I have no desire to drive the bad parts of that road; single lanes, no room to pull off, massive cliffs. No thank you.

D.T. Fleming Beach Park

Posted on February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 by Dusty Roads

The sun came back out after that pretty amazing rain storm. Wind and torrential rains and five minutes later, sunshine. Wow!

Since the day looked to be a good one, I took off north on Rt 30. I wanted to see if any surfers were out. If there were rip tides it would probably be quiet but it was worth taking a look.

I wasn’t sure I’d remember the exact turn off so when I spotted a left I took it. Immediately I knew this wasn’t the one. This was a paved road. The one I was looking for is a pretty rugged dirt road.

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I decided to see where this road went before I turned around. The sign said D.T. Fleming Beach Park, voted best beach in 2006. There was a rest room and maybe a bath house for changing???Also a life guard stand.

The beach seemed pretty popular. More and more people were coming while I was there. I suppose once the weather lifted everyone headed for the beach. You could see the weather was still very unsettled as rain squalls passed in the distance.

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I was surprised that so many children were there. Don’t they have school?

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The beach was certainly a pretty little beach. I found myself thinking that if these kids could handle the surf here maybe I could too.

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I’ll have to think about it after I get my whale picture.

Ka’anapali Shores 2017

Posted on February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 by Dusty Roads

It took forever at the Budget Car rental. At the last minute I decided to rent a GPS because I wouldn’t have a co pilot to read a map. I told the rental agent I had been very unhappy with it the last time I rented and he promised to make sure it was up to date.

By the time I left the counter to locate my car it was full dark and starting to rain. Lovely. My favorite kind of weather for driving in an unfamiliar area! (NOT)

My first problem came when there was no car in B 70, my parking spot. I checked the whole row, and no SUV that matched my agreement. So luggage and I traipsed back to the rental counter. The agent was very sorry. It had been a busy day so he assigned me another vehicle.

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This one is E something. It was right where we could see it. A nice white SUV. (I’d asked for an economy car as it was just me but they were all out so I got the SUV upgrade for free).

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I loaded up and plugged in the GPS only to discover that on all the paperwork I had with me for the stay, not one had the address for Ka’anapali Shores. I tried searching in the GPS for the resort. Nothing. I tried Ka’anapali Beach club, nope. I knew if I could just get from the rental lot to the highway I’d be fine so I entered Maui Ocean Center. Bingo.

The car they gave me is brand new with a keyless start. I adjusted the seat and mirrors and hit start. The AC came on, the dash lit up but I didn’t go anyplace. I shut it off and tried again. Same thing so back to the counter I went. The agent told me to stand by and he’d send someone to help. Sure enough a couple of minutes later an older woman came jogging over. As soon as I told her the problem she said “Step on the Brake”. I told her I had so she said “Step Harder”. So I did and guess what, engine noise. It purrs LOL.

Now I was ready to head out. Except for one thing. Although the GPS said it had the directions, it just took me in circle and I ended right back at Budget instead of passing the Maui Ocean center. I began to wonder if I’d ever get to the resort. By now I’m tired and getting frustrated. My sense of fun and adventure is rapidly deserting me. All I want is to get to the timeshare and hit the bed. I haven’t had a meal all day (eat a Snickers-you aren’t yourself when you’re hungry) so I took matters into my own hands.

I followed the signs out of the lot and as soon as I spotted a sign for Lahaina I started following those. 30 minutes later I was at the front desk being told my suite was in the pent house.

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I didn’t care, just give me a bed!

The Third Leg

Posted on February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 by Dusty Roads

As I mentioned yesterday, there were 3 legs to my journey to Maui. We almost missed the this connection but American Airlines held our plane for us. I had upgraded my seat for this leg and it wasn’t a full flight so I had the aisle in a very roomy seat and my row mate had the window. The middle seat was empty.

There was quite a bit of turbulence so the seat belt sign stayed on the whole 6 hours.

Somewhere over the Pacific the pilot came on from the flight deck to announce the Superbowl was 7 to 0 Falcons. Not what I wanted to hear.

I went back to my book and a bit later he announced that the score at halftime was 16 – 0, Falcons. There were a few cheers at that but still pretty subdued. I hung on to hope. After all, Belichick hadn’t gotten them into the locker room yet. No further announcements were made.

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My phone alerts me to the results of the Pat’s games but I’d turned it off on the plane. Putting it in Airplane mode just sucks down the battery. Flying into Maui at 6:15 Hawaiian time was quite a sight. The sun was setting and the clouds were rimed in pink. I think its the first time I’ve been to Hawaii when I didn’t land in the dark!

As soon as we touched down and the flight crew gave the ok to use cell phones I powered up. The very first alert I got was “Pat’s Win”.

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Brady & Belichick did it again. You have to admit these come from behind wins are pretty amazing. So many teams would have given up; choked.

What a great feeling…I’m landing in one of the most beautiful places on earth at sunset after a last minute connection save and getting news that my team just pulled out a great win.