A Walk in the Clouds...On Mars!

Today was our last full day on Maui and we spent it in a totally different world from what we've experienced so far on this Hawaiian Island. We started early and drove for a couple of our hours across the island to Haleakela Volcanic Crater to visit its 10,023 ft. peak (taller than Mt. Everest if measured from the ocean floor). As we approached, we kept going up, and up, and up, and up, and up...okay you get the idea...until we were well above the clouds. Aaron and I were the first to get light-headed from the lack of oxygen. It was a strange feeling but not too bothersome, kind of what you feel like after blowing up a balloon or sucking in helium. When we saw our first volcanic crater vista it was awesome to say the least, like nothing we've ever seen. It was amazing to think that we were only approximately 6 miles from the lushness of the coastline (as the crow flies), and that the beautiful green vegetation, waterfalls, and rainforest-like landscape was only a mere few dozen miles away...right on the other side of the crater walls. We felt like we were ants on Mars, especially when we started hiking down into the crater. We only did 1 mile of the ~5 mile hike to the crater floor. Downhill was easy, coming back up was not fun. The pictures can't do the scene justice...it was steep! We were definitely grumbling when the horses past us one the way back up. But even in this martian landscape there exists life, in the form of a strange high altitude, desert plant called a Silver Sword that lives for approx. 30 years, blooms once, than immediately dies. The day was fun. Just as we were leaving we were engulfed in clouds that blocked our views on the way down.

Tonight was our last night here so we went to a fancy restaurant for dinner called Mama's Fish House, an island landmark. There were pictures on the wall of the many famous people who have visited including many LOST actors and actresses (FYI, they shoot the show a few islands to the west on Kawai). The food was great and the service was probably the best I've ever had. Our whole wait staff paid special attention to Cherie's nut issues and were supper attentive...I even got Vicki to try beef cooked medium instead of burned...and she like it!

Tomorrow we're leaving and we're sad...I guess we'll talk to you all when we get home...TTYL.

Great day....fun night

The weather today was awesome! The sun was out and the water in front of our hotel was crystal clear making for some great snorkeling around Black Rock. Again, we saw numerous giant sea turtles out there, especially one large one. Aaron and I took a bunch of underwater photos but we'll have to get them developed back home before we know how they came out. Most of the day was spent chilling on the beach and around the pools.

This evening we went the Old Lahaina Lu'au which was also an incredible experience (the open bar helped). We saw the pig get pulled from the sand pit, had some drinks and great food, and watched an incredible show of dancers and musicians...we were a little disappointed there were no fire dancers but I guess that is Polynesian, not Hawaiian, the price we paid for authenticity. We were at a table of eight and had three girls visiting from Scotland sitting with us.

Tomorrow is our last full day :( ...we're going to the Haleakela volcano in the morning, so hopefully it'll be clear out.

Our Hana Ride

Hey Guys Cherie here! Yesterday we drove to Hana. It was crazy!! Amazing waterfalls & pools to swim in. We all dove off a cliff into a pool fed by the ocean & a large waterfall. It was really cool!! Aaron had to make it look even better by leaping off a cliff about 40 ft off the water. ( He is nuts! ) We got to see the whole island its so different all over on one side its lush & rainforest like and the other side is like a desert. Matt decided to get out and take picture at one point, there were lots of cows in the desert, he seemed to cause a stampeed. They all crossed the road in a race to get away from him, the rest of us sat in the car laughing. We visited a state park called Wai'anapanapa, there was a really black sand beach ( Matt posted pics of it ). The neat part was that the sand was really small pieces of lava that broke apart and washed up on shore. They looked like small smooth rocks. There were a few caves we climbed around in as well. Aaron and Matt went swimming in one ( too cold for me & Vicki ). We thought we might get hypothermia. That was pretty much the highlights there were other things we did but I want to go and lay on the beach. So, talk to ya later!

Unfortunately, I am sick today (Jackie) and so I had to miss out on todays adventures. While this isn't good for me, it IS good for all you faithful blog checkers out there. I'll leave yesterday's update to Aaron and Cherie but here are some pictures I took from the other day for your enjoyment!