Day 7…Maui!!

We took an EARLY flight our of O’ahu to Maui on Wednesday! Maybe a little too early! LOL!

Jared couldn’t keep his eyes open. 😛

After picking up our rental car..no it wasn’t a Mustang. 🙁 We headed to the town of Paia to grab some breakfast. It’s the last town before you head out on the Road to Hana. We really wanted to make that trip but with our other plans for the day, we just didn’t have enough time. 

This little place was tasty. The town is like a little Hippie town. 😛

On our way to the Dinner Cruise the day before, our tour guide told us to try the local favorite called Moco Loco. We’d never heard of it. It sounded…..interesting…..? So when we saw it on the menu Jared wanted to give it a try. He’s so brave! 😛

It looks so gross..and it didn’t taste a whole better. From the bottom up it has white rice, a beef patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy. The locals LOOOOOVE this dish…go figure??? LOL! I played it safe and had a bagel! Hahaha! I am totally addicted to Guava Juice now though! I think I had it with every meal. 😛

After breakfast we had some time to kill. We drove over to Iao Valley. 

It was so peaceful and beautiful. I think I need a thesaurus. I need new words for breath taking, beautiful, gorgeous, and amazing to describe Hawaii. 😀 

We planned to go on a 1/2 hour helicopter tour that day. We got a call however, and they said the time slot we picked didn’t have any other passengers on it but us, so would we like to move our time up and get an hour tour at the same price? Ummm….let me think…Heck Ya!!!!! 😀 

Our pilot for the morning! 

Headphones look so cool! 😛

Maui grows a LOT of sugar cane. As far as the eye can see!

One of the BIG touristy things to do in Maui is the Road to Hana that I mentioned before. Well we got to see the Road to Oprah’s house. Some how she got permission from the Hawaiian people to build her house on their Homestead land that NO one is allowed to build on. Then, she was tired of driving alll the way around to get to her mansion that she’s visited twice since she’s built it, so she asked if she could build a road directly to it. They said sure…for a price. $4 Million Dollars!!! She said OK! And there you have it folks. The Road to Oprah’s house!! Crazy!

Both O’ahu and Maui aren’t all that big. It’s interesting to me how they have different climates despite that.  They have lush green rainy sides, tropical sides, desert sides, and volcanic sides. All on one little island.

This is the Haleakala Volcano.

You can camp in there if you want to! Ummm…no thanks! 😛

Desert Side.

A portion of the Road to Hana. It is a 52 mile long road that takes 2.5 hrs. to drive with out any stops. The road is very winding and narrow and passes over 59 bridges, 49 if which are only one lane wide. It’s also wise to finish your drive before it gets dark. There are no lights out there. People have also given it the nickname “The Road to Divorce.” 😛

Honokoau Falls. We were lucky that we were able to see this particular waterfall. The pilot told us it’s not always available to see. It’s 1,100 feet tall! It’s the tallest waterfall on the island. It was dazzling, striking, spectacular…how do you like my thesaurus skills? LOL!

The helicopter tour was fun. It was great to see places you just can’t see by car or foot. Another item to check off the old ‘bucket list’! 😛

After the tour it was lunch time. We drove to this quaint little town called Lahaina. It’s right on the ocean front. Jared and I both have been missing food from home. I hate to say it but Hawaiian food just isn’t that good. So when we found this Mexican joint we were THRILLED!

Jared is in LOVE! Hahahaha!

We looked around the shops and strolled up and down the streets. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. 

 Later we drove out of town and found this little spot and snapped some pics. Those little white ripples in the water down there are snorkelers. The water was super clear. It would be a great spot to snorkel.

It was getting late so we started heading back to town. We spotted a roadside fruit stand. We had to stop!

I can’t remember what this is called. 🙁

Sugar Cane.

Coconuts.

Mangos.

Bananas.

We’ve never tried coconut water so we gave it a whirl. 

Note: pass on the coconut water. It’s not good. LOL!

Coconut is apparently sweetened…a LOT…when you buy it at the store. This was not sweet at all. 

Note: Pass on the entire coconut. LOL!

At least it’s pretty! 😀

We stopped for a little treat and found this WowWee!! It tasted like a Mounds but in a crispy bar. It was good. This Hawaiian Coconut was sufficiently sweetened! 😛

It was a long but fun day on Maui. We’d definitely like to come back and do the Road to Hana sometime!

This sign cracked me up!!! This is posted as you go through security at the airport. I had to get a picture of it! 😛