how to travel with a smile

wowi (day 2)

We had big plans for our second day on Maui. That called for a big breakfast and an early wake up. I am not a morning person, but I am easily enticed by food. The Pilot had me up and going at an hour that regular folks have breakfast.

morning on Ka’anapali Beach

Today we decided to brave the climb up Haleakalā, one of the many volcanoes that form the islands of Hawai’i. When you consider the 19.6k ft of Haleakalā which is under water, this mountain is taller than Mount Everest by almost 700 ft! I say climb, but I really mean that our rental car did most of the work.

Halfway up, We drove into the clouds.

It rained on us inside the cloud.

We started to see daylight again as we continued to ascend.

Then we were driving above the clouds! We stopped at the first visitor center and took in the first views. A man passed us on the trail to the lookout and said, “Wait until you see it from the top. This is nothing.” I thought we couldn’t that far from the top, but we still had a thousand feet to go up to the very top. The view was astounding.

Haleakalā crater
Haleakalā Silversword
The clouds mimic the ocean surf as they crash into Haleakalā.

From the top, you can see the two peaks of the “Big Island,” Hawai’i.

I brought a jacket with me to HI. It seems crazy, but I brought it knowing we were going to Haleakalā. Somewhere between leaving the hotel and going back for my bag, I left my jacket in the room. It was very cold at the summit. I don’t mean it was slightly chilly. It was cold. You will be more comfortable when you go if you bring a jacket. If you are super sensitive to cold like me, you may want to consider long pants even. Next time, I will bring a thick winter coat and brave sunrise. I have heard it is amazing.

We also stopped on the way up at a little grocery store in the clouds to pick up some lunch items. After our hike around the top, we decided to go back to the car for our lunch. This is what we found. Our potato chip bag had reacted to the change in pressure and did a fine parody of a puffer fish.

In the afternoon, we had a walk through the shops of the Lāhainā waterfront. We looked at art, ate shave ice, and found Hawaiian coffees to bring home. In the center of this town you can see a banyan tree that is nearly 140 years old and covers an area of over 200 feet.

We were a little surprised to see public pay phones all over Maui. Haven’t seen a working one in a long time.

Returning to the hotel we went down to the beach. The surf wanted to play and it started out with some light punches. Soon we were being pummeled on the beach. A woman near us had been body surfing further down the beach and told us they had to stop because of the wave strength. I had no idea the waves were that big. We were just having fun. Later, we heard several people had been hurt at one of the other resorts. I guess we were braving big waves without knowing how big. After being tossed around and thrown into the sand a few times, there was sand in every part of us and our swimsuits that can ever have sand. I was still getting sand out of my ear a week after traveling back home.

That night, after getting ho-hum recommendations on sushi from the concierge, we took to Yelp and found something amazing. Star Noodle is a small, modern place in Lāhainā with a sake bar and communal tables. They serve their own versions of traditional dishes from Asia with noodles made in-house. Their bartenders are muddling experts to make their creative drinks and sake cocktails. My “Stargarita” was yum! I could have eaten heaps of the garlic noodles and the chilled buckwheat noodles were a cool treat. I say have the malasadas because you can’t really go wrong with fried dough and dipping sauces for dessert. We were definitely glad we found this place and waited in the line to eat. Star Noodle is so good we ate there twice in our 3 day stay.

From the fun bartender at Star Noodle, we got an awesome recommendation for breakfast. I went to bed, once again dreaming of breakfast.

Remember that “Do not drive here” warning on the map from day one? Next: wowi (last day)

Tags: Haleakala, Hawaii, HI, Ka'anapali, Lahaina, Maui, Star Noodle, volcano