The Dawson's: Maui, Day 3...The Road to Hana and Beyond

The Road to Hana was something that a few people who have been to Maui told us was a do not miss! If you've never heard of "The Road to Hana", I copy and pasted this from a website: Along Maui's rugged eastern coastline is the peaceful town of Hana, considered one of the last unspoiled Hawaiian frontiers. The legendary road to Hana is only 52 miles from Kahului, however the drive can take anywhere from two to four hours to complete since it's fraught with narrow one-lane bridges, hairpin turns and incredible island views.
The Hana Highway (HI-360) has 600 curves and 54 bridges.

I really didn't know if we would be able to work it in because it requires a full day committment....well, we woke up Sunday morning and decided we would head out. We looked it up online and saw the recommendations to stop in Pia at Anthony's coffee shop and get sandwiches for your picnic lunch...so we did.....coffee, check....homemade muffins, check.....2 roast beef sandwiches,check.....Road to Hana audio CD, check....2 novices who did not know what in the heck they were about to encounter, check, check!! (to give you an idea we heard that only recently did rental car places in Maui insure you if you said you were going on the Road to Hana!) And to top this adventure off...we were in a Ford Fiesta!! We saved the $ and didn't rent a jeep like many folks do, but hey, we think it helped (it could squeeze by those one lane road way better than those SUV's....and it saved big on gas!)

Black Sand beach, the "sand" is actually lava ground so fine it is like sand, amazing

Rob drove the first half...I drove the second...we listened to the CD which helped us know when to stop and what we were seeing

When I look at the pictures, it just doesn't do this scenery justice....I really never knew something this beautiful existed. I will never forget when we rounded a big curve (one of the 600 (and 54 bridges)) and we saw this, I had butterflies dancing in my body. Our pastor had spoken on creation several times before our trip and some of his points kept rolling around in my mind. Only God can create something of this nature. It rained on us like 20 times this day for like 5 minutes....part of it is literally a rainforest)

one of the waterfalls...I can't remember all of their names, but there were many

looking from above down over a fall

black sand beach, again

just a random waterfall pic taken out of the window

Now....this....is....when....we.....got.....scared!!!!! This is what they call the "beyond".....most folks don't "go all the way around"...you can turn around shortly past Hana and go back the way you came. Only in more recent years has the highway been passable all the way around...and that's just it, there are several places where it is still nearly passbale....one lane, dirt road on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean with no guard rail. At one point Rob turned white and said "I don' think we are going to make it back for the game." (which was the next day!) For about 90 minutes, we were both a little nervous...but it was soooo worth it. The other side of the "mountain" was just as beautiful, in a different way. And just as breathtaking. It was more desert like on this side, but totally serene

If you look close, you can see a natural bridge in that rock

So, we returned back to Kaanapali about 5:30 (9 hours of driving) and stopped by the Haywood's (the Neolani...we had many laughs about this quant little hotel, so I have to include the name for memory's sake)....sat in the hot tub for a bit and then I went to eat with them for Sam's birthday at Kimos. Rob went with D. Sage to a press conference thing for the tournament then met us there.