I think I'd rather have Gatorade...

We spent the better part of the day wending our way up Haleakala crater (I think I may have spelled that wrong, but I'm too lazy to look up the correct spelling at the moment...), which is a dormant -- but not extinct -- volcano on Maui. And even though this was the third time I've made the journey to the top, I forgot what a long drive it was. It's about 40 miles from the hotel, which doesn't seem TOO long until you start driving up the steep, winding road to the top of the crater. It's impossible to go much faster than 20 or 30 miles per hour most of the way... and every few miles, a sign appears on the side of the road to announce the elevation -- 2500 feet... 4000 feet... 6500 feet (somewhere around this point, the lack of oxygen becomes more obvious to those of us who are prone to altitude sickness...). It tops out at 10,023 feet. So one of the interesting things about traveling up to Haleakala is that it's FREEZING when you reach the top. Within a few hours, you go from bikini-on-the-beach weather to need-a-warm-sweatshirt weather. In fact, one of the park rangers informed us that two inches of snow fell on the summit this past winter. Yep, it DOES snow in Hawaii...


A few pictures:

Sunset on our first night in Maui...

Fountain in the lobby of the hotel...

On top of Haleakala looking down into the crater...

Me and Rick with his parents...


Rick's parents under the elevation sign...

Me in my long-sleeved jacket -- totally appropriate for Hawaii, don't you think??

This may quite possibly be the strangest sign I've ever seen -- it was in the bathroom at the park. Do they REALLY need to warn people not to drink out of the toilet?? What kind of weirdo people are visiting this place??? If the water was NOT reclaimed, would anyone honestly think it was perfectly safe to drink? How thirsty do you have to be to drink public toilet water? I mean, I wouldn't even drink the water out of my OWN toilet at home, let alone a toilet in the middle of a national park...

We don't really have any plans for tomorrow, although my mom is anxious to eat at Leilani's on the Beach sometime this week. And not only because it's named after her, but also because they have Hula Pie. Mmmmmmm... Hula Pie... :)