Maui - Day Two

Due to the six hour time change,

we used our internal clock still being set to Kentucky time to our advantage.

We woke up at 2:30AM and drove to Haleakala National Park

to watch the sunrise at Maui's highest peak (10,023 ft above sea level).

It was truly magical.

As we drove up the side of the volcano we stopped to look at the stars, 

the moon, and even the planet Venus!

Once we made it to the top, 

we stayed in the observatory and waited for the sun to rise in all it's glory.

It was an experience we will never forget.

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After watching the sun rise, we ventured to the road to Hana.

 

I am posting the above Google Image of the Road to Hana to remember how windy the road truly is,

although I doubt I will ever forget.

We had a pretty great time driving TO Hana, stopping to see many sights and to shop.

But when we realized that we had to drive the 

same windy road BACK to get to our resort I nearly had a mental breakdown.

It took us about 3 hours to drive from Haleakala National Park to Hana Beach.

On the way back we decided not to stop for any reason other than to buy water and/or pineapple.

Thankfully, Craig is an amazing driver and really took care of me 

as I reclined the passenger seat and fell asleep for almost the whole drive back.

Just two miles from our starting point (where we knew there was cut up pineapple),

I asked Craig to pull over and I started to dry heave.

All the turns and the heat finally caught up to me and I started to cry.

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Happily Mauied!

Our honeymoon was better than we could have ever expected.

Hawaii was always a pipe dream for us both,

but when planning our honeymoon, thanks to Costco Travel,

we realized that maybe it was more within our reach than we had originally thought. 

We stayed in Maui for 7 nights and are already

searching for ways to return.

In an effort to truly capture our whole experience,

I am going to take my time documenting each day of our trip.

Our first day was consumed mostly by travel.

We were supposed to have two connecting flights before arriving to Maui,

but due to mechanical issues with the place in Texas,

we actually never made our connection in Phoenix and took a direct flight

to Maui from Dallas. It was a long haul that we weren't exactly prepared for.

We had no food, water, movies, or games to keep us occupied on the nearly 8 hour flight.

We were obviously thankful to be arriving to our destination on the day scheduled

and not the next (like our luggage) but we definitely were on the struggle bus by the end of the flight.

When we got to Maui, we waited in the airport for our luggage to show up,

but it never did. Thankfully we had packed some clothes in our carry-on luggage,

but the majority of what we needed for the week was in our large checked bag.

After spending way too long in the airport, 

we headed to Avis Car Rental to pick up our vehicle.

We opted to upgrade and spring for the Jeep since it was only $15 extra a day.

(We are SO glad we did too!)

Since I had not eaten in almost 16 hours, 

our first stop was to Costco (which was very close to the airport)

to pick up some groceries and snacks.

Our drive to our resort, Lahaina Shores, was scenic but very slow.

The worst traffic we encountered the entire trip was this drive.

We are not really sure why there was so much traffic on that particular day

but we did hear a rumor that a sea lion was washed ashore and somehow 

landed in the middle of the road. 

When we made it to our hotel, we grabbed a few essentials at the 

nearby Whaler's General Store, ate some food, and walked the beach.

Since the time difference was significant (6 hours behind), we had a hard time staying awake.

Despite not having our luggage, we were in great spirits and excited for our week ahead.