I loved waking up each morning to these views! We were pleased to see blue skies Tuesday morning and not nearly as much wind as the day before! Here are a couple more angles from our room...
As much as I would have loved just hanging out at the hotel or the beach, David convinced me, after much persuasion, to drive the Road to Hana (aka the Road to Hell)! This is a picture of the backside of the drive on our map... For someone who gets carsick easily, this was not something I even considered a possibility! Usually any girl I talked to about it agreed that it wasn't a good idea, and all the men were gung ho. But then at the last minute I talked with a girl who was going with a group of agents we knew from Utah and she offered me Bonine if I'd go... So between her and David and all the other guys who were gung ho about it, I decided I'd give it a shot! Besides, I figured if David was going to do it regardless, I wanted to be with him to make sure he drove carefully and didn't end up at the bottom of a cliff!
Thankfully, we had a convertible. David got a beautiful white Camaro for the week, and it was a lifesaver for me on the drive. We kept the top down the whole time and the wind helped me from getting very sick. (That, and the Bonine, I'm sure.)
We decided to do the drive backwards, or counterclockwise, so we could see the prettiest waterfalls first instead of last. And it gave me an out, in case I decided we needed to turn around and come home instead of finishing the drive. So we went from Wailea around the bottom of the island, and I was surprised to see a lot of open spaces and grasslands - not what you'd picture Hawaii to be! It reminded me a lot of Napa Valley in CA, especially as we started climbing the foothills...
Here's a view from higher up - a view that is distinctly Hawaiian!
On the very south end of the island we stopped to see a historic church that overlooked the ocean. It was so picturesque!
This was the view on the other side of the road! Amazing!
The further we drove around to the other side of the island the more tropical it became. Pretty soon the trees were arching up over the top of the road. We loved it!
View from the road...
Eventually we made it to our first main stop - the Pipiwai Trail and Waimoku Falls near the infamous Seven Sacred Pools. I didn't end up seeing the Sacred Pools - completely missed the turnoff for them near the visitor center - but the hike to the falls was incredible! Look at that greenery! This is what I imagined Hawaii to look like. We kept feeling like we were in the middle of Jurassic Park!
A waterfall along the way...
An awesome banyan tree just off the trail...
David and some of our State Farm traveling buddies - Mike, Seth, and Trevor.
More beautiful falls...
We had to take a selfie for Instagram. :)
Looking back at the bridge.
At one point along the trail it suddenly turns into a bamboo forest. They bamboo waved in the wind and knocked against one another, which made it a little eery, but still very cool!
In the background here are Trevor and Sasha. They drove in our car with us for most of the week and became great friends! They were good sports to take the backseat on this particular trip.
Back to the regular part of the forest...
After a couple miles we made it to the 400 ft. Waimoku Falls! It was like something right out of a picture.
Despite the warning sign, we couldn't resist seeing the base of the falls (along with every other hiker).
And David couldn't resist getting in!
Crazy men. They said the water came down so hard it was painful, but very invigorating! :)
After lunch in Hana, we decided we'd come so far, we might as well just keep going and brave the windiest part of the road on the east side of the island (pictured on the map). I'm glad we did because we got to see the black sands of Honokalani beach! It was my favorite part of the whole drive - so beautiful!
Love the selfie, babe!
Before we went down to the sand, we detoured a bit to see a freshwater lava tube cave we'd heard about. Walking to it was a little spooky with all the vines and things...
David was one of two guys from our group brave enough (or crazy enough) to try out the freezing cold water. It was clear water, but dark, so they borrowed a couple glow sticks from other hikers to look around.
There was another cavern that you could reach by diving down under the water and going through a small tunnel, but I didn't let David try it... :/
We finally made it down to the beach and David took some pics of me for a change! I absolutely loved the sand. It was incredible!
This isn't the greatest picture, but it shows a lot of our group - Sasha and Taylor, Mike, the Porters, and David and I. Another fun girl, Natalie, was taking the pic - she'd come without her husband who is very prone to motion sickness and opted to stay at the hotel. :)
More views of the beach...
The last part of the drive wasn't as bad as I'd thought it what be! Granted, I was really drugged up on Bonine, and I slept a part of the way, but I'm glad I can say I survived the Road to (or in our case, from) Hana! A couple more shots from the car...
We were driving on those cliffs through the trees! Sheer drops and we were on the outside of the road. It was a little nerve-wracking... But we made it! It was certainly a long, but adventurous day!
