It was an early morning for us today because we wanted to pack up the car and get started on the road to Hana before the crowds arrived. Our first stop was Twin Falls a little outside Paia, but before the Hana road actually began. It was an interesting little attraction on a private farm whose owner didn’t mind people going to see. It was about a five minute walk from the road, so we were back on the go in no time. 
The next places on the road are a blur because we stopped so many times to look around. I think the next stop was Koki Beach where we saw some strong breakers.
After that we stopped at a rest area where Jeff made friends with a cat, as he does. Next was Keane Arboretum, where I went camera crazy with every plant I saw. There is such a variety here, from massive flowers to tiny blooms. We also were able to see the rainbow eucalyptus trees I had heard so much about. They were pretty amazing.
The next stop was Keane Lookout where the waves were even bigger than before. After that, we took pictures of some roadside waterfalls before stopping at Wai’anapanapa State Park where the black sand beach was the star. We ate a picnic lunch before hiking the rocky shore, and then Jeff went down to the beach to play a little. I opted to stay up on the rim of the cove because I knew I would be hard pressed to handle all those stairs.
The next stop was Wailua Falls, made famous in Fantasy Island. It was kind of a nut house by the time we got there with people standing in the middle of the already narrow bridge (there are 59 bridges on this stretch of road, and 46 of those are one lane). We got our pictures and got out of there fast.
We arrived at Hana but didn’t stop. There were sites to see further down the road, especially the Pools of O’heo, part of Haleakala National Park. The whole way there was basically one lane, so we had some harrowing moments with on coming traffic on one side and a sheer cliff face on the other. We kept seeing signs saying Blow Horn and were confused because that was what we say yesterday on the opposite side of the island. I am embarrassed to admit that only now did we realize that “Blow Horn” was not the name of the phenomenon we witnessed, but rather an instruction to blow your horn to alert oncoming traffic around a blind curve.
When we finally got to the national park, we opted for the shorter hike to the lower pools because the alternative would definitely have been too difficult for me. As it was, I was on the point of exhaustion on this hike, but the views were really nice. Midway through the hike, my macro lens fell out of it’s casing, but my wonderful husband was able to fix it so I could get my flower shots.
We made our way carefully back to the Hana Inn, where we were going to stay the night. Jeff went out to I Lava Taco, a food truck situated in a kind of food court for mobile kitchens, and brought back burritos. After we ate, it was starting to get dark, and even though it was misting and too cloudy for a decent sunset, we went to the beach one last time. I was glad it was dark there because I didn’t want anyone to see me in a swimsuit.
Tomorrow we will drive back to the airport to catch a plane to San Francisco and then on to Nashville.