Hawaii Trip

 (Scroll to the bottom first.  Blogger uploaded my photos backwards and I'm not going to fix it, so here goes.)

These trees were so cool in person.  They looked like someone painted the trunks.

Some more waterfalls on our way down the road to Hana.  There were just everywhere!  It was so amazing!

I tried to get fish wher eever we went!  This fish was amazing.  I'm craving it right now while I type this.

The lava tubes were not as cool as I expected and I saw a few creepy insects down there so I could have done without this one, but at least I know what a lava tube is now.

Normally you can swim here, but with all the rain the water was really high and really fast that the swimming hole was just a river.

Inside the cave at Black Sand Beach.  So cool!  My favorite beach for sure.  We wish it wasn't so cold and the waves so big so we could have swam there.

We were not ready for the tide to come in so strong and got my tennies soaked!  I tried to jump out of the way, but Sara was awesome enough to get a picture of it.

Black beach was amazing!  Easily the most beautiful beaches.  Once again the pictures don't do it justice.  And we almost had the place to ourselves again.  We finally spotted our turtle here.  It came up for a breathe while we were on the cliffs.  Seeing the wild life in its natural habitat was highlight for me.

There were waterfalls everywhere on the road to Hana.  Usually you can swim in them but not with the strong currents from the high water levels from the rain.  We had the whole place to ourselves due to covid and the rain.  Not many people get to experience the quiet and tranquility of Maui that we got to experience.  It will never be like that ever again.

This was the prettiest water fall I have ever seen.  The pictures do not capture how beautiful everything was.  It was way prettier in person.  There were also more water falls running along the side the falls that are only present during the rainy season.

One of the perks to being the only ones there on the hike due to covid and the weather.  Don't worry we were safe.

The bamboo forest went on for miles and miles in every direction!  It was amazing!

Day #5 The road to Hana-This was incredible.  We saw some more amazing tropical forests and water falls around every corner.  It was raining hard so the rivers and water falls were extra full with muddy water, which apparently appears more aqua in the dry season.  It was Amazing!  The was Wai'anapanapa State Park.

                             

We drove around to every beach that we hadn't seen yet.  We were looking for turtles, but never found one until we got to Black Sand Beach the next day.

The kids didn't believe that bananas grew on trees so I had to take a picture of it.

Day #4 IOA Valley-This is a sacred place to the Hawaiian people because many important battles were fought here.

The beach we were snorkeling on.  It was usually filled with locals, but if you live in Hawaii why go to the beach when it is cloudy?!  We had the beach to ourselves.

I got another chance at snorkeling and saw a few fish.  The waters were calm and I was little more used to snorkeling so I didn't hyperventilate this time.

The bay was too murky to see anything and I thought I was going to drown because I hadn't snorkeled since high school.  I didn't dare go out very far and scrapped my legs all up, but we got this epic picture above.  I was dissapointed so I wanted to try again later.  We boogie boarded at D.T. Flemmings 

We hiked through a garden with a sacred ancient graveyard to get to Honolua Bay to snorkel.  I could not get over this place.  It was my favorite hike.  It was amazing!

We hiked to Nakalele blowhole.  It was gorgeous!

                    

It was a super windy and not the best weather while we were there, but it was still way warmer than Layton in January!

We drove along the northern coast, at least I think it was north.  We saw some incredible cliffs.

I made sure that I got a bag of pineapple all to myself.  I ate it until my mouth was raw.  It more fibrous than the pineapples here in the U.S.

This tree was in the middle of the park and was so cool.  We checked it out after our whale tour.

This whale swam right up next to the boat and underneath us. So cool!

Day #3 We woke up early and went whale watching.  There were everywhere!  We saw several whales breaching at a distance. It was one of my favorite things from the trip.  So cool. This picture is just a baby.  There were huge animals.

That night we went to a luau.  I tried to eat as much fish as possible. As I am typing this I am craving the fish that I had at the Luau. 

We went and watched surfers in Peahi.  There was a little 8 year old girl out there who was totally killing it.  We then checked out several different beaches near our place.

The lower of the twin falls.  The upper falls was blocked off and I tried to crawl under but I couldn't make it.

We made it to twin falls and the garden there was gorgeous.  The vegetation was so cool!

The drive to Twin Falls was interesting.  The vegetation wasn't quite tropical and it wasn't' quite forest.  It was somewhere in between.  I didn't know that these kinds of trees even existed. Of course it was beautiful 

Next we checked out the local bakery and it was so worth it.  So yummy.

The sunrise was incredible and the clouds were cooperating.

Day #2 The next morning we hiked to Haleakala.  It was freezing I thought I was going to die!  I'm glad I threw in my hat and gloves last minute, but wish I had my snowboarding coat.

I didn't want to go to bed because it was so gorgeous, but I was exhausted!

More views from out living room.

So incredibly relaxing with no responsibility of kids or a husband.  I hadn't felt like that since before I was married.  A little strange.

We chilled on the beach for a good 2.5 hours and fell asleep, well at least, everyone else did.

We were so relieved that our Covid paper work was sound and we all got to leave the airport after waiting in line for 45 minutes to get checked.

This was our view from out AirBNB.  It was beautiful and right on the beach!  We fell asleep to the sound of the ocean waves.  It was so gorgeous!

I guess we needed to upgrade to a jeep.  See that tiny suitcase on top.  Yeah that one is mine.  Not sure what all these ladies packed for 6 days. And this is minus Emily's suitcase because the airport lost it.  That was fun, but we went back the next day to get it.

For only 15$ a day we upgraded to a jeep.

Hawaii isn't called the rainbow state for no reason.  We saw multiple rainbows every day that we were there.

Flying over the residential area.  There are surprising mostly rural areas.

Flying over Maui farm land, which was surprising for me.

Day #1 Catching the plane with these ladies and praying that we don't get turned away at the airport.

Finding out my covid test was negative 14 hours before my flight.  I packed like a mad woman!