The Island of Maui

 Jen here on Monday, January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Many of you have a vacation day today and some time in the snow.  Enjoy. 

Our morning began by lazy-ing in bed and turning on the TV to watch the ship dock in Kaua’i on a brilliantly colorful day.  I ran up on deck and made a few phone calls—we’re 4 hours behind Central Standard Time, then off to breakfast on another deck.  Imagine our delight when we saw a humpback whale in the distance cavorting and blowing and staying close to the surface.  In these winter months, they are known to congregate in these Hawaiian waters.  We will take a whale watching tour ourselves in a couple days.  Stay tuned.

Today we are on the island Maui and we will return to this island in two days but on the other side. For today, we had not scheduled a formal tour, so we waited a while before disembarking, using the computer to find maps and some ideas for walking or hiring Uber.  For the past several weeks we had been kicking ourselves for not packing our Chromebook as a second computer.  We’re finding that our daily activities are so similar that it’s difficult to share the one computer—especially for extra creative impulses or full-on research. There is a room onboard the ship that has about 8 computers and a free printer, but when we asked the onsite expert about the machines, he said they were only for internet use.  I had hoped to perhaps slip up to that room and write on a Word doc but nope.   Hence today’s task—take an extra backpack, go to Walmart, and purchase a low-end computer. 

But, alas, we were in for a surprise.  Literally, as we stepped off the ship, two friends from Huntsville, AL with whom we play bridge, stopped us and asked if we’d like to share a taxi to go to Haleakala (ha-lee- AH-kuh-luh), the highest point on the island.   Of COURSE!  So we scrambled into the brand new van/taxi and soaked in the scenic drive to the top, pausing for photos every so often.  Jerry and I had driven ourselves to the top of this peak 30 years ago—when we were here on our way to China.  We enjoyed it then and remembered the many groups of bicyclists who rented bikes for downhill only.  Yup, they still do. 

Haleakala, like about 40% of Hawaii’s volcanoes, is a “shield volcano” due to its long-broad-and curved shape like a shield caused by the many layers of lava as it erupts.  Its shape also means that only about 5% of the volcano is above sea level.  A pamphlet informs, “The summit of Haleakala currently stands at 10,023 ft. but is believed to have once reached 15,000 ft. above sea level.  But even with this loss in height, and measuring from the sea floor, this volcano is the third tallest mountain on Earth.”  Huh. Our taxi driver graciously allowed us some time to climb once we reached the visitor center near the top.  It was quite windy at that altitude, but the Hawaiian sun kept us from shivering too much. We passed quite a few groups of bicyclists who were taking their time getting down.  They’re braver than I!

We had the driver drop us at WalMart and we were successful in finding a Gateway.  A friendly cow now greets me each time I load up.  This page is written as I sit on or sofa with the computer on my lap; Jerry is on the other computer detailing the next day!!!