Hawaii Day 5

I am finally relaxing. My biggest challenge is whether to wear shorts or a swim suit with that T-shirt, I don't get up at 4:30 in the morning any more, I haven't worn socks in 5 days, and I go for a long time, sometimes 10-20 minutes, not knowing exactly what time of the day it is here. I could get used to this.

Today we took the Hana Highway to Hana and beyond. For those who haven't been on it, this road is 50+ miles of slow going. It winds through dense rain forest like terrain with lots of blind curves and one-way bridges. The trip from Paia to Hana takes about 2 and a half hours.

For lunch we stopped at Koki Beach Park just beyond Hana. This is a nice respite from the seemingly overcroweded road in. There weren't too many people and the water was nice.

We then proceeded to the 7 sacred pools (there are more than seven and all water in Hawaii is sacred we were told). This has become a rip off. When we went several years ago you pulled off the side of the road and walked down to the pools. Now it is part of Haleakala National Park. Aside from the usual groomed trails and overused access by the masses it costs $10 to get in. The sacred pools don't seem so sacred any more.

We decided to continue on around Haleakala clockwise rather than battle the road back. The lady at the National Park entrance told us the road was open and paved except for 5 miles of rough dirt road. She said it would take just a little less time but was about the same distance. I guess I got my $10 worth in directions because this was a much more enjoyable trip. The road was wider and there were fewer people on it. The paved part was a little rough but the trip took about a half an hour less and was 10 miles shorter by my odometer. If you go, take the full trip around.