Escape to Paradise - Maui Vacation, Pt. 5

On our second-to-last day in Maui, we decided to brave rain on the northern coast of the island and attempt to drive the famous Road to Hana. The Hana highway which hugs the shore between Pa'ia and Hana is supposed to have some of the most beautiful scenery on the island. We knew that we probably wouldn't be able to make it all the way to Hana and back in a day, but we figured that we would go as far as Kaden would let us, and then turn around. Believe it or not, it was not Kaden fussing about being in his car seat that forced us to cut our trip short. What you can't tell from all of the maps is just how windy the road is. Think non-stop hairpin turns, lots of blind corners and one-way, slick stone bridges over creeks and crevices that force you to drive no more than 15 MPH. I was so car sick that we only made it about 15 miles in before we gave up. The scenery was beautiful (though we never really made it to any of the noteworthy spots on the travel websites), but we would have needed several more hours and some dramamine in order to continue.

Riding in the car almost always put Kaden to sleep

 We did make a few interesting stops before turning around. The first one was at the Twin Falls Farmstand. These locals sell delicious fruit and refreshing drinks to snack on as you begin your journey. There are also some trails behind the food truck where you can do some light hiking to a small water fall. We decided to let Kaden get down and stretch his legs a bit. Unfortunately, he refused to be picked back up again when the trails got muddy so he ruined his leather Robeez shoes. That meant he would not be walking the rest of the day.

This adorable picture is almost worth the spoiled shoes. He loves walking with Daddy!

 I was determined to take some pretty landscape pictures, but just couldn't tolerate being in the car. So we decided to to stop off and explore the Garden of Eden Botanical Gardens. They had some pretty hiking trails through beautifully landscaped tropical gardens, plus a picnic area, bathrooms and a gift shop. We strapped Kaden into our Baby Bjorn on James' back and walked around for about an hour.

Us in the bamboo groves

Apparently that pointy rock at the head of that valley was in Jurassic Park

Around lunch time, it started to sprinkle. So instead of eating on the picnic tables, we had a picnic in the back of our SUV. Kaden didn't mind. He very much enjoyed his peanut butter sandwich. Below is a cute video I shot of him eating it all by himself. He is such a big boy now!

 We tried to drive a little bit further after lunch, but it started raining and we decided it was best to turn back. I did snap a few pretty photos of the lush, green landscape along the coast. It was very different from the rest of the island that we had seen, so I'm thankful we made the trip. If we ever return to Maui, we'll be better prepared to enjoy the beauty of the Road to Hana.

 One picture I"m glad I got on the way home was showing one of my favorite sites from the trip. Maui is covered in fields of sugar cane. It's one of their primary crops. I always thought the tall sugar cane juxtaposed against the mountains was pretty, and we found a perfect place to pull off and snap a pic.

 That night we decided to return to Cheeseburger in Paradise for one more delicious meal. It's hard to find great burgers in our area of Korea, so we took advantage of all the American cuisine that we could. I still love how they put an umbrella in Kaden's mac and cheese. It's the small things that help build that island vacation feel. :)