September 3rd – It’s all downhill

Today started extremely early. At 2:45am we were picked up by our Crusin Phil's tour group to go to the top of Haleakula to watch the sunrise and then to bike down the volcano.  We were taken to their headquarters to meet our tour guides and get our gear which consisted of pleather bomber jackets, rain suits, gloves, and motorcycle helmets.  One of the guides, Jonathan, called everyone 'sister girl' or 'brother man', as in, "You look like a large, sister girl." It was quite amusing at 3am.  It was about 40 degrees at the top so we had to bundle up for the hour wait for the sun to rise. The clouds were really heavy so it was hard to get some good pics but some of the best ones are below.

At about 6:00am we got back in the van and drove 9 mi down the volcano to start our bike ride. They use to let you start at the very top when I did this a few years ago but someone got into an accident and the park ranger has since banned the biking tours. Now the tours start outside of the Haleakula national park which is 9 mi away from the summit. The ride is now only 27 mi long and takes 4 hrs vs the 6+ hrs it use to take. Below are some of the shots from the ride and a pic of Adam and me on our bikes with our motorcycle helmets on. Adam had to wear the yellow safety jersey since he was the last one to go down in our group. There were some amazing views along the way as you can see...

Late this afternoon we did some shopping in two small towns called Paia and Makawao. One of the shops in Paia was called Alice in Hulaland, which made me think of my Aunt Gail who my mom calls ‘Alice in Wonderland’ – don’t ask, long story. Most of the shops were closed but we still found some great things. We saw a hibiscus bush that was growing intertwined with a mango tree...so cool.

Tonight we ate dinner at Mama's Fish House just outside of Paia. It was literally one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. Everyone we have met has just raved about this place so we had to go. They have a wall that has EVERY famous person you could imagine that has eaten there....Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Buffett...even Andruw Jones who use to play for the Braves.  The pics are just Adam and I goofing around (check out my FISH FACE!!!) and fun with this big boat they had outside.