Friday, March 22, 2013

Second Day on Maui



On our second day in Maui, we still had our rental car, so we took off up a very windy, steep road to the top of Haleakala.



You could fit Manhattan inside the crater of this dormant volcano. I put 3 pictures together to get the whole thing.



We were high above the clouds.



But we could still see our ship down in the harbor. (A little to the right of center)



Of course, I had to climb to the very top. Whew! Haleakala is 29703' high from the base of the mountain - higher than Mt Everest! What???? Well, here's the reason - 2/3 of it is below sea level...



Silverswords are rare plants that grow on the mountain, and nowhere else in the world.



They really do look silver in the sunlight.



After we came down the mountain, we took a short trip into the Iao Valley to see the Iao Needle.



There was a beautiful garden at the end of the road.



Then on our way back to the ship, we stopped at Savers, our favorite thrift store. Wandrin' Lloyd, you really need to come here!



We got back on board in time to go to the class on making a kukui nut necklace. A few guys even showed up. (Phil is pretty brave!)



Bye-bye Maui!



After the ship sailed, we headed down to my birthday dinner, at one of the specialty restaurants, Little Italy. Nice necklaces, huh?



And of course, there was lots of entertainment on board. Willy K. lives on Maui and can sing anything from Opera to Rock, Hawaiian to Blues, and more. And he's funny! He started out on the ukulele and then went on to the guitar. But this song was incredible - Orange Blossom Special like you've never heard it before!
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9 comments:

  1. Jim and SandieMarch 22, 2013 at 9:51 PM

    That silver plant is just beautiful. I wonder if I could ever get Jim to make a necklace?

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  2. Barbara and RonMarch 22, 2013 at 10:42 PM

    I guess we should have gone to see Willy K. That is really a clever version of Orange Blossom Special.

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  3. Paul and Marti DahlMarch 23, 2013 at 8:07 AM

    Quite a mountain top experience. But how come you didn't check out the bottom of the mountain? ;c)

    Interesting picture of the Silversword plant. Almost better than rusty stuff!

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  4. UnknownMarch 23, 2013 at 7:45 PM

    There you go again. Enabling an addiction to Hawaiian shirts. No doubt the selection of shirts is much better on the islands. However, there is no bridge. :-)

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  5. BarbMarch 24, 2013 at 8:51 PM

    Happy Birthday! What a great time you are having! I've never been, but it seems there's a LOT to do in Hawaii. :)

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  6. Luci & LoreeMarch 25, 2013 at 5:10 PM

    Well, Happy Birthday to YOU!!! always wanted to see that silversword plant, on my bucket list... Phyllis Whitney had a book named after that... ;0

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  7. Donna KMarch 25, 2013 at 6:32 PM

    Looks like a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday. That's a beautiful picture of the silversword.

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  8. UnknownMarch 26, 2013 at 3:05 PM

    So glad to see you having such an awesome birthday trip, Diana! Way to go on the necklace making, Uncle Phil!

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  9. ladynomadApril 21, 2013 at 9:06 AM

    Definitely a different version of the Orange Blossom Special.

    ReplyDelete

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