Haleakela and Ulalena (Try saying that 10 times fast...)

On Tuesday we decided to get up at the crack... and I mean crack of dawn. I'm sure the Lord wasn't up yet. We left our condo at 4am to head up to Haleakela Crater to catch the sunrise. What a breathtaking view!!! We didn't get to see much of a sunrise because of too much cloud coverage, but it was still absolutely worth it, just for the sheer beauty of the view! See for yourself...

Just before sunrise...

Haleakela Crater

Freezing our hiney's off!

Sister Beth

All Bundled Up

Haleakela is 10,000 feet up in the air... that's right.... 1o,ooo. That's "Ding! You may now turn on your approved electrical devices" airplane high!

Blankets? Who needs blankets?

Doesn't that look like the view outside an airplane?

This is all we were able to catch of the sunrise... Someday, when I go back to Maui ("when" being the key word), I'm going to get the full effect.

On our way down the mountain we stopped at Kula Lodge for a yummy breakfast. It was delicious! I would highly recommend it. It was still super high up so the view was also gorgeous.

Kula Lodge also had a beautiful garden with all types of plants and flowers. The plant in the picture below is seriously called a Wandering Jew. I'll let the picture speak for itself... :)

The Five of Us



As if we hadn't already done enough in the day, we decided to stop at Baldwin Beach on the way back from Haleakela since we weren't sure if we would make it back to that part of the island...



At one part of the beach there are a bunch of old tree stumps with these incredible root systems sprawled all over. You can kind of see it in the picture below, but it doesn't do it justice. What a contrast to see these huge stumps and sprawling roots on the sand!



After an afternoon nap, we all headed up to Lahaina and ate at the Cool Cat Cafe. Hands down the BEST hamburger on Maui! Probably the best burger I've ever had. It blew Cheeseburger in Paradise out of the water. If you ever go to Maui and you're craving a cheeseburger, this place is a must! (I could be a tour guide for Maui now.) :)



After dinner we went across the street where this enormous Banyan Tree has grown at the center of town. If you've ever been to Lahaina, you know what tree I mean. It's amazing. The pictures below that look like the entire tree actually show just one section.



Daddy showing off

After the Banyan Tree we went to a unique theatrical presentation called Ulalena about the mythical history of Maui. And of course, after we had to get Lappert's ice cream and sit on the wall overlooking the ocean to wrap up the night. Talk about a full day!