Day 3 on Maui

This morning we were ready to tackle a mountain, so we set out for the
upcountry! it was a beautiful drive into the heart of Maui and our
first stop was in Haiku where we rented bikes for the guys. Brianne
was insulted that she didn't get one!

We began the long, winding (but beautiful) drive to Haleakala National
Park. I was pretty nervous to imagine John and the boys riding back
down the mountain road we climbed. There was not much of a bike lane
and it was very steep with poor visibility.

The visibility wasn't much better at the top. We were disappointed not
to have a view of the island, but we saw lots of lava rock, clouds and
some cool plants. There were no picnic tables, but we found a bench
and ate the lunch we had packed that morning.

Next it was time to launch the guys on their adventure. They headed
down the mountain while we prayed. We left a few minutes after them
and we couldn't believe how far they had gotten when we finally passed
them. They must have been going close to 40 mph and I'm not sure how
they managed those hairpin turns. It was a little scary driving the
car down the mountain, let alone a bike!

Meanwhile, we girls set out on our own adventure. We visited to the
Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm. That may not sound very adventurous, but it
was pretty exciting when the torrential downpour began. We didn't get
to walk through the fields, but we enjoyed the gift shop and the
excitement of driving out on the flooding, muddy roads once the guys
called and asked us to hurry and pick them up so that we could return
the bikes before closing time. We made it back to the bike shop just
in time!

On the way back, I really wanted to stop at the Surfing Goat Dairy
Farm. I had tasted their delicious cheese at Extraordinary Desserts
and I was thrilled when I realized the dairy was in Maui. My family
wasn't quite as thrilled, but they were all good sports. We sampled
the cheese, fed the goats, watched them being milked and even tasted
some of their chocolate truffles. Yum!

Back in Kihei, we stopped at a Halloween Carnival at a local church.
They had food trucks, a petting zoo, live music, a playground and
more. Their trunk or treat was especially impressive. Every car was
cleverly decorated and many had games set up for the kids to play. The
candy was good too! No one handed out a stingy dum-dum or pack or a
mini pack of Smarties. These folks knew how to celebrate Halloween. It
was perfect for the little girls and the big kids enjoyed the candy!

It really was another day in paradise.