It's Not the Final Destination, But the Trip Getting There...

Really...it's not about the final destination, it's all about the trip TO it. The road to Hana is about 52 miles, and it's a winding, curvy, windy, sometimes wet, glorious trek. Not for those prone to car sickness; that's why we didn't do this outing when I was pregnant 22 years ago. There are more than 50 single lane bridges and the trip alone, with no stops, takes three hours. However, along the way there are: waterfalls, seascapes, taro patches, bamboo groves, mountains, gardens and rainforests. You certainly don't have the chance to be bored here!

Time for a hike at mile marker 9 in the Koolau State Forest Reserve on the Waikomoi Ridge Trail. Yes, this is a rain forest!

Coastline view near Keanae which is one of the oldest Hawaiian villages. Taro is still grown here. Mile marker 17.

Here we are at the booming, thunderous coast near mile marker 25 at the Old Lahaina Lookout. This was the only time during our whole trip that we felt a little unsafe...driving through one part of the road made us feel like we were living Deliverance Hawaii style!

Our guide book told us to stop at mile marker 29 for a taste of some locally homemade coconut candy served from a primitive stall. Man! This was divine - strips of coconut are cut and baked for 24 hours, then coated with pure Hawaiian sugar. (Wes is no fan of coconut and he loved this sweet treat! We wish we could give all of you a bag of the stuff, but at $5.00 per small bag, it is a rather pricey treat.)

At mile marker 32, we stopped for a picnic lunch and a stroll along the black sanded Waianapanapa Beach. It is told that if you remove any of this black sand to keep, you will have very bad luck.

The beautiful, numerous waterfalls on our journey were lovely to see and hear. This particular one had swimmers in the pool below it!

At the very end of the trip to Hana is the gravesite of Charles Lindbergh. Wes had especially wanted to see this quiet, remote

resting place of one of his personal heroes.

Lindbergh was buried under river stones in a seaside gravesite behind the Homman Congregational Church - built in 1857. His tombstone is engraved with the words from the

from the 139th Psalm: "If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea..."

And with that last stop on our road trip to Hana, we got back in the car and redrove our journey back to the beginning feeling like we set off on the right path for the right day.