We even discovered an excellent little hike in a bamboo forest, not far down the road to Hana. Kip picked it out of the guide book and we both agreed it was the perfect choice.
In the middle of the bamboo on the trail toward the 4 waterfalls of Na'ili'ili-haele:
The bamboo got larger and larger as we went along:
Kip tested out cross-country travel through the bamboo, discovering quickly that the steep, slippery-ness of the side of the valley would be a big challenge, even with large bamboo stalks to hang onto (and also discovered that less-alive ones aren't the best support):
One of the lower waterfalls, very pretty and with a jungle feel (we reminisced about Borneo):
We found out that the next section involved swimming, and we weren't quite prepared for that (clothing and phone-protection-wise), so we called it a good scouting trip and returned from there.
Fun little tour of the Hali'imaile Distillery in Makawao where I learned that I like vodka made from pineapples:
Sea turtles on the beach! I always enjoy seeing the Hawaiian honu:
Kip treated us to Warren & Annabelle's magic/comedy show, and it was incredible, amazing, hilarious, super awesome. What fantastic performers, both from the magic and the comedy angles. Such a treat!
John George caught me taking this picture (from a few rows back, he has an eagle eye):
In return for a little ribbing (John: "I wasn't even doing anything, that was such a boring photo!"), he posed special for this one - thank you John George!
Highly recommend that show in Lahaina.
Time for the main event! Our Valley to Sea half marathon started up in the Iao Valley, came down the hill through Wailuku, took us past Ma'alaea and over to Kihei where we finished at the Pacific Whale Foundation. It was a beautiful morning, we all ran well, I even set a PR (?!).
John snapped a pic right near the finish:
Kip looking great:
And the big finish line banner - go Kip!
John won the whole dang race, well now, that was impressive. The tiki mask is his award for overall winner, the pretty surfboard is for the age group win, and I got a fun coqui frog award (it sounds like a frog when you move the stick across it):
The write-up in the Maui paper, yay John!
Also yay! - our 34th state where we've done a race together:
http://www.kipley.com/marcy/race_locations.html
One more day with Kip, so we filled it with a most excellent drive around west Maui. It happened to be a day of huge surf, which made all the water features twice as stunning as they normally are. Which is really saying something, as I've enjoyed that drive immensely twice before. This was beyond compare.
Kip decided to take a turn at directing the waves, and he took the task full-on. Quite literally!
That was something to see! Get a little wet, did you Kip?
We went over to tell John, who had missed the whole thing. Hey John, let Kip show you how it's done:
A short video of Kip directing the waves:
https://youtu.be/cuNg8g11TTk
Here's what happened at that same spot just a minute later (I cut off John's last word, which was "...hosed!"):
https://youtu.be/61egMJcE5ak
Well, Kip, you certainly set the standard on that activity!
The Nakalele blowhole was absolutely huge, and loud, and blowing mist everywhere:
It was a big blowhole day:
https://youtu.be/kmOv984ihzk
Checking out an overlook a bit further down the road:
The sea was churning and frothing, quite a sight:
You can almost feel the surf motion:
Interesting rock erosion:
Bright orange dirt at the base of the mushroom rock, likely related to much-earlier volcanic activity and it kind of looks like it's still glowing:
Hanging out at Mushroom Rock:
Pools and dynamic little waterfalls:
We hiked up to the top of the hill across from Kahakuloa Head for more good views, and a little wind:
Wow, Kip, what a fun few days! Thank you for visiting, racing, exploring, and laughing with us!
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