Haleakala..the House of the Sun

When the alarm went off at 2:12 am, I didn't know if I could or should get up...it was windy & raining here in Kahana, but who knows what was going on 50 miles away at 10,000'. So up we got, loaded up some goodies and off we went for a two hour drive. The rain played out & it looked clear while driving to Kahalui, and up Haleakala Highway to 2000', to 4000' and into the park..Senior Pass!..and on up the switchback road to 10,000' and the visitors center at the summit. It was extremely windy..50-70 mph..at the top & 41 degrees. We relaxed for a while & then KK went over to the edge to watch for the sun coming up. By the time we saw light, there was a ton of people up there & lots of folks getting ready to "bike down the volcano". It was a spectacular sunrise, but very cold & still windy. The bikers had to go on down the mountain with the support people before unloading the bikes as the wind would have blown them over. We took a lot of pictures and the views were good until a massive cloud cover came in shortly after sunrise & it started to rain. We're out of there and headed back down to Paia & a breakfast date at Charley's. It rained off & on in Paia & we had a great breakie (Italian Omelet for me & KK had the scrambler)we changed into our shorts before going on to K-Mart! A little shopping & back to the condo for a nap & some reading. A sandwich for a late lunch & off to Kakaplua for some late afternoon snorkeling. (But first, we tour a 2 BR condo for sale here at the Royal Kahana..only 1.1 mil..but great views!) The reef fish are really great this afternoon & two sea turtles, and of course, another wedding that went on for almost an hour. Back to the room, clean up & head over to Dollies for supper..wings for me & a grinder & salad for KK. A great day on Maui!