Maui-Part 2

We are now taking the famous "Road to Hana". It is famous because of its beauty and also because much of it is extremely narrow and crosses many, many one-lane bridges. Some who drive it end up in tears (which I would) and will never go again. Neal absolutely loved every inch of it and at one point he turned to me and said, "I'd drive this road every day!" So here we go...

Going through a strange barbed wire fence (draped in some animal skin, which is weird because there are so few animals on the islands ) on our way to the waterfall below
Lush (do I use that word a lot?) vegetation and the beautiful blue ocean in the background
In the distance is the north flank of Haleakala and a valley created by one of the flows
Neal climbing down to some falls and then at the falls
These beautiful old bridge masterpieces aren't being replaced, because the Feds won't do one-lane bridges and the locals don't want two-lane bridges. Here's Neal at another falls and pool. I'd climb down there with him, except then who would take the pics?
The large land owners of farms have been successful in diverting many of the waterfalls over to water their farmlands. We thought the irrigation systems we came across were interesting. I'm sure this was done years ago, they probably couldn't get it past the environmentalists now.I really love this picture. It captures everything fun about this road trip. Every time we came to one of these bridges, Neal just smiled. Below you will see some amazing spider webs up against an old irrigation structure.Falls from the overlook on the bridge
The jeep, the jungle and Caroline

We stopped at a little church and a funeral was going on. We thought the sign announcing the services was unique. Hope you can read the part "Look for me in Rainbows" and also see Neal's reflection as he is taking the picture.

This series of pics show what a boy scout at heart Neal is. He doesn't know how to act his age. I had been laying on this beach towel listening the the waves crashing against the rocky shoreline. When I got up, Neal told me to wrap it around me for "some color" and then took this.
We really wish we would have stopped to take more of this kind of pic. We saw a lot of old cars rotting in out of the way places and this one that has seen better days, but was covered up with the orange traffic cone near it. It must be expensive to get rid of old vehicles, because we saw a lot in the yards of the small villages and along the road. I had to take two pics below, trying to show the sign and then the red posts in the river bed which is also the road. The rain comes so hard and fast, that this becomes an issue. We had the most wonderful weather on each island we went to! Had a few drops on Oahu and a few on the Big Island, but the rain seemed to know we were coming and get out of the way. We especially appreciated that our hiking was all in sunshine and that none of our plans were ever foiled.
The chapel in Hana. We took a wrong turn, but were glad when we recognized it! It is always fun to feel at home by one of our buildings. We were able to attend church in Honolulu and in Maui. The next pictures is in the yard of the church. Everyone welcome!
Across the street from the church, the locals were dedicating a building that had been donated to the town of Hana. It was quite a ritual that we got in on part of. Chants done in Hawaiian, traditional peace offerings, etc. I had to get this picture of one of the participants. He had stepped up out of the way waiting for his turn to perform and was enjoying a smoke, then found a convenient place for his pack. At first we thought it might be a ward party, but, no.
In my next installment (whew!) we will continue on around east Maui and go to my favorite experience...the bamboo forest :)