maui revealed, day 2

Day 2 was the "bike ride down a volcano day". We left early and headed to the city of Paia where Aloha Bicycle Tours is located. When we first started discussing the idea of doing this excursion, I was really excited. That is until I read what our Maui Revealed book had to say, which then totally freaked me out. The book was very honest about the safety risks, however we decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. There are several different companies that offer this activity, but what enticed us about Aloha Bicycle Tours was the "at your own pace" concept.

We left the bike shop with about 10 others and headed for the Haleakala National Park, reaching a summit of just over 10,000-feet. We had some time to peruse the area before they shuffled us back in the van to prepare for the bike ride, leaving us on our own to cruise down about 8,000-feet. To say I was Nervous Nelly would be an understatement. The brakes on my bike squeaked the entire way down and the palms on my hands from the hand brakes are still sore. Not to mention it was freezing as we biked through the clouds. That being said, it really was an incredible journey down the mountain.

By the time we arrived back to our condo, it was the perfect time to watch the sunset from the hot tub. Before dinner, I also squeezed in an impromptu yet totally necessary massage. Funny story: when we arrived to the bike shop earlier in the morning, I bent over to get my backpack out of the back seat of our car and seriously strained my back. We hadn't even gone on the darn bike ride and I was already injured. I thought for sure it was some sort of sign to abort our plan. I didn't want to be a wimp, so I persevered through it. Despite having a hard time walking, or even sitting up straight for that matter, I'm really glad we did it. I'm even more glad we made it through alive.

At the volcano:

To the right of me is top secret NASA stuff...

Getting ready for the big ride:




While on the ride, we saw...

A fruit stand

A pretty blue house

Magnum P.I.'s house

Oprah's house (seriously!)

horses, goats, cows, oh my!

Aloha!