Where Clouds Are Made

How am I feeling? Am I okay? A few people have asked. Well . . . I think I need to be awake before I can decide. My head is still stuffy and my ears still plugged . . . but still I think I feel better than the previous days.

This Monday morning we headed up to Haleakala. We drove up the highway and hung a right at the Makawao split. We continued toward Pukalani, past Kula up to the Haleakala National Park.

It's not that the top is that far away but there were a lot of switchbacks, the road snakes its way back and forth across the volcano's side. The drive was very slow and much too long if anyone is prone to car sickness. We watched the landscape change. The trees disappeared, then the shrubs. Soon it looked like the moon . . . or more precisely Mars . . . red and desolate.



It was cold at the top. The wind whipped the droplets of moisture around and they soon formed strands of clouds right there before us.

I found a Hawaiian Silversword, not blooming, that only grows on the outer slopes of the volcano. It flowers once at the end of its life cycle, 15-50 years.


We drove down the side of the volcano and to Makawao. We visited the art stores and the fabulous Hot Island Glass. Had lunch at Casanova. I spotted a previous unknown park-ish area with this below:


We swung by Star Market to pick up chicken to throw on the grill and a salad. We had to shop there because they're the only ones where I can find:


We spent a quiet evening at home "horizontal" and went to bed before 9pm. Yeah, I know, we are such party animals.