Happy 4th of July

Friday morning Ryan and I drove to Haleakala. The drive was yet another twisty, slow going road. We left early, which was a good move on our part. The tour buses were just arriving as we were leaving. We were the only audience one of the rangers had for his little history/geography lesson. Of course, the poor guy didn't know what he was getting into, talking to us. I think we asked a few more questions than the average audience member. Ryan the science teacher guy and me with my small background in all-things-Hawaiian, gave the guy a run for his money. :o)

Overlooking the crater. This was the only time during the week I needed my coat. It supposedly frosts at night, but it was about 50 degrees and windy while we were there at 9 am.

We were above the clouds. It kind of looks like the moon, or something, doesn't it? Rather too high for much in the way of vegetation.

Yikes! We were high. I wonder if my OB doctor would have approved? We walked the last 5 feet to the top, and were winded. The air is so thin, we just couldn't catch our breath very well. We felt good about not taking the hike around the crater.

Ryan, Danae, Tiffany and James waiting for the fireworks to begin. We were waiting for almost an hour by the railing, so we would have a good view.

As Emma would say, we felt (and looked) kind of "melty" by this time.

There were flags everywhere along the main street of Lahaina.

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful!

Happy 4th of July!

On the radio, we were told that Lahaina was one of two places on the island to see fireworks. You could set some off on your own, but we didn't think that would be any fun without our girls. The fireworks started at 8 pm! Since the sun goes down at about 7:30, it's plenty dark by then. We were amused by the fact our girls were watching fireworks with their grandparents at 10 pm Pacific time, which was only an hour before we saw ours. We were a little glad it was Grandpa and Grandma that would have to deal with the post-late night grumpies and not us. (oops, did I say that out loud?) After the fireworks, we all went back to the condo and played cards.