The Road to Hana....Maui

We flew to Maui a couple of days ago.  Whereas Oahu is on steroids, Maui has that relaxed feel of  "taking your time." There is still a lot of traffic, but you feel like you have time to drive on this island.  I have been sleeping deeply here, which is what I needed after being on the road in the van for so long.  We are staying in my timeshare at Papakea Oceanfront Resort.  My goodness, it is so pretty here.   It is right next to the ocean and there is a water fountain right outside our window.  I am at the moment drinking my Maui coffee looking at the palm trees and the island of Lanai across the ocean.  What could be better?

I drove the "road to Hana" the other day and also completed the loop around the eastern part of the island.  It is not for the faint of heart. but wow was it gorgeous. The road to Hana loops the highest part of the mountain of  Haleakala Volcano from north to east to south.  The ridges that run from Kipahulu, Hana, and Nahiku up to the highest part of Haleakala (10,023 ft.) are some of the rainiest places in the world and the vegetation and waterfalls reflect this.  I felt like I was in a tropical jungle (wait! I was).

This road dates back to the 1500s when the great chief Pi'ilani ordered his people to build a trail (alanui) around the entire coastline.  Before that there were places in the trail at Waiohue where "a traveler must cling like a lizard to the pali [cliff]"  (Sometimes I felt like the car was clinging to the road).  When completed, the road measured six feet wide and 138 miles long.  Remnants of this road still exist on the island, but the current road still has 617 hairpin turns and countless single lane bridges that are hundreds of years old. 

When we arrived at Hana, we stopped at the historic Hasegawa General Store and I could have picked up the "I survived the road to Hana' T-shirt, but I felt like the memories and pictures were enough.

The town of Hana is really the halfway point for the road.  That part where you are clinging like a lizard was after Hana and it was mostly rutted and unpaved on the southeastern portion of the island.  Now that was a technical challenge to drive that portion.  All my years of driving government vehicles in forests and over rough terrain came into play.  When I finally hit paved road, we had been on the Hana Road for 6 hours.  The reward was this magnificent sunset behind the islet of Molokini.  The sky was on fire.  It actually rivaled those sunsets that we have in Tucson, AZ.  

Back to Tucson and Off to Hawaii

We arrived back in Tucson to see a house that was totally open to the elements.  It was a little depressing to know that it might be months more till the house is completely renovated, and we stayed at an Airbnb that was not the highest quality, but I decided to make the best of our week in Tucson.  I climbed Tumanmoc Hill with my friend and went out to dinner with another new friends at Saguaro Corners.   This place has been around since the 1950s, and carries a wealth of experience on their menu.  I had a mangorita and began to relax into my stay in Tucson.  

We took the van into the Mercedes dealer to fix the automatic door and left it there till we return from Hawaii.  We are going to take a break from the Revel for a while and travel to Hawaii. 

I made an executive decision to go to Oahu and Maui this week.  For us, it is like coming home.  My partner was born here and I have so many friends that I have worked with over the years.  The islands are very comfortable for us.  We landed in Honolulu and the banyan garden at the airport welcomed us home.  We are staying at the Ala Moana Hotel, because the beach is literally right across the street.  I sometimes think that I came from the ocean.  Water is definitely my element.  The first thing I did was jump into the ocean.  I visibly relax when the water surrounds me.  

We spent a day on the leeward side of the island.  We went to the Oahu blowhole, hiked Makapu, swam on Lanakai Beach, and visited the Pali State Wayside  I slept well after after that day.  The Pali Wayside is an deeply historic site where King Kamehameha fought all the Kings of the other islands and pushed 400 warriors off the slope to their deaths (to bring together the islands).  It is said that sometimes you can hear their voices from below.  What is fun about that site is the the wind is pretty wild.  We enjoyed a very windy cool moment on that wayside.  

This has been a week of good food and sleep.  We are enjoying Hawaiian, Japanese, and Vietnamese food.  We will fly to Maui tomorrow to explore the nature of the Hawaiian Islands.

  

Chiracauhua National Monument, Wilcox, Arizona

We drove some 300+ miles today and were pretty tired by the time we got into AZ.  Chiracahua National Monument is close to the border of AZ and I have wanted to see this National Monument for a while now.  This area was part of the Cochise Stronghold, where Chief Chiracahua held out in the Dragoon Mountains with his people against the Army until he passed away in the 1800s.  He did not want to ever be found by the white man.  His warriors ran over his body so many times that it was buried deeply beyond recognition.  No one has ever found his body.  

The Monument has a very unique geology that is the result of superheating and cooling of lava, combined with wind and water action.  When you are standing at Massai Point above the valley of the Monument, you feel like you are looking at thousands of soldiers standing at attention, yet they are the rocks and hoodoos, which have resulted from the wind and water actions through the years. 

We drove down to Bonita Canyon Campground after a very long day, and I found a certain peacefulness to this campground that I would like to come back to.  It is definitely Fall here...the leaves crunch under your feet and the smell in the air is heavenly.  There are no flies or mosquitoes and you can sit outside just listening to the birds without being irritated by the buzz of insects.  

We did not have much time here and in the morning we were getting ready to leave, and my partner told me "there is a weird  animal over there in the wash with a long tail."  What?  I said "I can't believe I missed it.  What were they?"  He indicated they looked like monkeys, kinda like racoons, but with really furry faces.  Then I looked over to the wash, and they were poring out of the trees.  Coatimundis!  These creatures are native to this part of Arizona, but often a bit elusive.  Not so that day. Nearly 10 of them went scampering through the campsite.  This part of Arizona is the most northern portion of their range, which extends down through South America.  Really exciting for me to see a new species in the wild.  I ran over to the campsite and told the guy in it, "I am just borrowing your campsite for a few minutes." LOL and took about 100 pictures.  

You never know what you are going to see in these National Monuments.  I will be back to Chiracahua National Monument.  There are so many trails and other species  to explore there and it is only two hours from home.  

Is that Snow or Gypsum? and where is that Giant Pistachio?

 Usually I tall take all these great pictures of plants when I visit a National Park.  Not so with White Sands National Park, NM (not Monument as the signs down the highway suggest), but this park is different.  It is a valley of gypsum.  The species that live there are adapted to both the gypsum and the white of the gypsum sand.  It is hot and dry, with little water (unless you dig for it as the Native Apaches did).  

Since we are not Apaches, and we are in our 60s, I went in to ask the Ranger about the Alkali Flat Trail (5 miles) in the back of the Park.  He looked at us in a horrified manner and said "I think you ought to know it is tough going, up and down the sandy hills.  I don't recommend it."  Hum? now that just puts the challenge right into the hike when someone tells me that.  "Well maybe I will only be 1/2 BADASS" I told him (i.e. doing only half the hike).  He just laughed at me.  

So the next morning my partner and I got up with the birdies, and started up- and down the Alkali Trail.  I will tell you, it truly is not for the faint of heart, because it has so many hills, and if you start out in the hotter part of the day, it will not be pleasant.  Believe me there is no shade.  

And pretty soon, everything seems to look very far away.  The perspective can be a little overwhelming, but it is the starkness of those hills that are beautiful.  We did finish the hike, and although tired, I told the ranger "we are indeed completely BADASS for 60 yas."

There were several species of animal that I was looking for in this NP, including the white earless lizard.  It is not easy to see anything over those sands, but my partner finally picked up some movement towards the end of the hike.  What we did see was a lot of was tracks of different species.  This is how you know there are definitely critters in them hills.  I wish we had been able to take an evening hike out on the hills.  We might have picked up a lot of the species such as fox and owl that we were looking for and the stars would have been spectacular.  Oh well, you have to have something to come back to eh?

Alamogordo, NM is the 13 miles from this National Park (which by the way, was part of the missile range in those parts).  We stayed at the KOA in town, and we found a lovely Mexican restaurant right in a small strip mall called Juan's Cactus Cafe that made spectacular green chile stew and fried bread.  Fried bread is so bad for 

you, but tastes so good!  

Now you might wonder why we are in this part of the U.S.A.  The last time we were tooling down Highway 40, my partner started to see "Come see the Giant Pistachio."  I informed him that we were not going that way and he was disappointed, so I made sure to put Alamogordo on the route, because this is where it was.  I am happy to report that we made it to that giant pistachio and pistachio ice cream at McMillans Pistachio Farm, and everyone is getting pistachios for Christmas.  

Davis Mountains, Texas

Davis Mountains are actually called a Sky Island here in the SW.  These mountains rise out of the Chihuahuan Desert, and they have a variety of distinct species.  We are staying at the Davis Mtns. State Park.  The night we arrived, we got to listen to an evening talk from a  couple of bird experts who set us straight about the Ravens, Kingbirds, and Scrub jays in this area.  You got Chihuahuan Ravens, Cassin Kingbirds, and Woodhausen's Scrub jays.  If you want to see some of these birds, the State Park has several bird blinds with feeders behind them and watering holes.  They come down to these areas daily.  These were actually new birds for my life list so that made my day seeing them in their environments.  

We had breakfast buffet at the State Park Lodge and it was good, though I really think Texans overcook everything.  Then we hiked up the trail behind the lodge.  I stopped so suddenly halfway up the trail that my partner thought I saw a snake, but it was a magnificent male tarantula.  They are out looking for "dates" right now.  There were also some really nice fall flowers/butterflies along this hike. 

After this hike, we drove down to the Chihuahuan Desert Center and went through their botanical gardens.  It is a pretty good deal if you are staying in the State Park ($3).  They had some really cool cactus species, especially their Mammalarias.  I highly recommend it.  

We were pretty tired, but continued on to Fort Davis National Monument, and spent about an hour looking at the Fort that protected part of the old El Paso Road (400 miles to San Antonio, 200 miles to El Paso).  I especially enjoyed looking at the Enlisted Men's sleeping quarters and the Commissary.  Each restoration gave unique views of the times in 1800s.  Apparently, a lot of rotten canned food was sent that way during those days, and apples came at a premium.  

By that time, we hoofed it into town for dinner and had a salad, which turned out so so at the new Harvard Restaurant in said Hotel.  I slept well that night though as a prickly pear margarita was in mix with the salad,  Two days went by quickly, and I hope to come back to this area to explore a bit more.  

How Many Ways Can You Design Frida Kahlo?

Well apparently San Antonio Botanical Gardens (TX) has dedicated a whole walkway and exhibit for  this lovely artist.  Magdalena Carmen Frida y Calderon was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and worked inspired by nature and artifacts of Mexico.  

We spent the whole day there with a relative walking through some very lovely and peaceful gardens, but the one I was interested in was a depiction of her Casa Azul (blue house) that she inhabited in Mexico with her lover Diago.  This Frida Kahlo Exhibit warranted her relatives to come at the opening so I knew it would be good.  Here is my favorite part of the exhibit.  They recreated her desk and art supplies that she often used in her home and gardens.  I was so excited to see that she used chalks!  This is the medium that I have been using for a while and it gives me such happiness to use them.  The photo of her and Diago in the corner was the icing on the cake.  

We wondered for hours through this garden, but the walkway where each statue of Frida was uniquely designed was really cool. This was definitely my favorite one. 

This garden is worth the $15 that you pay to get in.  They have many different areas to walk in for families, individuals, and couples.  As a botanist, I am always interested in how culture and nature are interpreted.  These gardens do an excellent example of that.  There were so many different orchids, but this one caught my eye, because it looked like a spiderwort.  We only had a few days her in San Antonio, but this garden was well worth our time.