Wallace's Wonderful Adventure: Volcano Ride--Day 2 Maui

After going to bed at 7:30 we were all awake at 10:30. Ridiculous. We all fell back to sleep until the alarm went off at 1:00 a.m. No, that is not a typo. We got up at 1:00 so we could leave at 1:30. We got to the bike tour place at 2:00 and we checked in at 2:30. As it turned out we could have slept a half hour longer but oh well.

We got our rain gear, back pack, and helmet. The company gives everyone rain gear just in case. We listened to the speech and were told what size bike we needed. We had to tell the bike guys later when it was time to ride.

All smiles for it being so early.

Getting ready to load the bus.

We loaded up the vans and made the hour and a half trip up the mountain to the National Park. We arrived at 4:30 a.m. We were there to watch the sunrise over the volcano which was due to happen at 5:38. We got out of the van and I realized it was cold! I had long pants and a light sweatshirt on but decided to put my rain coat on. I was glad I did. Cameron put on his rain coat and pants. We stood around waiting for the sun to appear. Cameron read on his kindle while he waited.

The sun is beginning to show up.

A little brighter.

Cameron huddled in a corner reading.

Pretty amazing being above the clouds.

This was so pretty.

Pretty cheery for being up so early.

Mr. Toasty Ball (the sun) was up so we were ready
to ride some bikes.

The gift shop opened so Tom, Judy, and I went in and sat on a bench right by a window to watch. It was pretty. We were above the clouds and it looked really cool. We hit the bathroom and found our van. Everyone was back on board so we headed out of the National Park. We made it to our starting point for the bike tour which was on the side of the main road.

We were given some instructions and then given our bikes. We put our helmets on and took off. I was first then Cameron and then Todd. We were riding our bikes down a steep, curvy road. The only good part was there were not many cars since it was 6:30 a.m.

The tour we were on.

Lets ride.

Ready to coast down the volcano.

And we are off.

I felt like I was flying until Cameron said he felt like he was on the luge at the Great Wall and going slow. What is he a crazy daredevil? I didn't see any of the scenery or stop at any of the look out points. I was focused on not dying or crashing. Not to mention I was freezing.

We made it 15 minutes down to the restaurant where we chose to eat breakfast. We parked our bikes. Todd said we were going too fast. Good. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that. I told him he could go first after breakfast.

We ordered and waited what seemed like forever. Once our food came I didn't think it was that good. Plus I never did get my order of bacon. Bummer. Back on the bikes.

Freezing.

Happy to eat some food.

This time Todd was the leader. We started down and I immediately was feeling nervous. We were FLYING. Todd and Cameron were out of my site a couple times and I was petrified I was going to come around a corner and see one of them wiped out. We came to a stop sign where we had to turn and Todd said "is everyone alright?" I said no as I was feeling tears coming on. He asked why. I told him I was almost in full panic attack mode. I could not stand being behind them. I decided to go in front again.

Off we went. Much better being in the front. The second half of the ride was better anyway. A lot less turns. There were a few hills we had to pedal up that were tough. The first one Cameron and Todd ended up walking their bikes up. We couldn't get a good start so it was hard. A couple times we were getting sprinkled on. No problem except the couple times the drops went straight in my eyes. A few blinks solved that problem.

This church sounds interesting.

We were back at the shop and off our bikes. That goodness we made it the 24 miles down safely. It was 8:50 a.m. While we were riding the bikes Tom and Judy were on the van tour. They drove through a cowboy town and were dropped off at Paia. This is the same place we had dinner the night before. We jumped in the car and drove to where they were. We picked them up.

We went into the cowboy town to see what it was about. They didn't end up going there. It was lame. We found the weirdest convenient type store I have ever seen. We did buy an apple pie though. It was only $7.00. Tom checked out some cowboy hats in one store. They had some nice ones as far as I could tell.

A store in cowboy town.

The door stop was the first thing I noticed.
Cameron saw the Spam puzzle.

He would make a cute cowboy.

Cameron looks just like a real cowboy.

We went back to the hotel for a bit. Cameron put his suit on and we jumped back in the car. We started driving around. We took off in a direction we hadn't gone yet. We passed a few beaches but decided to drive the rest of the road just to see what was on it. The only thing we saw were a few goats. We turned around and went to the State Park. The beach was called Big Beach. Cameron immediately got in the ocean. He had been waiting all week to get in the sand and water. He played in there for over a half hour. He was getting pelted by big waves. He loved it. It was a nice beach.

Ready for some wave action.

Cameron is making his way in the water.

Looking for a wave to ride.

One is coming.

YIKES!

Grandma and Grandpa watching Cameron.

A big wave.

Does anyone see Cameron?

His head popped out of the wave.

Phew, trying to catch his breath before the next wave.

I've always got my eye on him.

Playing in the waves may be his favorite thing to do.

We finally had him get out and we walked back to the car. He was covered in sand. We opened the two car doors and I held up a towel so he could change. He was quite embarrassed and kept saying it was awkward. He finally had dry clothes on and we were back in the car. We started to drive but had to stop at a road side food trailer so we could get some lunch. Todd loves road side food.

At least it was a clean looking trailer though their designs were
a little weird.

Pulled pork sandwich on purple buns. What's up with that?

Cameron was enjoying a fish taco.

We headed back towards the hotel. We made a stop at Kmart again. Back to the hotel. We took a little break before going to dinner. We decided we would try Da Kitchen. This was a restaurant that Andrew Zimmern went to on Bizarre Foods.

So hard to stay awake.

Cameron was afraid to lay back because otherwise he
would have fallen asleep.

Too much excitement.

Cameron needed more food.

Loaded up and headed out. It was a 5 minute drive. We walked in, found a seat, and started checking out the menu. We all found something we could eat.They didn't serve alcohol but you could bring your own in if you wanted. Todd wanted a beer so I jumped in the car and ran to the gas station. I grabbed two beers and went to the counter. As the lady was putting them in a bag she asked me for my ID. I told her I didn't have it with me. She said they have a 100% ID policy and she couldn't serve me. Hmmm. I got back in the car. I was going to go across the street to Kmart but it was a tricky intersection with a lot of traffic so I decided to forget it. Todd didn't need beer that bad.

And I had to drive.

The famous restaurant.

I got back to the restaurant and Todd was in the bathroom. He came out and asked where his beer was. I told him I got carded and I couldn't buy it. He said something like yeah right give me my beer. I handed him back his $20 then he realized I was serious.

The food came. Tom had one giant basket of fried food...2 different kinds of fish, shrimp, onion rings, French fries. Cameron had some funky looking ribs that he did not like (we found out later they were probably goat ribs). I had a huge salad that was good. Judy had a sandwich and Todd had some funky local food. The restaurant was kind of a let down.