We learned last night that one of the places we wanted to visit on the Road to Hana was within a mile of where we turned around. So we decided to go back today and find the Garden of Eden especially for the rainbow eucalyptus trees.

On our drive to Paia, we took photos of the sugar mill and the huge trucks they use to carry the sugar cane. They look funny, with tiny front cabs and huge backend. There was a beautiful rainbow over Maui. At first it was stubby and we only saw the right side, but eventually we saw the full rainbow and a second one form next to it.

This time, there were many more cars and buses on the road to Hana. And because it has rained last night and the sun was out, the glare was blinding at certain spots on the drive, especially around some of these sharp turns. Mostly the drivers around us were pretty good except for a few stupid ones every once and a while. We stopped somewhere around mile marker 7 or 8 because there were some rainbow eucalyptus trees on the side of the road. Because of the rain, they were wet, and the colors were more vibrant. I couldn’t get enough photos and could have stayed there for hours.

We continued on to the Garden of Eden, just about mile 10.5. It was quite beautiful. We saw the Puohokama Falls, Keopuka Rock overlook, walked through the enchanted forest. The variety of trees and flowers was extraordinary. We also saw ducks, went to their gallery and unfortunately only saw a few of the rainbow trees.

The drive back was much faster with only locals on the road. We were starting to get hungry, so picked up some munchies, and shopped at Hilo Hattie’s. Then it started to rain. We drove through Kilheo, we saw people leaving the beaches to stay dry. We ended up back in Wailea. We checked out, stored our bags at the Marriott and went shopping in the stores right next to the hotel. We also decided to have lunch not knowing what we’d do for dinner since our flight left Maui at 7:15pm. We split some mussels, and Mom ended up with a cheesesteak and I had an open faced chicken piccata. On our way out we had to stop for our last dish of Lapperts icecream. We had something a little different then we did before, but still delicious.

We went back to the hotel and chilled in the lobby for an hour before getting our bags, rearranging a few things for the trip home. It was sad to leave. Mom seemed to have Thanksgiving on the brain along with how many pumpkin breads she has to make. While I was trying not to think about anything awaiting us at home. We heard the temperature at home is in the 40’s and the first snow fell on Thursday. We still have on our shorts, short sleeve shirts and tevas, knowing we’ll need to change in Phoenix and prepare for the cold. In the meantime it’s been a fabulous trip and beautiful islands. While very different Kauai and Maui both offer so much.

Aloha Hawaii…Mahalo.