May 10th was day 4 of our adventure and marked the halfway point of our trip. So far, I was smitten with Maui and excited to see what else was in store.

Anita and Robbie had decided to take a day-trip to Oahu to visit Pearl Harbor and since Andy and I had been there a few years ago, we decided to spend another day at the beach.

This time, we wanted to do it in comfort and style.

We packed up chairs and an umbrella, along with all of the snorkel gear, and set off for Napili Bay with Ali and Jared.

After reading a trip entry from another Maui visitor about a restaurant called “The Gazebo,” we decided to give their breakfast a try and picked up some to eat on the beach.

Napili Bay was beautiful. It was not on my list of snorkel sites but it turned out to be pretty spectacular.

It is amazing to see sea turtles in the water, but I found it just as exciting to watch them from the beach. I wished I had my other camera with so that I could get photos of them inside the wave!

The snorkeling was pretty as well.

Afterwards, we went back to our condo to shower, change, and get ready for dinner. We went out to a rooftop restaurant called Fleetwood’s, which had delicious food and an outstanding view of the mountains and ocean. Watching the sun set over the water was amazing.

The next day was a long one, but a totally different experience.

We decided to drive the Road to Hana on the other side of the island.

We started our morning with coffee at Ali and Jared’s condo.

I know, it’s a rough life.

Armed with our maps, we caravanned to the starting point for our adventure — the town of Paia. Little did we know that it would last 13 hours.

We made several stops along the road that included waterfalls, bamboo forests and outstanding views.

Obviously, we had to go swimming in one of the waterfalls. The one we chose was in Pua’a Ka’a State Wayside Park.

We hiked through the jungle.

Crossed rivers and streams.

Played in the bamboo forests (or at least Andy did).

We went to a place called Pi’ilanihale Heiau which is a temple, located in Kahanu Garden. They believe construction started around 1200 A.D.

And a lava tube.

You can tell we are animal people by how excited we were when we saw the feral cats and the cows.

Our drive took us around the majority of the island — from jungle to the dry side where cattle roamed freely. I have to give major props to both Jared and Robbie for driving the crazy curving road on the journey. I tried to get a few videos that would show what it was like.

Oftentimes a narrow, single-lane, it was a little scary when cars would come whipping around corners. We even took dirt roads to get home instead of following Hana Rd. all the way back the way we had come.

It was beautiful to see the change in environment from one side of the island to another.

The views were amazing.

Though we got back too late for me to go snorkeling (the only day I didn’t go), I did at least get to go swimming. In a waterfall, no less.

And even though it was a long day, it was a heck of a lot of fun. Lots of laughs and beautiful scenery, enjoying it all with some awesome people. Can you ask for much more than that?

As crazy as it sounds, when we got back from the trip, we still decided to go out for dinner at Maui Brewing Co. A great capper to a great day (shout out to you, PetSmart peeps)!