Life’s been hectic trying to prep for deployment so I have been MIA. Brian and I made our slow way back to Paia town and stopped at any spots we missed along the way. Which included a small arboretum and a couple more beaches. There happened to be a red sand beach nearby and the path started right outside our hotel room. It was a quick walk, but there were signs all over the place warning of landslides and it was raining… so we worked quickly. I really just wanted to be able to say I’ve seen a red, black, and green sand beach.

The arboretum had rainbow eucalyptus, but we have them in our backyard so… not so impressive. Ha.

We arrived in Paia Town around lunch, and there was no parking… so we stopped at this place called My Thai Maui and holy moly the food was amazing. I would fly back to Maui just to eat there again.

We still had time to kill before our flight so we visited Maui Ocean Center. 10/10 recommend! The have one of those tunnels through their tanks and the sting rays are HUGE. We felt a little too hurried to get back to the airport, I would’ve loved to spend more time here, but it was a great stop.

This was an experience to remember, driving the road to Hana. I’m glad we did it once but likely I won’t do it again without a tour guide.

I’m glad we ended up going back the way we came. I have heard the road gets worse past Haleakala, and that’s where we ran into the most trouble with other cars anyway. I will also add that I have not felt more unwanted in an area of Hawaii than here… some local drivers gave no craps about the tourists driving their road and showed it. All in all, a great last trip to fill my cup before Brian leaves.