"There's a big, a big hard sun, beating on the big people, in a big hard world..."

Each day of exploring the other side of Maui this past week brought a new town, and naturally a new adventure. The streets of Lahaina took the shreds of our rented cars front tire, and a bird of it's impressively extensive Banyan tree dropped a not so impressive bodily waste on me underneath... But don't be fooled, we were in turn spoiled by the town's endless restaurants (very appealing varieties that didn't include rice and beans), shops and galleries on it's ocean lined main street. We also witnessed several breaching humpback calves on our tour out at sea, as boat tours serve as a popular business is this old whaling town.

Our campground at Olowalu (a "town" just outside of Lahaina) left us with only two possible site options apon our arrival; one literally inches away from it's neighbors and the other in the warned "wind tunnel." Apparently wanting our space, we chose the wind tunnel, and after 3 nights of no sleep, decided heading back to Hana seemed like a restful plan. Eating breakfast on the ocean right outside our tent however, really wasn't the worst thing in the world. We soaked up some sun at the long white sandy beach of Paia on the way back to the farm before venturing down the long and winding road to Hana, my sister's first journey and my first time driving it, in our beloved rental car numero two.

My sister, Emily, who came for the week, received a well rounded tour of the wonders of Hana, as I showed off the sights of my temporary town. We ate breakfast as Phyllis's, walked the bamboo forest, enjoyed mango ice cream, and even had an exciting celebrity spotting at Red Sands Beach, as Maggie Gyllenhaal, her husband Peter  Sarsgaard and their daughter shared the sun, sand and ocean with us one afternoon. Peter even complimented the watercolor painting Emily worked on, and yes, she better be pleased with herself. :)

Celebrity sittings aside, perhaps the most memorable moment of our week occurred on Emily's last day, as we drove up Mt. Haleakala, the house of the rising sun. Mt. Haleakala (the largest dormant volcano in the world) sits 10,023 feet high in Haleakala National Park. As the crow flies, Hana's not terribly far, but since crows don't use roads, it took a bit of time to get there, forcing us to hit the road at 2 a.m. in order to catch the famous sun rise.

We reached the over 10,000 foot elevation with time to spare, but weren't alone by any means, as the parking spots quickly filled by those seeking the same view east as us. Waiting in anticipation for a sunrise never hit me as hard. As the cold winds blew, we shivered, huddled together just starting at the horizon over the ocean, and over the clouds, and watched as the pink hazy colors slowly emerged. All the chatter of our fellow on lookers suddenly stopped as soon as the top of the sun starting peeking it's way into view, and the show that she displayed left us in awe.

As daylight broke and the flashlights were dismissed, we finally were able to actually see where we were, right next to the volcano's crater. Maui's natural beauties never cease to amaze me, but being on top of the world, feeling like a completely different world, defiantly wasn't one to fail.