Saturday was the big day… The Road to Hana! Jared and I made this journey a few years ago and I had a lot of car anxiety (for the first time ever). I was NOT looking forward to it this year, but decided that it’s just something we had to do over again so that the kids could see all of the different stops. Jared planned for us to stay in Hana for the night to break up the drive, and that just made the PERFECT trip.
We started out in Paia and had lunch at the Flatbread Company. Their pizza and desserts are to die for! We did a bit of shopping and headed out to Ho’okipa Beach where we saw….
A HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL… SAY WHAT??!!! Yes, it’s true! There she was just taking a break on the beach while basking in the sun. Isn’t that fabulous?!
Not going to lie… at first I thought she may not be alive because it looked a little strange and I’ve NEVER seen anything like it. Apparently she has been coming up to this particular beach lately to rest. Sister has had 12 babies in 19 years so she deserves that nap.
On the other side of the beach there were turtles resting on the beach. It was double the blessing!
We love to swim with the turtles, but seeing them while staying dry… that’s extra fun!
I mean, seriously, look how huge!!!
After watching the seal and sea turtle we started on our journey to Hana. The scenery was just breathtaking.
We made lots of stops, but while the drive was much more pleasant than last time, I was still a bit too nervous to be handling the camera! Our last stop was Waianapanapa Beach. The kids LOVED it!
The black “sand” beach is just beautiful!
Of course we had to touch it the entire time 🙂
They were covered in it after only three minutes, ha!
It was a long, curvy trip but so worth it!!!
After staying a night in Hana at Travaasa… unplugging and relaxing, we made the trek back. This time it did take a little toll on the tummies, so 4 out of 6 of us were utilizing our dramamine stash! The kids got in a good nap and woke up on the beach just in time to see the turtles again. We just knew we had to stop back by our turtle haven before heading back to the condo!
And it didn’t disappoint! This time we got to watch the turtles make their way onto the beach. There were four of them by the time we left!
These two could seriously watch this all day long!
“Mama, look! Turtle! Dat’s Israel’s turtle!”
So incredible!
Definitely memories that will last a lifetime!
