Got everyone up early, packed snacks, water, and the guidebook, and we were out the door, in the car, on the road, by 7:11..... We dragged our tired, dirty, sweaty, grumpy bodies back through the hotel doors at 11.

In between we drove 175 miles, start to finish, on the longest crookedest road I've ever been on, and we drove the whole loop, didn't double back, so we had some interesting bumpy, not really sure this is a good decision moments, in the dark!

We saw some beautiful waterfalls, the kids climbed down the side of the road to get to one of the pool.    The day was a perfect sunny day with a great breeze till we got to the last hike at the 7 Sacred Pools, them it rained all over us.  Which was perfect because we were hot and sweaty and I wouldn't have been able to finish the hike due to my heat stress, except the rain cooled us all off.

My favorite stop was the Black Sand Beach.  The water was perfect, the beach was more black pebbles, less sandy.  We walked down to the beach, jumped into the ocean & floated for about 20 minutes.  It came at the perfect time to cool us down.

Most of the rest of my group loved the hike at the 7 Seven Pools to the upper falls, the Waimoku Falls along the Pipiwai Trail, the best.  This is a beautiful hike with many amazing sites all along, a ginormous Banyan tree, several huge Mango trees, waterfalls & pools, an enchanted feeling Bamboo forest, ending with a climb over lava rocks, across 2 streams, to the AHHhhh inspiring waterfall at the end which cascades down a sheer cliff wall that was wider than it was tall and it was about 400-500 feet tall.  This is a 2 mile hike, mostly up, where both the journey & the destination are amazing.

We also loved the banana bread at Aunt Sandy's roadside stand in Ke'Anae Village.  we lingered here for the beautiful lava rock coastal views, and the stunning ancient stone church.  

All in all a day where the journey was the destination.

An exhausting day filled with amazing sites, laughter, and family.  The Road To Paul & Phil was great!

Mahalo

Bobbi