One Last Sunrise Before Heading Home

Dawn gives a rosy glow to the sky and ocean to the East. The lower Southern slope of Haleakalsa is visible at the middle left, coming down to the water

Haleakala means "the house of the sun" in the Hawaiian language, and the volcanic crater that is one half of the island of Maui is a tourist stop for many. The more adventurous make the 30-mile drive up the side of the volcano from Paia to see the sun rise over the massive crater from 10,000 feet - high enough to have some frost in the Winter months. Nobody packs cold weather clothing when going to Hawaii, so they stand and shiver in the dark as the sky lightens and the sun breaks over the far side of the crater, some wrapped in blankets they've swiped from their hotels and rentals to wrap themselves in.

I did no such thing this trip, having made the two hour drive up the severe switchbacks more than often enough over the years, thank you - so I contented myself with watching dawn from my lanai (balcony) early this morning.

Today will be a travel day; flying back to the mainland with a herd of farang, most weary from running about on their holidays in Hawaii, some sunburned and/or peeling, some still attired in their aloha wear - but very few really ready to leave the islands and head back to their everyday responsibilities, that's fairly certain.

Tomorrow will be a day of digging out from under email (and snail-mail) and I don't expect to be online to post a proper Friday entry, so odds are I'll see you back here on Monday and we'll continue from there.

Thanks for checking in the past couple of weeks. It's been nice to have you along.