Maui: Iao Valley and Lahaina

You know how sometimes when you go on vacation, you need another vacation because you packed so much in that you didn't really relax and now you're more exhausted than when you left? Yeah, me too. That's usually how I usually roll because I can't stand to have missed anything there is to see/experience in a place.

Well, this vacation to Maui was different and I actually am starting to appreciate the benefits of sitting around doing nothing relaxing. However, we did actually leave the resort to go on a couple of adventures! (We did have a rental car, after all... had to use it!)

The first day we arrived and were driving to our resort past this gorgeous, green mountain area and Steve said, "Wherever that is, I want to go there."

It was Iao Valley, and there we went. It is a beautiful, narrow valley between tall, lush, green mountains that rise sharply from the island. We were immediately enthralled with the exotic landscape. Fascinating, too, was the history of this valley; it was the site of one of the bloodies battles in Hawaii in the uniting of the island chain under King Kamehameha. Warriors were said to climb the area's most significant landmark, the 1200 foot Iao Needle (pictured below) as a lookout. (How'd they do that?!)

It also has a lot of spiritual significance to the native Hawaiians. We, however, simply marveled at creative power of our Lord on display in this place!

Our time there involved a short hike to a viewing point of the Iao Needle and a stroll around the botanical gardens there. It didn't take much time, so afterward, we decided to head to West Maui to the city of Lahaina, where we checked out the shopping area, the wharf, the most awesome tree I've ever seen, and ate the most amazing Hawaiian Shave Ice!

This Banyan tree spans one full acre: each additional trunk is a part
of this one tree!

Seriously a highlight of the trip.

The following day we drove the Road to Hana. I'll share some photos of that adventure in the next post. Thanks for reading!