Nothing before 2000

My youngest daughter wanted to make a deal with my wife and I not to talk about anything on this trip that happened before the year 2000. I got to thinking that this is about what she would remember as she was 4 years old in 2000. So, I sort of understood where she was going with this. However, I was born around 1950 and my wife about 5 or more years later so the years from about 1970 to 1990 or 2000 were very important to us. But still we are all on vacation with her older sister and she and her older sisters boyfriend so maybe this makes sense in some ways that she only wants to talk about the last 15 years or so and nothing before.

Today the kids rode the zip lines near Makawao and then we went up to the top of Haleakala. We hadn't done this for about 9 years now (my wife and I) to the top because the last time we were here about 1 1/2 years ago now the kids didn't want to go up there. However, this time we had someone with us who had never been to Hawaii or Maui before (my older daughter's boyfriend) so he wanted to see it and was willing to do most of the driving to experience this for the first time. In Makawao I watched bicycle riders who by then had likely ridden almost 30 miles from the top of Haleakala Mountain and were headed for Paia on the ocean where I used to live in 1990. I remember doing this with my daughter in 2005 when my son and my two daughters came when my oldest daughter was 16. She and I rode bikes down and it was much more tiring than I expected it to be because you are riding 36 miles even though it is all downhill. Because of the dangers involved and cars constantly passing you. And the thing I most wasn't prepared for was how you had to ride so close to the centerline a lot of time on hairpin turns because otherwise you might hit your head (I'm pretty tall) on the rock (cliffs) as you go by at a pretty high rate of speed because you are leaning into the corner. So, if you aren't out towards the center somewhere I would hit my head on the rocks going by. (Which I almost did on the first hairpin turns at fairly high speed).

So, it is worth it (if you are in good enough physical condition to do this) to ride the 36 or 39 miles from the summit down to Paia just to say you did it. The views are spectacular and riding through clouds is even pretty amazing. Just remember that even though it is 85 on the Ocean it might be 40 degrees or 50 degrees at the summit. And coming down you might get rained on as you pass through different weather patterns. So, be sure to be prepared for anything if you ride on bikes from the summit 10,000 feet approximately down to sea level on a rented bicycle with a group of other riders also paying a company to provide the bikes and transportation before and after the ride down in large window vans usually.