Saturday, May 15, 2021
Every day should start with a nutritious breakfast so we headed to Wailuku for banana pancakes at the Tasty Crust Restaurant.
We were not disappointed in the least by our dining choices.
The Tasty Crust is a hole in the wall diner that caters to a locals crowd. It was actually a local who alerted Mark and Susie to this solid eating option if you are on the West side of Maui.
It was a great choice not only for their deservedly self-proclaimed "World Famous Pancakes" but because we were heading in that direction to follow up on an interesting sightseeing suggestion from our Maui resident friend Deb Merrill.
We were headed to . . .
. . . this State Park in what is simply
called the West Maui Mountains
The 'Īao Valley State Park is located just a ten minute drive from Wailuku's Tasty Crust Restaurant.
On a map, the island of Maui basically looks like a figure eight lying on its side.
The larger East side of the eight is dominated by the Haleakala Volcano crater.
The much smaller West side of the island has its beautiful mountains that have been topped by clouds since the day we arrived. The people of Maui need to come up with a much more colorful name for these mountains than West Maui Mountains in, my opinion.
See what I mean?
West Maui Mountains with the
ever present cloud cover
There is a spot on the Hawaiian island of Kauai that is purported to be the wettest spot in the world.
The 'Īao Valley is Hawai'i's second wettest spot averaging an inch of rain at the top of the mountains daily.
Historically, the Battle of Kepaniwai happened in this valley in 1790. In that battle, the forces of King Kamehameha I conquered the Maui army led by Kalanikūpule in an effort to unify the Hawaiian islands under King Kamehameha I's control.
All that rain creates
waterfalls, rivers and . . .
. . . LOTS of lush vegetation
I wonder how cold that
river water might be?
Everywhere you look
you see rugged mountains
The love couple with the Kuka'emoku
(a.k.a. the 'Īao Needle) in the background
The 'Īao Needle rises 1,200 feet above the valley's floor and it tops out at 2,250 feet above sea level.
Is this really a problem . . .
OH, MY!
Yes it is as it turns out
Mark checking out the river
Laurie and a BIG tree trunk
Nice roots
We were told that it does not rain here every day. If it skips five days which is not unusual, then you may get six inches of rain the next day.
Flash floods and this pesky falling rocks are a real concern on those days.
The all-time record for most rainfall in the 'Īao Valley occurred on October 31, 2016, when more than four inches of rain fell in just one hour!
Moss does not grow on a rolling stone,
but it does on this one
These waters must have been RAGING
on that fateful day
This was an awesome suggestion and we were all glad that Deb Merrill gave us this heads up.
Be sure to visit the 'Īao Valley on your next trip to Maui.
On the way home to Kihei we
stopped at a craft market
The financial damage was minimal.
In the afternoon, I opted for a solo stroll along the Kihei shoreline.
I needed to get closer
Always a good, spiritual feeling
walking barefoot in the surf
Hey, aren't those the
West Maui Mountains in the distance?
Of course there were lava rock
formations in my path to serenity
News from the Net . . .
So, what's your point?
Game Day in Italy's DII
An easy win for the Skorpions
The Skorpions Covid shortened regular season is now at the half way point with the boys from Varese solidly in the league lead at 3-0.
The rest of the conference standings has the Cernusco Daemons at 2-1, the Bergamo Lions at 1-2 and the hapless Legnano Frogs at o-3. All four of these clubs will play each other one more time over the course of the next four weekends.
A word about the Frogs who were a DI powerhouse back in the day. Between 1981 and 1998, the Frogs were Italy's DI Champions three times and lost in the title game another eight times.
Then the hard times hit.
In 2019, the Frogs came up to the DII level from the nine-man DIII ranks. That season the Legnano team was 0-8 and only scored one TD on the season and that one came late in the final game of that forgettable campaign.
With today's loss the Frogs have now lost their last 11 DII games but, thanks to an 87 yard pick-six on the next to last play of the game, they now have their first TD of the 2021 season!
They have now been outscored 122-7 this season in their three losses.
The Spanish DII club that I help
by breaking down video and doing
analytics also played today
This one was a Spanish DII Playoff Semi-Final with the Pioners (6-0) hosting the Granasda Lions (4-2).
The Pioners won again handily
They will play the winner of Sunday's other DII Semi-Final game between the home team Alcobendas Cavaliers (6-0) and the Barberá Rookies (4-2) at a date to be determined.
It was a good day.
As the sun set outside of the
Johnsons' Kihei Condo,
it was time to bid you all . . .
from Maui!
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