April 11 - “To the top”

I met a guy yesterday from New York. He told me their pronunciation of Houston. “Howstin.”  Nope. 

We started the morning on the balcony… a little impromptu whale watching. We saw a lot of blowing off steam. But I also saw a whale tail slap and a few breaches. Great way to start the day. 

After breakfast we headed to the Haleakala National Park. That’s the name of the mountain/volcano. The name means house of the sun. Great tour guide, too. She sang and played the ukulele for us.  

We drove up to 7000 feet and it got cold. I don’t mean “Nana cold.”  I mean really cold. The night before at this level it was 45 degrees! We had to watch out for a few things. Bikers. Mongoose. Yes. Mongoose darted across the road several times. 

At one stop I finally discovered beyond a doubt what a nene (nay nay) looks like. That’s the Hawaiian state bird. Also a great crossword puzzle answer. Anyway, found a nene. Adopted it. It was older. Name is Nana Nene. 

The mountain was about 10,000 feet high. The bus got to about 9600 feet. Only scientists are allowed all the way. 

We did get to hike part of the rest of the way, though. Straight up. Jagged lava rock “trail.”  We both made it, though. Chris’ cardiologist is gonna have a heart attack when he checks  her implant readout. My neurosurgeon will glance askance at me as well. But … we … made ..  it. 

We learned the legend of the Demi-god Maui. He’s the guy who got immortalized in our world by good ol’ Disney.  Seems his mom wanted the sun to slow down so she could dry her clothes and the hunters could hunt. And even though he would lose his strength if he cut his hair (hmmmm), he cut it anyway and made a rope with a big hook on the end and a net. Snagged the sun with his lasso-hook hair and captured the sun with his hair net. Mission accomplished. Haven’t seen the Disney movie, so I don’t know what he does in that one. I didn’t know that was required pre-cruise research. 

Last night we had reservations at one of the ship’s fine dining establishments, called Cagney’s. Fine dining means we had to dress up. Men had to wear slacks and collared shirts. Oh, and close-toed shoes. Couldn’t have us stubbing a bare toe on a fine decorated table. Now before you ask … yes, Chris made me pack slacks and some appropriate shirts. The food was great. I got my lobster. And a steak. 

After supper we took a stroll around the deck to work off all that food. In the rain. That was enough. Another early call, so … Bedtime. 

John‬ ‭10‬‬:‭11‬ ‭says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Father, please heal that fellow who stumbled and tore up his shin on the mountain hike. Amen.