We ventured out early to a big swap meet on the campus of Maui College, part of the University of Hawaii system. Supporting the local economy is important to us as we travel, so we bought handcrafted items from several artisans—a clay/seashell bowl, a painted canvas bag, a hand-dyed t-shirt, an Aloha shirt, and a tropical Christmas ornament.

Next we began exploring the north shore, then drove southward through the middle of the island to “upcountry” cowboy country. Oprah reportedly has a secret hideaway in this remote area near the town of Kula. Sometimes the winding road reminded me of traveling through rural West Virginia, and we saw cattle and horses on ranch land surrounded by rock walls serving as fences.

We stopped to walk through Makawao, a former cowboy town settled by Japanese two centuries ago and now considered a tourist trap with eclectic art galleries and boutiques. We walked into a bakery that has been owned for over 100 years by the same Japanese family.

I had packed a picnic lunch for us to eat, and we decided to stay in our car with the windows rolled down. A nearby flock of chickens must have heard us chewing, because they surrounded the vehicle whining and clucking for food. Right before we left, I threw a single grape out the window. A battle erupted, so I’m not sure which lucky duck won the lottery! 🙂

We drove through Kula and paused to explore a funky little park with at least four statues that commemorated Sun Yet-Sen, the late 19th and early 20th century founder of the Republic of China.

I noticed several open-air buildings like tall carports, one being the Hawaii Cowboy Church overlooking Maui halfway up Haleakala Mountain.

In his research for the trip, John found a guided tour that is synced to the car’s GPS. The speaker will relay fascinating history as the listener drives through the areas detected by GPS. I laughed out loud when he actually BURPED while educating us about luaus.

We drove in and out of rain clouds and bright sun, but other than a few random raindrops, it never really rained.

Stopping at Maui Wine Co. proved to be a welcome respite. I took a photo of John nestled into the roots of a huge banyan tree, and we bought a bottle of pineapple wine. We also saw some classic cars parked nearby.

We learned from the guy talking on the oral travel guide that there are no longer sugar plantations on Maui, as it’s a labor-intensive crop now harvested in third-world countries in order to remain economically feasible. Hawaiian agriculture has become much more diversified.

I’m not gonna lie. We had to check out several “Shave Ice” places while in Maui. It became our favorite treat at the end of almost every daily excursion. It’s like snow cones but far better!