Makena State Park to the End of the Road

Aloha!

Happy February to you.    If you're a new year's resolution kind of person, I hope you made it through January with flying colors.   If you avoided the gym for the month of January because you didn't want to fight with all those resolutionists, I hope your favorite treadmill and elliptical are waiting for you this month.  

Yesterday I celebrated our Maui winter visitors, the Humpback whales.

Ok.   That picture isn't of a whale.  
Yesterday was the Pacific Whale Foundation Run & Walk for the Whales.   If I'm going to run (or walk quickly) for something, whales are a good a reason.     The run is a part of the 35th annual Whale Festival.   Here's how I'm celebrating whales for three weekends in a row.

This weekend:  Run for the Whales
Next weekend:  Whale Photo Safari
Weekend after next:  World Whale Day Parade

That's a lot of celebrating.

After running slower than a whale can swim, I decided I would go to the end of south Maui  for no other reason than I haven't been there yet.     I've been to the top of Maui, Haleakala.   I've driven the entire west coast.   I've driven the road to Hana.   In 15 months time, almost to the day, I had not driven to the end of the road in Makena.

The farthest I'd been was to the beach by the Makena Beach and Golf Resort.  

First stop:  Big Beach

There are two parking lots for Big Beach at Makena State Park.   I  parked at the second one.    There were other cars in the lot, but as you can see from this picture, it's called Big Beach for a reason.   Plenty of room for everyone without tripping over anyone.

It's SO big!

I forgot to bring my snorkel gear.  Next time I won't make that mistake.   People were all up in the water seeing cool things.    Even from shore, I saw some sea life.

Why hello, sea urchin

Second Stop:  La Perouse Bay in the Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area Reserve

If you keep driving on Makena Alanui Drive, the road will narrow, you might see some fresh coconut stands on the side of the road, and then you'll enter the Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area Reserve.   Keep going.     You'll pass a two mile stretch of lava rock where no stopping or parking is allowed, though there was definitely some stopping going on as the landscape is so dramatic that a quick photo out the car window seemed to be the trend.

Again, I was sad that I didn't have my snorkel set.   The water is so clear that I could see the bright yellow fish swimming at the edge of the reef from my place standing on the lava rocks.  

If you look back towards the mountains, it's all lava rock.   

Colorado is 104,185 square miles.   In contrast, Maui is 727 square miles.  

I feel like I've seen quite a bit of Maui so far, but I keep finding new places to visit and explore.  

And that makes me happy.

Football is not really  my thing, so I probably won't  be watching the game this afternoon.   I've already watched the cuteness that is the Budweiser puppy commercial.    Whatever you do, have fun!