Attacked by a bat

Yes, the title is accurate. A bat attached me. Let me start by saying that there are only a few animals that scare me: rats/mice (I consider them the same), snakes, common birds (I don't want them touching me) and bats. I can handle spiders, bugs, and now geckos thanks to my trip to Asia. Absolutely not bats. I was coming back from an evening surf, it was dusk and the bats were starting their day. Our patio was filled with dozens of bats circling around so I immediately striped off my white rash guard and went to the pool to avoid entering the bat-infested patio. When I returned to a seemingly empty area I was blind-sighted by a bat who landed on my shoulder, flew in the crease between my upper arm and the side of my body, down my forearm and launched back into the air from my hand. It was terrible and I screamed appropriately.

Traveling to Santa Teresa was great. Five adults and four kids made the trip from Denver to Santa Teresa and the kids were troopers. We had a five-hour overnight flight (to San Jose) followed by a thirty-minute ride in a 12-seater plane (to Tambor) followed by an hour van ride (to Santa Teresa). The

The small plane form San Jose to Tambor was the same one I took last fall, but much easier this time as we were not navigating through a thunderstorm. But, even in good weather, it's a crazy ride; the plane is so tiny you can touch the pilot from the second row and the runway is a small asphalt strip in the middle of the jungle.

The waves have not been great but we've been paddling out for a twice daily beat down. The sunsets are fabulous, as seen here.

The road to Hana and the bamboo forest

The road to Hana is famous for its 40-mile scenic drive along the eastern coast of Maui. It starts near the airport and ends in Hana. While curvy and dangerous, it is a piece of cake compared to Kaheliki Highway. Hana Highway is wide enough for a dividing line, at least most of the time. When the road gets too narrow the dividing line stops and when it gets wide enough for 2 lanes it starts up again. I guess that helps control people's speed?

My favorite spots along the trip were (from furthest south heading back towards the airport):

- Hiking through the bamboo forest. Located about 10 miles south of Hana in Haleakala National Park, Pipiwai Trail is an incredible 4-mile round trip hike. In the middle of the hike there is a bamboo forest reminiscent of scenes from The Blair Witch project. Although it was the middle of the day the dense bamboo would make it seem dark and the only sounds would be birds chirping and the bamboo knocking together from the wind. The hike ends at the Makahiku Falls, a tall beautiful waterfall. The entire trail is tattered with signs warning of impending death if you venture too far towards the edge or jump off a 50-bridge into a natural pool full of rocks. Only in America.

- Hamoa beach. This is hands down the best beach I've seen in Maui. It is a small cove beach surrounded by lush vegetation and a small, steep hill that looks like something out of Lost. Yes, I am referring to the television show that has gone on for far too many seasons. The surf was excellent. The water was deep and the bottom sandy. Thank goodness because I went to catch a wave and by the time I realized it was way overhead I was too far into it to bail. I went head over you-know-what right in front of all the local surfers.

- Kaihalulu red sand beach. It was a bit of a hike to get here, not far but a little hairy, but the pay off was good. The sand was bright red, the water blue and the landscape in the cove beautiful.

- Haipua'ena Falls. A wonderful small waterfall and natural pool surrounded by rock cliffs. It was very peaceful and relaxing.

Kahekili Highway in north Maui

Driving Kahekili Highway around the north tip of Maui was an amazing trip. I started in Ka'anapali and ended in Waihe'e, near the airport. The landscape is incredible varying from lush hillsides to blood red cliffs dropping vertically into the bright blue ocean. The landscape, while breathtaking, wasn't much of a surprise. The big surprise was the road. WOW! At one point I thought I had taken a wrong turn and ended up on someone's driveway but I soon realized that I was still on the road and it had narrowed to just enough space for one car. The hairpin turns kept my speed at no more than 15 mph, but mostly 10. This speed ensured I stayed between the steep upward cliffs dropping rocks to my right and the sheer drop into a deep valley on my left. Although rare, when I encountered an oncoming vehicle someone needed to back up and find a small turnout so the other car could pass. For the record I could not stomach the back up on this road, so I always pushed forward. It was like nothing I've ever seen and am certain that luck is the only thing that stopped me from encountering an oncoming vehicle with my front bumper on one of those curves.

Outside of the incredible views and adrenaline rush the driving provided, the highlights were:

- The sign that said "Slow down. Not AMERICA."

- The town of Kahakuloa which had a bright green steeple church, broken down school bus and the friendly guy selling fresh pineapples. He will politely stop you and try to sell you pineapples and/or just chat and make sure you were OK and knew how to get out of the mess of a road. I thought this was sweet until he told me I had 35 more minutes of road-hell before I go tout.

- The bridge that looked like it was put together by kids with backyard scraps. I actually think it might have been a school project, but a good one as I made it over.

The whole trip took a little over an hour and a half and upon completion I celebrated having my life by feasting on Hawaiian cuisine, which included a 'spam sampler.' I was surprised to find I kind of enjoyed it. I ended my day with a short trip to kite beach in Paia where there must have been 20 kite boarders in a small cove. It was fun to watch and I can't wait to do it again someday.