North Shore and Upcountry

Hi again! So today I decided to follow the guidebook and do some of the North 
Shore and Upcountry area of Maui. The upcountry is the area along the slopes of 
Haleakala National Park. The first stop was in this little town of Makawo. It's 
this cool little western town where all the cowboys (they call them paniolos) 
used to hang out. It looked like a town out of an old Clint Eastwood movie. The 
guidebook said to stop in at this Japanese bakery called Komoda's so I had to do 
it. The donuts (oops, did I say plural!) were really good! Then I took this 
country drive up these really windy roads (like the Hana Highway but more rural) 
that were lined with these huge trees. The road and thus my car were actually 
below the roots that were shown as you drove along. Very cool. As you drove some 
turns would give you a glimpse of the mountain side to the top of the volcano 
and others would give you a wide view down to the ocean. Really unique. Then of 
course I had to get a hike in to walk off those donuts! So I hiked the Waihou 
Springs Trail. This place was so serene and peaceful. I attached a picture 
showing the beginning of the trail. It was actually an area that the US Forestry 
Division is using to do research on pine trees so it was nothing but huge, tall 
pine trees as far as the eye could see. And the trail was this thick, soft layer 
of pine needles that was so cushiony on your feet! There was no one else on the 
trail so it was so relaxing. That place will lower your blood pressure 30 
points! 
 
After leaving the trail, I decided to check out this place described in the book 
since it had a... BUDDHA!!! For those of you who followed me during my China 
trip know how much I loved the Buddha Buddy so yep, if there was a Buddha in 
Maui, I'd find it, and I did! I attached a picture just for those who were 
doubting me! This place was also really peaceful (was I looking for peace today 
or what??). It was called the Sacred Garden of Maliko and it had all kinds of 
incense burning and they offered free tea and lots of comfy couches to hang out. 
I have the feeling if I had asked for a little bit of the "hooch" they probably 
would have obliged! They also had a labyrinth of stones laid out and it 
explained if you slowly walked thru it while thinking deep thoughts, that when 
you get to the middle you'd find your inner peace. Of course I did it, but when 
I got to the middle, and looked won, the only peace I found was a piece of my 
donut from earlier! I wonder what that was telling me! LOL 
 
By then it was lunch time and I went off to the North Shore Cafe for what I 
thought was lunch but they still were serving breakfast so I figured, let me get 
that. I asked what the traditional Hawaiian breakfast was and she said eggs and 
spam so I tried it! It actually wasn't that bad! After lunch I drove over to the 
only winery on Maui called Tedeschi Vineyards. OK, it's no Napa Valley (even 
though Angelo Tedeschi, a great Italian man from Napa did come over here to 
start the winery!) but the grounds were beautiful with a view down to the ocean. 
This is where the King of Hawaii used to come to vacation since it was a little 
cooler since it was at a higher elevation yet still had beautiful views. They 
actually made wine of three different fruits. Grapes, raspberries and guess 
which other... yep, pineapple! I tasted all of them and I really liked the 
pineapple. It's a little sweet but very tasty! After the wine, of course I 
needed some cheese so I stopped by the Surfing Goat Dairy where their motto is 
"Feta Mo Betta" and all the cheese is sooo creamy since it's made from goat's 
milk right on the premises. Of course they also have a ton of goats there that 
you can pet and feed which is really fun for the kids (like me!). 
 
After that I just drove down along the coast and caught the sunset. Long day but 
a good one. Happy "over the hump" day to everyone! 
 
Jeff 
 
PS: Good luck to my Wednesday night Trivia team at Hickory Tavern!!!