Haleakala

The plan was to ride bikes down the face of the volcano. The plan had to be changed because of a broken finger. The night before we left for Maui, I tripped over some boards in Lindsay's yard, fell and broke a finger.



If there had been foot brakes on the bikes, there wouldn't have been a problem, but I could not grip hand brakes. Lindsay called the various tour companies, but none of them had bikes with foot brakes. He then morphed into a lawyer and with his usual calm voice, asked if it was correct that they hadn't made any provisions for people with hand disabilities. The poor people talking to him would hesitate and then answer yes. He would say thank you, and then hang up. Lawyers can be pretty scary sometimes.



Lindsay spoke to the concierge at our hotel and he said that it was a safety issue, foot brakes would burn out going down a hill. I'm not sure why foot brakes burn out and hand brakes don't, but that ended all talk of lawsuits. It's probably a moot point anyway. By the time we come back, my finger will be healed, although all of the bike tour companies may be out of business.



Three people have died this year riding down the volcano, so all bike tours have been suspended for 60 days. It is unknown if after that, the bike tours will be allowed.



So, we drove to Haleakala. To see the sunrise, it is necessary to leave the hotel by 2:30 am. That is insane. We went later in the day and saw nothing but clouds and drizzle. I'm glad that I didn't get up in the middle of the night to see clouds and drizzle.



It was also cold. It was 53 degrees, windy and wet at times.

We hoped that if we sat and waited long enough, the clouds would pass and we would be able to see the ocean. It didn't happen. We just got cold. It was still a good journey. Maybe in the future we can ride down the volcano and risk going over the side like the others.