Day 8- the best banana bread on the planet?

TUESDAY I'm starting to lose track of the days, so I figured I better start recording it here. Today was forcasted to be a rainy day so we decided to go exploring. Our guidebook touted the best banana bread on the planet on the northeast side of west Maui so we decided to find it. From Kaanapali we headed north. We took a left at the stop light leading out of our hotel area and that's when Zoe started screaming. Have I mentioned how she hates the car? About a minute later the kids started complaining that they were hungry. So, within a few minutes we stopped to nurse Zoe and get some food for the kids. We continued up the coast and made our first sightseeing stop at Honolua Bay.

This is a really beautiful bay that is supposed to have excellent snorkeling in the summer. Today, it had some big waves and the wind was fierce looking down into the valley. Kyrie: The wind was so strong I was afraid it was going to blow the kids off the cliff and into Honolua Bay. The water was so clear that you could see tons of coral below and it made us want to visit Maui in the summer sometime to be able to snorkel here in the calmer water.

Next we stopped at a blowhole on the north end of the island where water would spout out of a hole in the rock every time a wave hit shore. With the big waves the water spout was huge today. The scenery around the north shore was gorgeous - like straight out of a movie. The blowhole was cool, but people are crazy. There are signs saying you could get swept in and die if you get too close. There were crosses memorializing people I assumed did just that. Yet, there were plenty of people standing way too close. Sometimes the water only blew up a little; other times it blew up several stories high. We stayed up on the hill just watching and taking pictures. Jacob has become quite the little photographer too.

Eventually we saw a sign that said 3 miles to Julia's banana bread. We knew we'd be eating some soon! At this point the road got a little narrower. In fact, even though there was still traffic in both directions, we had less than a normal single lane to drive on. Plus, our half lane of road was in between a solid rock mountain on one side and a steep cliff down to the ocean on the other. And of course there were no guardrails. I think that is because if cars are going in both directions, the car on the outside has to balance on two wheels and leave the other two hanging off the edge to get by. Luckily, we were on the inside edge. So at this point we reach a u-shaped section of road that leads down into a valley and then back up the mountain on the other side. So we head down the valley remarking to each other about how little space there is on the road and then we get to the bottom of the valley and notice that all of the traffic is stopped. I look up the road and see about twenty cars stopped on their way up the road and one car stopped going the other way in front of all those cars.

We sit there for a few minutes before wondering how long this is going to take. Of course Zoe wakes up and starts crying/screaming. We aren't going anywhere anyway so we get Zoe out of her carseat which makes her happy. At this point we're ready to bail on the banana bread. We are at a spot at the bottom of the valley where we could actually turn around, but meanwhile about twenty more cars have come down the mountain behind me. I'd have to pass all of them, in a minivan; plus, I wouldn't have the luxury of the inside line. I'm still contemplating this when I hear someone say that the guy driving the little car that is causing all the trouble got scared when trying to ptass and now they won't go up or down. At this point, I'm ready to turn around and take my chances going back the way we came, but just then somebody else gets in the little car and backs it back up the mountain and out of the way. So we're able to continue on our way.

A little while later, we find the banana bread stand and buy some banana bread and also some coconut candy. So, was the banana bread really the best on the planet? Well, I guess so. It was really good, but it's still just banana bread, so how great can it really taste? I liked the coconut candy better.

(Part 2 tomorrow)