2018-2-2  Time to move to the South side, by way of Haleakala:

Today was the day we were moving to the South side.  Since we had to be out of the Kahana Villa by 11 and couldn't check into the Kihei Worldmark until 4, we figured it was a good day to head up Haleakala with our car full of luggage.
We were a little concerned at first, by all the clouds.  But I know a lot of the times it clears up by the time you get to the top.

So we continued on, passing goats along the way

and ironwoods?

heading into the clouds

into the clouds by the time we got to the entrance. There is a $25 fee to get into the park, unless you you have a National Parks pass like our Old Age passes.

We took a little break at the visitors' center.  Here we got our first look at Maui's endemic Silver Swords.

As we continued up the mountain, we heard a couple pops.  Since we had cans of soda in the back of the car, we figured we better stop and see what was making the pops.  Hadn't thought about the air pressure change causing problems!  One of the first things we noticed were a couple unopened bags of Cheetos that were about to burst.  We decided it was time to open the bags and eat them.  The soda cans were OK. But the Tupperware containers with stuff in them had popped.  At least there were just dry goods in them and nothing was ruined.

Before we continued on, I noticed these pretty wild flowers.

the further up we went, the more the countryside changed to lava beds

and more interesting plants.

When we reached the visitors' center at the crater, there were some clouds hanging in the crevices, but it was as spectacular as I remembered. 

so colorful and unique

Then we went to the summit.  Found the lookout building with the placards to be very interesting,

It definitely took a little time to get adjusted to the higher elevation.  It was also quite cold up there!  and very windy.

According to the sign this is one of the best places in the world for an observatory.  I agree.

the summit overlook

On our way down, we stopped at the crater overlook again.   The ever changing clouds make for ever changing views.

this one made it look like the dome was fuming.

close up of some of the ground in the crater.

In my younger days I would have loved to have hiked some of this trail into the crater.

I was snapping photos of our friends at many of these special places throughout the trip.

Don even snapped one of Becky and me.

We stopped at another overlook on the way down, too.

there we even saw a bunch of these Chukar partriges.  They were introduced to the islands in 1942 as an army food source during World War II. 

After the war the birds were released on the upper slopes of Haleakala in 1954 along with pheasants and grouse.

also saw some more wild flowers

and...

more vegetation as we continued down the mountain.

still above the clouds.

gorgeous in a rugged way

down to residential areas.

Hana road, heading back into Kahului.

Got to Kihei at about 4 and checked in.  We got building 3 this time.  No view, but not far from the  pool and Kamaole 1 beach.   Plus it's the first time we've been on the ground level.  It is rather convenient. 

Since I've taken lots of pictures of the units in the past, I didn't take many this time.

Headed to Peggy Sue's for dinner.  Got done right at sunset, but it was totally overcast again.  No sunset today.  But it was still a great day.