Hawaii day three, or, How I Must Now Wear a Burka to the Beach

Seriously, God? Is this for reals? Have you ever heard of someone allergic to the SUN? This morning I woke up and the rash was still there, little red welts covering my stomach and chest and upper thighs, all places that were exposed to the sun yesterday at the beach. (It's not a sunburn, by the way, I'm not an idiot.)

This morning, I slathered on hydrocortisone cream and dressed in pants and a long tank top, being careful to cover the effected area. The shirt DID expose part of my back, and after being in the sun for maybe two hours, those exact parts of my back developed the rash. Thank goodness it is not terribly itchy, but please, I'm in HAWAII. THIS IS THE LAND OF BATHING SUITS AND SUN. *Sigh*

Other people here also have issues, let me give them a turn. On the way here, Ischia and Elaine's flight was delayed eight hours. They each earned a complimentary round-trip ticket for their inconvenience. Because they lost a day here, Elaine pushed her flight home back one day. Guess what happened!?! Her flight home was delayed eight hours!!! ATA sucks!

We went to the east side of the island for the day. Tooled around in Paia (very hippy), ate lunch at Mama's Fish House (delicious food and heavenly ocean view), and did one twenty fourth of the famous "Road to Hana." This long and windy road hugs the south-east side of Maui and features waterfalls, gardens, and pools. We don't have the patience to drive all forty two miles, so we visit the first attraction at mile two. I can't even tell you how many dorky tourist pictures we took.

Twin Falls, it is called. We park on the side of the road and change into tennis shoes. As soon as we open the car doors to get out, it starts raining. Elaine wanted to turn back. We waited it out in the car (five minutes) and I explained the rules to Dutch Bliss, the best card game in the world. The rain subsided, and we got out of the car and started walking towards the hike entrance. We stopped for a second to pick some guavas and it started raining again. Like, POURING.

Whatevs, we push on. Elaine wants to turn back, but it's closer to the beginning of the trail than it is to the car. We run towards a coconut vendor's tent and stay there until the "storm" passes. Luckly, that was the last of the rain. We had a lovely, sunny, hike and saw many exotic species of ferns and papayas and birds of paradise and also a nasty mosquito who bit Elaine three times on her arm. We took more dorky pictures in front of the waterfall, which was, meh, not amazing, but still nice.

Back at the ranch, I ate half a box of Wheat Thins and showered vigorously. Ischia dropped Elaine off at the airport, and then we watched a "John and Kate Plus 8" marathon. Vacation is great!