Dad's Life 3D: Life is like the Road to Hana... Getting stung with a kiss

So the 'tween had the best day of her summer vacation today. She sat poolside under a cabana sipping Shirley Temples. All Day. Solo. Without an "annoying little brother." Without an "annoying daddy." She read 10 chapters of one of her summer reading books, A Secret Garden. For her, it was the perfect day. Meanwhile, I sat six floors above, overlooking said pool. With said "annoying little brother." All day. More on this in a moment.

There's a small town on the Eastern end of Maui called Hana. There is only one road that goes through this town. The Hana Highway. Or more appropriately named, "The Road to Hana." They say the drive to Hana is more about the journey than the destination. Sounds kinda' like this blog...!

There are about 617 turns and 56 single lane bridges from mile marker one to the town of Hana. All in, about 40 miles. The way that people talk about this road, you'd think we were about to drive the Yungas Road in Bolivia. Side note: We drove the Yungas Road, near La Paz, Bolivia, as a family when I was a kid. It is scary. They don't call it the death road for nothing... This, the Road to Hana, it is not. Every inch of this road is worth the drive. It can be dangerous, but if you take your time it's really not that bad. Early on, the vistas and lush greenery of this tropical jungle take over in a way that makes you happy that you have to go slow on the single lane sections.

And did I mention that it's gorgeous! Unlike the West side of the island, the East side of Maui is tropical. They get between 17 and 18 feet, yes feet, of rain per year! There is so much to see on this drive, that I did not get one complaint from either kid until about 1/2 way back from Hana. It was at this time when my daughter began to mimic the narrator from my $9.99 Maui Gypsy App (Think, GPS interactive books on tape narrator, who describes key points of interest, must see waterfalls and the history of Maui, among other things). My son and I found it quite interesting, while the 'tween found it "annoying." OK, yes, we had been in the car for about about six hours at this point. And yes, he did say "peninsuler" instead of "peninsula," which my daughter pointed out every time. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it's my son and I that are the oddballs here...

There's a great little mom and pop shack half way to Hana called Half Way to Hana! It seemed like a good place to stop for a bite to eat. Our narrator didn't say anything bad about it. He also didn't say anything good about it either, but there was plenty of people in line, so we thought we'd give it a try. The kids both had burgers and Hawaiian shave ice, while I had a Hawaiian kalua pork sandwich, a pineapple smoothy and a macadamia nut goodness bar. I seriously think I've gained 10 pounds since I got here... And now that our bellies were full, we were eager to concur the next half!

Side note: Both kids have pointed out that they call it Hawaiian "shave" ice everywhere here in Hawaii, and not "shaved" ice. Unfortunately our narrator never covered this discrepancy, so I'm not able to answer why.

Now, I'm not going to rail on the 'tween too much here, but if you've read this blog before, you know that she's been giving me a run for my money lately. Seriously. I'm not sure what happened along the way... but that little girl who once had no fear, and would try anything I asked, now hates everything. Apparently, even nature. When I told her we were going on an adventure to see some waterfalls, swim in some rivers and maybe see some cool animals on a hike, she told me, "Oh hell no. I don't do rivers. And, I don't do hikes or geckos." She had her brother belly laughing at rivers...

She kept up this front until well past the halfway point to Hana. While she did hike down to the first waterfall (which wasn't easy), she did not join us boys for a swim in the river below it. But then something happened. At the second waterfall she decided to jump into the river, and then proceeded to swim upstream to about 15 feet from the waterfall! Sure, she hung on to me the whole time, but even that was a step in the right direction! It takes courage and trust to do what she did, and I'm very proud of her. More importantly, she was proud of herself for doing what could be a once-in-a-lifetime swim in this tropical oasis with her dad and brother. Life is good.

We arrived in Hana about four hours after leaving our hotel. And, like we were told, there really wasn't much there. We did a quick pass through the marina, and then started the trek back home on the same road we came in on. The only road.

On our way back, we stopped at a group of shacks, fruit stands and food tents we had seen on our way in. The roadside stop is called Nahiku Marketplace. Here you can not only get something to eat, but you can also find small tchotchkes and Hawaiian souvenirs. Random stuff. We bought five Maui guitar picks for $2, a latte, fresh pineapple and a hair clip, before getting back on the road.

Because we didn't stop at any other points of interest, the trip back on the Road to Hana went much quicker. The kids even got a taste of a few "persistent" local drivers who would bomb past a row of tourist drivers, head on into oncoming traffic. Sometimes even around blind corners. The kids egged me on to do the same thing, but I kept our Mustang GT steady, revving the V8 once in a while just to keep them happy. I told them stories about racing off-road down in Baja, and explained why professional drivers don't take foolish chances. And with a couple more pumps on the loud pedal... A few bursts up to the car in front of us... They were more than satisfied.

Once back on the open highway, we followed the sun as it inched its way down towards the horizon. The surf sloshed up onto the road at a few low points, which reminded us that we truly are on an island.

It was about nine minutes before sunset when we got back to our hotel. The kids rushed to the pool with their snorkels and masks. I assumed my position and watched the sunset. It was what seemed to be the end of a perfect day. But, when you have kids, nothing is ever cut and dry...

My little guy was getting out of the pool while I stood at the edge with a towel. He then screamed, and held his face. Other guests looked on as I wrapped him in a towel, trying to figure out what was going on. His sister, who had gotten out before him, was right by his side assisting me in trying to figure out what was going on with him. He said he got stung by a bee on his forehead. We looked, and found the red spot where something had clearly stung him, but there was no stinger. I had been stuck by a prickly burr on my hand the day before (remember, this is the dry side of the island), and his sister had been stuck by one on her foot a day before me. We figured he had gotten poked by one floating in the pool on his way out.

At first he seemed fine. But then about 30 minutes later, his left eye began to swell up. And I mean, really swell up. I called the urgent care that is across the street from our hotel, but they were closing. I then went to our insurance app and requested to speak to a doctor, as I had done with my daughter's pink eye two days before. Ironically, the on-call doctor was the on-call doctor at the urgent care across the street! I sent him pictures of my son's face, and he consulted me over the phone.

He told me to give him Benadryl and prescribed meds that I could pick up in the morning if the inflammation became worse. The next morning we were supposed to leave at 5:45 am to catch a boat to Molokini, a volcanic crater off the coast of Maui. We were to spend the day snorkeling. The inflammation had now gotten worse. He looked like he had gotten in a fight with Mike Tyson. Seriously. After consulting with the doctor again, I picked up his medication as soon as the pharmacy across the street opened.

My daughter really showed some positive growth in this sea of 'tween anxiety. Rather than create fear in my son, she held it together long enough to help me, by being on-call for her brother while I ran across the street to get his prescription. She was very upset about the way he looked, but did not show her emotions to him, other than to be the loving, supportive human she really is. And, despite how he looked, he was such a brave young boy through the whole process. I am proud of how well we worked together as a team. It really showed me that my kids can rise to the occasion when it really counts.

Circling back to what I said at the beginning of this blog... My son and I stayed in the room together all day. It was actually quite nice. His face is almost back to normal, and the doctor says he will be good to go in another 24 hours! We will check back with him tomorrow. My daughter spent the day by the pool. I could see her from our balcony. She moved to a few different cabanas throughout the day just to make sure I was looking... So, rather than giving me a run for my money, maybe she's just keeping me on my toes! And that is a good thing!

Life is like the road to Hana. It's about the journey, not the destination. Out here on this road, you learn life lessons that don't come with a manual. Without these tools, you may never have what it takes to stand on your own. On this journey, we are discovering things about ourselves, others and the ones we love. The destination? It comes from within. And that, my friends, is what it's all about.