Steal Your Breath Away

Steal Your Breath Away
It was early morning as we began the drive around the level southern end of Maui on the way to Haleakala National Park. I HATE driving in the dark. And it was as dark as the inside of a cat.
As you switchback over and over again the moon kept getting larger in the window, and the sheer drop on the right gets darker. We try to keep calmly chatting. On the curves I found myself rationalizing my center line jumping by knowing if anyone was crazy enough to be coming down at 4 AM I would at least be warned with headlights. False hopes can be very comforting.
Suddenly the moon is BELOW us. Gasp. We are above the moon. It’s stunning and frightening. I’m completely on the inside lane of the highway now. The phrase “white knuckles on the steering wheel” has new meaning.
By the time we arrived at the summit the temperature had dropped from a balmy 75 to 42. We’d been warned. It still shocked us as we followed the flashlight trail of glow-in-the-dark elephant trunks swinging back and forth up to a glass observatory in the pitch black with the moon sinking fast.
Shortly after our arrival a sliver of orange faintly outlined the ragged peaks across from the viewing platform. Orange light began filling in the far perspective.. . .then deep magenta. . .a little bluish glow. . .red creeping in. Slowly we watched a cloud rising from below us and completely engulf the platform. I couldn’t see my own hand. Quickly it was gone leaving a damp mist on my hair and sweater. The clouds danced in and out creating shadows and the sun altered the color scheme every second.
As it turns out the drive down was much less traumatic – perhaps the life lesson is it’s always scarier to confront what you can’t see. Halfway down we were blessed with a rainbow pointing toward the valley below.
It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime park experiences that can literally steal your breath away and will stay with you forever. I’m addicted to them. How about you?