I’ve been driving this road and I might drive all night

I know you are all waiting on pins and needles to hear me sum up the rest of our trip to Maui...so with out further delay, here it is...

Feb 3, 2010
Today we took the road to Hana, a little tiny town on the east side of Maui where the destination is really the journey since there really isn’t a lot in Hana. Most all the development on Maui is on the West side of the island.

The road to Hana is a must do for everyone visiting Maui. It’s a journey though tropical rainforests using a single lane highway with a hundred or more hair-pin or U shaped turns, crossing over dozens of old cement crumbling bridges.

On your journey you see waterfalls, bamboo forests, flowering trees too numerous to count and leaves the size of a mini cooper. You’ll have the opportunity to buy exotic fruits grown on trees that line the highway. You’ll see how real Hawaiians live.

Doesn’t it sound heavenly…it is. But just like anything good you will have to overcome or endure some adversity. If you go, remember I told you this…I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it. And it is.

We drove the road to Hana with Charlie and Karen during our 2007 trip. Against my will we started before dawn to beat the crowd (Since it is a very popular tourist adventure and it is a single lane highway, it can be very crowded if you don’t start early (or late as we did this time).

After only a half hour or so during our 2007 trip then 15-month-old Alyssa started barfing because of all the turns in the road. I think she threw up four times all over herself and me before we pulled the van over and medicated her. Charlie is a pharmacist and had some motion sickness pills on him. He made her a baby sized dose (a very useful professional to have with us at that moment) and gave it to her and the rest of the trip was much better.

After my baby stopped barfing and the sun came up I started to notice all the beauty around me. I was awe-struck.

It wasn’t until we got home and I saw the pictures we took that I truly understood the tremendous experience we were given.

So this time around I knew that even though there was some unpleasantness involved, that we had to do this with my parents. With my determined attitude and with eyes wide open we set off on what was our 37 mile, 8 hour journey. That’s right. We traveled 37 miles and it took us 8 hours. The road is THAT curvy and there is THAT much to see on the way.

Karen and Charlie opted out on this excursion for another whale adventure, this time on a small speed boat (which yielded some amazing photos).

We stopped at a Shell gas station where there was a little shack that sold an audio tour guide of the Hana Highway. We purchased the CD/DVD combo for $20 (totally worth it). It gave a lot of history and context about the sites, vegetation, water ownership, industry etc., that you would otherwise never know.

We also stopped at KMART’s before we headed up and bought provisions (snacks). We parked our rental Altima and piled into my folks Camry so we could all be in the same car. There was almost enough room for all of us in that car. Me and my mom sat in the back with the two little girls. We tried to keep Sun-bun in her car seat, but she wasn’t having that for very long.

We shortly pulled over at Hookipa Beach a world class windsurfing beach.
The wave etiquette says surfers get the waves in the morning and windsurfers get them in the afternoon. Since we left at 10:30 a.m. we saw surfers and tons of big white-capped waves. It was radical and totally tubular!
Seriously...why do I not live here? I would be and awesome hippie.

We threw Sunny’s car seat in the trunk headed up the road. It didn’t take long before we were all captivated, Sunny and Alyssa by the suckers we bought for them at KMART and the rest of us by the spectacular rainforest that surrounded us.

We made our first stop at a state “wayside” or rest stop. I remembered this stop so vividly because last time the wayside was covered with wild kittens and roosters and hens.
This time was no different.
Anyone who knows my kids or has spent five minutes with my kids knows that they LOVE cats!
They were in heaven that was only hampered by my opposition to them petting and trying to hold the cats.

My Dad was really apprehensive about where he was going, when the next bathroom opportunity would be and how long our journey would take. I understood his pain because I myself lived through the uncertainty in 2007. He wanted to let every stopping/photo opportunity pass by or just wait in the car while we ogled at waterfalls and the scenery around us.
I used my excellent persuasion skill to get him out of the car each and every time. I was very annoying, but I knew he would thank me later. I forced him into dozens of pictures he didn’t want to be part of too. I figured I may as well document it if I was forcing it on him anyway.

It was drizzling a fine mist for a lot of the day. Not really enough water to be annoying, just enough to let you know you were in a rain forest.
On this side of the island they get 400 inches of rain per year. In Kihei they get only 14 inches per year, a very large variance!

After another hour or so we stopped at the second wayside and broke out our lunch. I was so full of pretzels that I didn’t feel like eating what I packed, so we ended up feeding it to the wild kitties who were stalking our covered picnic table.

After lunch we explored that area a little more and saw a couple waterfalls and some beautiful foliage.


Alyssa just could not get over the size of these leaves.


The next stop was the expected and actual highlight of the trip.
Waianapanapa State Park. This was where we collected such amazing pictures in 2007. Although I appreciated it then, I more fully appreciated it now.

What lies here is a black sand beach. And when I say black sand I mean black like mid-night sand. It is crazy to see.
It is even more beautiful set against the most lush Kelly green foliage that grows right out of the black volcanic rock.

Here there is a big park with a staircase that leads down to the beach. Here, Steve is taking a pic from up top of us down on the bottom.
At the bottom of the stairs, the beach opens up. The water is a color of blue I’ve never found in nature anywhere else. It really takes on a different hue coming in over black rock.




When we had come here last time, Alyssa had just fallen asleep before we arrived, so grandpa carried her down and we took their picture.
This time, in true déjà vu form…Sunny fell asleep and Charlie II carried her down and we took this picture.

Too crazy. Too cute.

Off to the side of the beach area there is a lava tube or a little sea cave.
We explored the sea cave and spent a few minutes in there. We had to coax my dad in, but he did come and quite enjoyed it.
Fortunately he was back out of the cave when “the incident” happened. My dad does not deal well with incidents.

After being in the cave 10 minutes or so, I turned my back to the water for a second. Just one second mind you. Just then a big wave swept in. Alyssa who was behind me got swept off her feet. She was terrified and soaking wet.
Just as fast as I scooped her out of the water, someone else in the cave pointed out to me that her flip flops had washed out of the cave and into the ocean. I threw my camera and all my other stuff at a stranger standing near me and ran after her shoes. I saved them, but I was wet almost to my waist.


Alyssa was borderline hysterical. I calmed her down and told her that we were all okay and that I saved her shoes. She was very upset and very cold. It was not a real warm day and it was quite windy. Alyssa declared that if we ever go back to that beach, that she will stay with a babysitter. She still talks about it. As I am writing this and discussing it, she is again reminding me that if we ever go back to the sea cave, to leave her with a babysitter, or to at least have Grandma keep on an eye on her.

Steve also missed the incident going up to car to get our camera. He took these awesome pictures of us down on the beach while he was up in the parking/park area. Spectacular.

We undressed her and put her in Grandpa’s jacket for the rest of the journey. We felt bad about what had happened, but we soon felt even worse for someone who entered the cave looking for their rental car keys. Yeah…now that is a problem. Losing your keys in a sea cave in Hana. It had taken us 6 hours to get there. “Um…yes..Hello Enterprise…I can’t find my keys…”


There is also two sea arches, and a ginormous blow hole which are spectacular to see. Fortunately we didn’t see it blow and it’s a good thing it didn’t because my dad was standing right next to it and would not move. Last time we were there we saw it blow and it was forcefully terrifying.
Had it gone off my dad would have know what it was like to have his face sprayed off with a fire hose.

We had a fabulous time while we were here despite how weary we all were. Especially my parents. They really were good sports, but at this point they were like children being forced to enjoy the scenery. A real role reversal, since they used to put me through this kind of stuff when I was kid.

I dragged them around a little more and forced them into seeing everything there that was available to see.
I told them they would thank me later when they saw the pictures of them in and among all this fabulousness.
I know I pushed them beyond what they wanted to do, but I knew I had to.
I was glad Charlie forced all this stuff on me when all was said and done in 2007.

It didn’t seem like we were traveling that slow, but it took us six hours to get to the town of Hana. Once we arrived, there was not too much to see, just a cute little LDS church house
and a nice restroom with attached snack bar. Which we are standing in front of this the above pic.


One thing we noticed on our journey, was that although the folks in Kihei were mainly American, on the road to Hana, we met folks from all over the world. Russia, Chile, India.

At this point we had all had enough, and we set our sights back on our hotel room. The drive back was much faster—only a couple hours. They were an eventful few hours in the back seat though. We are so grateful for car seats. In the old days, like the 70s, people used to ride around with kids unrestrained in their cars. I hear that they didn’t want to put their kids in car seats.
Well, we love car seats. I like having the kids strapped in and in back. I don’t like them writhing around and screaming on the same bench as me.

Alyssa and Sunny had had enough and they seemed to think that whining and rolling around would get them home sooner.
It didn’t work. We were hoping to stop on the way back and see the windsurfers—but it was too unbearable to consider and it was getting a little dark anyway.

We thankfully got back to the K-Mart parking lot and into our own vehicle. Life was better now that the kids were strapped in back where they belong. We stopped at Costco for fruit and Steve made a reservation for me to take a windsurfing lesson the next day. Our policy—when an opportunity arises, take it. From there, an early night home. Dinner at the condo and laundry. More fun tomorrow.

Hey, do you know what is good...

Frozen Twinkies. Seriously, yum. We bought some Twinkies after Alyssa discovered this new and exotic treat at one of her T-Ball games. Since we had a box full I decided to freeze some after my brother Jason reccommended it. He was right. They're delicious.

The weakest link—Tour de Kill Me

By Steve Sokol and Kristin (in italics)

So, the Tour de Cure was on Saturday. This was my first significant bike event. I proposed that Kristin and one of my best friends, Jason Brock ride as well. Originally, we were planning to ride 100 miles. But poor weather hampered training—so we mutually decided that the 65 mile course would be more appropriate. Besides, Kristin and I were planning 100 miles in two weeks in the MS ride and Jason had the Spudman triathlon in a few weeks and he didn’t want to risk injury.

I was never aware that I had been signed up to ride 100 mile on this race. I was only doing this race to get the gear, and of course to stamp out Diabetes once and for all. Once I told Steve I wouldn’t ride that far, I was told it was 60 miles, once we arrived I learned that it was actually 65.

I’ve looked forward to this ride for months. Last year, Kristin rode 75 miles in the MS ride and had a fantastic experience. It sounded fun to have a long, leisurely ride through the countryside without having to hurry back for childcare. It reminded me of my mission when I used to ride all over the Czech countryside on our days off—I mean P-days.

Kristin as also excited to ride because we got a lot of great gear from my employer, SelectHealth. Jason was also excited because he did a half marathon and had several Olympic-length triathlons upcoming—so this would be yet another athletic accomplishment to add to his growing list.

Thanks to all my generous friends and my brother’s generous office workers, we got racing jerseys, long sleeved racing jerseys, a windbreaker and fabulous padded pants. What a score!

Unfortunately, the weather was looking very poor. Wednesday through Friday were all really cold and rainy. The forecast for Saturday was for major thunderstorms. So, we weren’t sure if we’d get to ride at all.

We should have looked at the weather and called off the ride. Next time. Next time.

On Friday night, we dropped our kids with their Aunt Erica and Uncle Jason for a pajama party. They were excited. Thank you for watching our kids for 24 hours. And sorry Sunny threw up in Alayna’s piggy bank (take that life savings!). The weather forecast also changed and it looked like there MIGHT be a break in the weather from around 7 AM to noon on Saturday. Perfect for the race. Still not a sure thing—but we planned to be there anyway.

We put together our provisions on Friday night and loaded the biked on the car. Kristin’s bike had a flat—which I was nearly able to fix myself. We took the almost repaired bike down to Josh Selleneit’s for inspection. He re-repaired the wheel and we were ready to go.


On Saturday morning, we arrived in Brigham City about 10 minutes later than we planned because the weather on the drive was extremely poor. Very windy with lots of rain. But as we approached Brigham City, the sky cleared up and it was almost sunny. We arrived in town just in time to see the first group of 100 mile riders leave. These were intrepid riders with rain-specific gear. As we got out of the car, the wind started blowing hard but there were no clouds so we prepared to ride.

I’m not sure why he thinks the sky cleared up at we pulled into Brigham City. Just as we arrived the tallest of trees we nearly bent over touching the ground from the high winds. As we exited our car into the local environment, I nearly froze solid. So not cool in the middle of June. We were each wearing five shirts, and were still freezing. It was also unpleasantly windy, but like idiots we forged on.

Let’s be honest, although we went up prepared to ride, I didn’t think we really would. Kristin and I brought books and we thought it was likely we’d sit in the car and wait for a brief break in the storm. There was a 25 mile course and we thought maybe we’d ride that during a brief break in the weather. But instead, conditions appeared good and we got ready to ride in our planned 65-mile course.

Conditions did not appear good, just barely barely do-able, and when I say do-able I mean try-able. So we tried it, again like idiots.

We left right away and Jason got us riding in a pace line. Kristin led first, but Jason quickly took over the lead. I found my place in the back—the easiest position. I knew Jason was a better rider than we were but I didn’t realize how much better until then.

That man is a machine.

We got to the first rest stop after 14 miles. This was the fastest 14 miles I had ever ridden. Drafting really does make a big difference. At the rest stop, we picked up another rider. Kristin’s friend Rachel from her triathlon class was at the stop. She had gotten a flat tire early in the race and her team had left her. She had ridden 100 miles one week previously and with the poor weather seemed glad to ride with us. It was nice to have two expert riders in our group.

We continued on and the ride was pretty pleasant. Nice countryside. Not too much wind. I kept up pretty good and didn’t hurt until about 21 miles in. But I was still moving pretty good and we got the second stop at 28 miles in.

It was nice except for the feeling of impending doom which I felt the entire race always imagining the worst case scenario which played out in reality pretty accurately.


At the second stop we ran into our neighbor Josh—the one who had fixed our tire the night before. He was doing the 100 mile loop and looked like a European tour rider.

We stopped here for less than five minutes. Just enough time for me to scarf down a fig bar and a rice crispy treat and use the honey bucket.



Our group started again quickly because we were trying to outrun the rain. The weather was deteriorating fast and we were about as far away from the finish as possible. There was some support on this ride but there was no way they could take everyone in so we really had no choice but to keep going. Around mile 35 there was a steep uphill. Rachel and Kristin rode right up. Jason stayed back to encourage me. I did make it up. I had to use my lowest gear and I was pretty slow but I made it. I never could have done this before my sinus surgery. Thank you Dr. Finlayson. Josh passed me on the way up—I can’t believe how fast he was going. I had to remark to Jason that I thought it was cool that my wife is tougher than I am.

This was the largest hill I have ever climbed, but thanks to Miley Cyrus’s The Climb, I made it singing the whole way. I felt really proud of myself for about a half second. After getting to the top I felt the wind that was blowing up on the ridge. It sort of ruined the thrill.


I got to the top, the wind REALLY started picking up. We were riding right into it now. From this point, Kristin started following Rachel and Jason started letting me draft pretty much exclusively. He really saved me. I just can’t give enough thanks to him for pulling me along and breaking most of the wind for me. Jason you’re my hero—I hope to be like you when I grow up.

This was the strongest wind I have ever been in during my lifetime. It pretty nearly blew me on my bike clean over dozens of times. They only way I could stay upright was to swerve into the wind which also happen to be into the traffic roadway.

I also realized at this point that cycling skill is often inversely related to equipment cost. My bike was without a doubt the most expensive in our group and yet I was by far the slowest. Equipment matters—but it really is all about training.

After 45 miles, Jason wisely recommended that we take a shortcut back. He and I had discussed this the day before and with the worsening weather we decided to get back as soon as possible. Our total mileage turned out to be 58 miles this way (instead of 65) so that was good. There were some downsides though. We didn’t see any other cyclists, which is less fun and less motivating. We also missed the three main rest stops. Most of all, we were off the support route. This was concerning, especially to Kristin as the wind picked up and up.

I knew we needed to get back asap, so I was down with taking the short cut, but it was terrifying to be out on the high prairie with no one around and no one out looking for you if something bad were to happen. I kept looking up at the clouds thinking one of them might reach down and swallow me up.




Jason really helped all of us—especially me. He would get ahead of me and then circle back to bring me along. The wind was expected to be 15 mph gusting to 30. We guesstimated that we were riding into 40 mph gusts. It turns out, that the gusts were actually 55 mph! This was a very severe, damaging storm and I’m not making it up, some of the damage near our route is on this video. Funnel clouds were spotted in the area.

We finally got to the outskirts of civilization and saw the enormous Wal-Mart hub with all the trucks pulling in and out. I saw it and thought we’d pass it by nearly immediately. After I first spotted it, I bet it took us nearly 30 minutes to actually get to it. Then once we were there it took us 10 minutes to ride across the front of it. The wind was so fierce we couldn’t ride much more than 8 or 10 mph. Also now we had huge trucks passing constantly nearly blowing us over. Terrifying.

We approached a bridge that went over the freeway and back to the park where we started. Again, I had to use my lowest gear to get to the top. Once I got there, I had to stay in the lowest gear even back down the large hill. It was so windy, I could only go 4 mph down the hill.

I knew the finish line was just around the corner and just over this bridge. Imagine my disappointment when I couldn’t see the park anywhere in sight. I swear they picked up the park and moved the whole thing about a mile farther down the road after we began the race.

The park, which I remember being just over the bridge was much further than I remembered (I guess it seems further alone into 55 mph wind going 4 mph at the end of the ride than it does in a 20 mph paceline). The other three finished before me. I got in and we all just left. There was a lunch but we just wanted to get out of the wind.

After we finished I sobbed for about 20 minutes. My face burned, my eyes were stinging and I was hammered. I was beyond words. There was a line for food. A long line. REALLY? I am supposed to wait in a line for food? NO THANKS. What kind of race makes people wait in a crazy long line for food? Diabetes really does suck.


I really did feel good about what we accomplished. And I did enjoy parts of the ride. All in all, it was pretty horrible and painful but we aren’t putting our bikes up for sale yet.

My bike is for sale. It’s red and very small. Has only been sprayed by one skunk.

I really am very proud of our fundraising and I hope we were able to make a difference in the fight against diabetes. Kristin and I raised $1200. Thank you Mindy Shipley, Emilee Eyre, Brandon Tucker, Sinika Swalberg, Tammy Wardle, Darla Wardle, Robert Wardle, Ryan Wardle, and Scott Wardle. And thank you Scott Wardle and all your coworkers at Merrick Bank for your unbelievable generosity. Jason also raised about $1000, mainly from coworkers at Zions Bank. Thank you all for your support and for making this painful day possible.

Post Script:

I needed a shower to feel better, I knew that would be the only thing that would relieve my deep pain, regret and sorrow for being so stupid as to take on a race when I knew conditions would make it un-ridable. Steve told me he would do anything to make me feel better so I told him I wanted to change my clothes and take a shower. The high winds and light rain made us unbelievably dirty and gross. I wanted Steve to take me to a motel to see if they would let us into a room for a shower, but then I saw a truck stop. (You know from my earlier post I like everything related to trucking and have always wanted to go into a Trucker Lounge I knew this was my chance. They sold us a shower for $10.00 and that included the towels and everything.)

As we were leaving Brigham City, we found a truck stop. Kristin wanted to check and see if they had showers. We both like truck stops and truckers but we neither of us had ever used a truck stop shower before. They did have showers for $10. Seriously, what a bargain. Kristin said that a truck stop shower would make her feel all better and that it would salvage this day. So, we wheeled our bikes into the trucker lounge (can’t leave them unlocked on the trunk rack) and enjoyed a wonderful hot shower. Everything was fine again.





And, if that was not enough indulgence, we stopped by Box Elder County’s most important attraction, Maddox. If you haven’t been there it is worth the drive. This place sells real food. They grow the beef out in the backyard. It’s amazing under any circumstance but as starved as we were it was extra good. The rolls are worth a visit themselves and I’ve never enjoyed a seafood cocktail as much in my life. Kristin had fried chicken and I had a sirloin steak. I also had four rolls and some cornbread—I think I deserved it.

So, the next day, Kristin was fine except for some decreased hand strength. She says she has about 50% strength in her hands. Me, I’m better than I expected. Still tired and quite sore. My right and left legs are sore in different places, which tells me that I wasn’t riding very evenly. Oh well I did finish (sort of).

Tiny toes take a bow

Well all our hard work paid off last night at Alyssa’s dance recital. I have basically lived my life to this point to make this happen. If anyone is guilty of living vicariously through their children, it’s me. I must say…TOTALLY worth it. She loved the whole experience, but as any helicopter parent would, I enjoyed it even more than she did.

She has been going to Ballet/Tap class once a week since August 2009. We had a Christmas recital which ended up being sort of an over-crowded nightmare. This one was at the Sandy Amphitheater, a perfect venue for a dance recital. She felt like such a star on the big stage.

Our preparation for the recital began the night before when we began the transformation into baby beauty queen. She has very long straight hair which doesn’t take kindly to curls. So separated her hair into three sections and made three “ballerina hairs” (buns). We left them in all night and all day until we got to the recital venue.

We had a non-dress rehearsal that morning at the venue where they practiced getting on and off the stage and performed one of their dances. Then it was off to Costco to get flowers. Several weeks ago she informed me that after her recital she would get and arm full of flowers. I decided to make that happen. She and Sunny even got to pick out the flowers.

We took them home and wrapped them up thanks to some good diagrams my florist-sister-in-law Jacquelynn provided me with over e-mail. We also wrapped some bouquets for her three cousins who were also dancing in this recital. I thought they all deserved an arm full of flowers (that’s why I’m the favorite Auntie).

Before we left our house I covered her already beautiful face with make-up which was so much fun for her (and me). After she got her blush, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, lipstick, liquid eyeliner and mascara, she looked at herself in the mirror and said… “Wow my eyes look just like yours mom!”

We then headed over to pick up Daddy at the train station in Sandy. We ate a quick bite at Chick-da-lay where we also changed her into her costume and hustled over to the venue.

Once we arrived I took her into the bathroom and freshened up her make-up and took her buns out to reveal the curls. And the curls didn’t disappoint! They were amazing. I must admit that with a face full of make-up and big-texas hair, she looked a little more like Jonbenet Ramsey than I care to admit.
She was stunning though, and I’m not just saying that because I am her mom.

We found her cousins and snapped a cute picture. How much fun is this?
Especially if you grew up with five brothers and never had access to this kind of stuff.

Then we showed Alyssa to her class section and she sat with them.


We found our seats next to Rick and Laura and new grandma (Steve’s mom). Regular grandma (my mom) was sick and couldn’t be there. Bummer.

They announced the show was about to begin and asked the mom’s of little girls to remember to come and change the girls shoes between the two numbers they would be performing in. Then it hit me that I never put Alyssa in her ballet slippers at all. I ran down to see if someone else did, but she was already gone backstage. Her shoe bag was still there and I glanced inside to see her slippers still there. So I grabbed them and found my way back stage just in the nick of time to get them on her before she danced. She just about danced in her sneakers.

Then her class took the stage.
Their dance was so stinking cute. You could have just cried about it. I did.
She looked a little shell shocked at first when she saw the crowd, but once she spotted her teacher in the front middle, she followed her prompts and danced away. Not always with the right moves, but who cares.
They were all so cute. Grr..I just loved it.

Then we waited through 20 or so other numbers which were all fun to see especially the ones with my nieces in. My little neice Hailey ended up being a real super star. She joined her class just a few months ago, and she lead her class in the dance. She knew all the moves and executed them expertly.

Then it was time for Alyssa’s second number. I was up front for the first one taking pictures, but stayed back to watch the second number and I’m glad I did. It was so cute. Steve and I just beamed as brightly as any parents could beam watching my life’s work dance away. So much parental pride, I have never felt anything like it.

At the end all the dancers when back on stage for one final bow.


I got these shots of Alyssa and Alayna right after it ended.
They were both so beautiful and so proud of themselves.


I found all the cousins and presented them their arm full of flowers and gathered them together for a picture with thier teacher Miss Tiffany.

Her teacher gave each girl a candy necklace. Alyssa was in heaven.


What a fun memory.
I’ll always remember this night. I’m not sure why it’s such a big deal to me, but it is.