Pre ride days on Oahu and Maui (Jan 6 - Jan 9)

We decided early in our planning stages of this trip, that we would fly to Hawaii a few days before the ride and visit a few of the other islands. We flew first to Oahu arriving on the evening of Jan 6th. The next day we visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial and then flew to Maui (Jan 7th). Then on January 8th we did a commercial Road to Hana tour. We made several stops throughout the ten hour tour. The following day, Jan 9th, we awoke at 2:30 am to do another commercial tour: the Haleakala Sunrise Tour. We arrived at the summit about one hour before sunrise. We were above a cloud line and the coloring was spectacular. The only downside was the cold. I thought 45 degrees wouldn’t be “that” bad, but it was worse. With the strong gusty winds, even three layers of clothing wasn’t warm enough. Even worse, two of my layers got went when my water bottle leaked in the bag with my extra layers. Alan gave me one of his layers and the bus driver also offered us two extra jackets. Without those the hour long wait would have been brutal. This tour ended with a hearty breakfast at the Cafe O’ lei at the Plantation. Alan and I both chose the macadamia nut pancakes and were delighted. Immediately after this tour, we headed to the airport once again and flew to the Big Island of Hawaii where the bike ride will take place. If the pace of the first few days seemed jam packed, they were. Most of the Uber drivers we used thought we were on a cruise moving from island to island!