Hana rhymes with sauna and does NOT sound like Hannah. Let's just get that out of the way.
People tend to look at their map and say, “Oh, it’s only 64 miles. We can make it to Hana in about an hour.” Well, not unless you’re flying… literally. Aptly dubbed “The Divorce Highway,” the Road to Hana has an exhausting, and many times harrowing, 617 hairpin curves and 59 unforgiving one-lane bridges, not to mention an incredible number of blind spots along the way. And, since the speed limit is 25 mph or less the entire way, that puts the drive time, (with few to no stops), averaging about 2.5 hours — and that’s without encountering any traffic or other diversions.
Oh, and there are more obstacles to making it there “on time,” like being mesmerized by all of the incredibly beautiful waterfalls, local handmade jewelry, fragrant flowers and leis, fresh pineapple, banana bread and a host of other Hawaiian culinary delights to be discovered at the roadside stands.
We drove it in 2017. It was a fabulous experience.
If you get a chance to drive it, or anywhere in Maui really, I highly recommend you download the GyPSy Guide app for your phone. It's a game changer.
Near the seven mile marker of the trip are the Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees. So beautiful they seem fake.
Anyway, that's not really what this post is about, it's about me... 🙂
I don't really think of myself as being a competitive person. But that's really not true. I do love to be right and I love to win. It's just that I tend to only compete if I figure I have a pretty good chance.
So, no tennis games or speed races or singing contests for me.
I do try to get my daily steps in each day. While Jim was playing hockey three days a week over the winter, I often would go and mall walk or go to Costco or Superstore and intentionally walk up and down every aisle, sometimes twice.
Now that winter is over it's nice to get back outside again.
But I'm scared spitless of bears and cougars and dogs and pretty much anything on four legs. So sometimes I need a little push to get me going.
A few weeks ago I had an ad for The Conqueror app come across one of my newsfeeds.
It was a virtual challenge to walk the length of The Cabot Trail. This piqued my interest as it was my favourite drive I've ever taken.
The app includes street views of where you are along the way, and points of interest. You get digital postcards when you reach milestones and they even send a physical medal in the mail when you finish.
It seemed like a fun challenge with little perks to keep you motivated. It might be just what I need to keep me going. Cuz the thoughts of being healthy, in shape and possibly losing some weight obviously haven't been all that motivating for me.
However, the Cabot Trail is 298km long. That seemed like it might be a bit much to take on for my first challenge.
But, there is also a Road to Hana 104km challenge. That seemed a little more doable to me.
So I signed up.
They recommended you set an 8-week goal to finish the walk. I figured I would push myself to complete it in six.
But oddly, I have been motivated and spurred on by these little psychological perks and it's a great online community as well.
I began on April 8th.
And today, 18 days later I kicked some Hana butt as I crossed the virtual finish line.
And now I await my medal to arrive in the mail:
And tomorrow I'm off to meander the shores of Italy along the Amalfi Coast.
