The Proposal

If anyone has been to Maui, they would agree that the road to Hana is an adventure you will never forget. Hana is a small Hawaiian town and not much else. When you hear about "the road to Hana", they are actually referring to the road-trip. The drive is about 52 miles and can take about 4-6 hours to go through the adventure one way. The road is marked with mile markers and there is 617 turns. The road is high and low, wandering along the edge of cliffs and traveling through the tropics. The scenery is so tranquil and fresh. Greens like I have never seen before, and trees that drape the roadway like canopies. We had a full tank of gas, a red convertible (top down) and lots of sunscreen. Got on our way around 6am: this was the best move to beat the old-people tour buses. We went at our leisure and took lots of photos on the way. Beautiful waterfalls that look like they came from the sky, some with pools for swimming, although most too cold to do so. We hiked trough a dense bamboo forest and tried to make it across a stream....water was too high and had to go back. Did not stop us, we drove on... no more than 25 miles an hour, turns too sharp and too many one lane bridges. About 3 miles out from Hana, we turned off to check out what a tour book had described as a "black sand beach". It was actually Waianapanapa State Park. Don't know how to pronounce that, so it is now known as the black sand beach. The sand is really black...black lava rock sand. Yes, it is soft. Check out www.hawaiiweb.com to read about it and see pictures. This was the most beautiful area I have ever seen. Maybe that is because I have not traveled much, or the major event that took place there on Monday October 29th. The ocean was the same blue as the sky, the palm trees were echoing the sound of the waves and the sun was kissing the day in the most perfect way. Not really sure what happened next; I know that I was standing in awe facing the water thinking that I was standing on the edge of the earth. Dan took my hand and turned me around, he was on one knee. I smiled thinking he was just being cute and silly. He started telling me how I have made him so happy and that he knew soon after we met that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I was still thinking,,,, awe- how cute.... just thought he was being sweet, until I saw a small gray box in his other hand. He later said the change in the look of my face when I knew it was real was dramatic. Not still being able to focus or listen, I just said "of course". Just remember kissing and smiling for the rest of the day, and it didn't really hit me until the next morning. As soon as I woke, checked my hand, and there was the same blue water from the black sand beach captured in the ring on my finger. It was the perfect proposal.

Added on Mon, Mar 24th 2008