Maui Wowi with a Dash of Kona

Got a surprise phone call the other day from Dad and his wife. Both are living large on the sandy coastline of Hawaii, Maui, Kona and one other island whose name escapes me.

Like me, Dad likes to go 'where no man has gone before' and so sets foot in 'no-trespassing' and 'do not enter' areas all the time. After all, “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”

While on the island of Maui they found themselves twisting and turning through 52 miles of hairpin S-curves in a rented Volvo. The dusty paved road is the old King's trail strewn with one-lane bridges, gushing waterfalls and eucalyptus groves. The stretch offers panoramic ocean views of whales mating and dolphins playing in the waves. Dad's description of the lush surroundings sound stunning but it's an encounter with a braided hippy chick that is most enchanting.

The two stop to admire the commanding views of the mountains when a teenage girl offers Dad some homegrown Maui Wowi, "the good stuff," she said proudly.

"Might this be legal here?" he asks his wife.

They are, after-all, in one of the most remote and isolated areas of the United States.

Carol thinks about how it might help her battle her lung cancer. Dad thinks about his days as a wild youth. The two seriously consider but then decide that nature's healthiest organics are better left for the locals. They decline but not without finding out that Kona coffee is just as potent a drug and equally as tasty.

Tomorrow they hop a helicopter for views of lakes, streams, waterfalls (and maybe even Maui Wowi plantations) only visible by air.