Life on the Mountain

Maui is an island only 26 miles wide and 40 miles long, but driving takes much longer than you would expect. From the airport in Kahului to Morgan’s home in Kula is 16 miles, but at best takes about 30 minutes. Kula is 3,000 feet up the Haleakala volcano, and the property where Morgan lives is slightly higher than that. Owners are Reid and Danielle Emminger, and they first rented a space beneath their home to Morgan, but she recently moved into a separate building on the property. That left the downstairs apartment open, and Reid and Danielle graciously let our family stay there. 

Julian and the Emminger children, Rosie, 5, and Rowan, 2 ½, became immediate friends. In a matter of minutes, Rosie and Julian were best friends. They had two electric cars, which both could drive like adults, and plenty of other wheeled toys that made our boy feel right at home. Morgan described Danielle as “always smiling,” which we discovered to be true. Reid is a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines, but he was home to welcome us. Our extended family had suddenly grown. The mountain property supports hundreds of fruit and flowers, surrounding a chicken pen and vegetable garden. Plans have a milk cow coming in the future so the family can become as nearly as possible self-sustained. Morgan picks lemons for her tea and watches nature for her soul. From her balcony, you can see the ocean on both sides of the island and the North Maui Mountains in between. A steep and twisting lane leads to the property, assuring a certain degree of privacy. About a dozen houses line the road, and Morgan lives in one of the last ones. 

The drive up and down Halelakala is treacherous, even on the main roads. Morgan trained us on a local lane that twisted straight up the hillside and landed only a few blocks from her home. Down the slope, the school where she works is only a few miles away, and a hardware store, drug store and food-truck park not much farther. Our family survived on the food trucks for the first two days. Morgan’s wedding was a few days away, and we all were stressed and busy.

RaeRay's Great Adventure: A Family Gathering

Day 1:

Flying to Maui was the first family challenge. Morgan would be getting married in five days. Jenny, also known as Gammy, was to be matron of honor, Kaki and little Julian would be playing parts in the ceremony, and Michael Ray, Grandaddy in Julian’s eyes, would give his first-born Rae away. All of this would take place in Kihei on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The first leg of our trip took us from Huntsville to Dallas, where we had about an hour to aboard the Skytrain from the B terminal to the A terminal. DFW’s trains were especially speedy for 3-year-old Julian, but it was Grandaddy (Ray) who was almost shut out as the electronic voice announced the door were closing. We didn’t need to hurry, though. Our next flight straight from Dallas to Maui was to be delayed by at least an hour because of what the pilot called a problem with the right engine. He said it had been corrected, but the paperwork was taking a while to complete. He could have provided a little less detail, and we would have been more comfortable with the situation. The plane was probably half full at best, so Gammy grabbed a vacant window seat for the trip. Kaki and Julian were able to take over the four-seat spread across the middle of Row 34.Grandaddy joined Gammy a few rows back. Finally, the jolly pilot assured us all paperwork was done, and hoped to make up the lost time over the Pacific Ocean. A few naps and a few snacks later, made better by a TV screen on each seat back, the 8-hour flight ended with a long line at the Kahului airport. Everyone had to show their Travel Safe papers from the Hawaii website, with proof of a negative Covid19 test, hence avoiding a 10-day quarantine on the island. At the end of the process, a few stairs took us to an awaiting islander named Morgan (Rae), who had brought leis for each of us and two for Julian. It was a warm welcome. Shortly afterward, we loaded a half-dozen or so bags in the trunk of Rae’s Honda and headed up the dormant Haleakala volcano to the town of Kula.