Molokai: Day #2 (Part 1)

It was Wednesday and time for our trip down into Kalaupapa and Kalawao.  I decided to try the mule ride although I did have my misgivings.  Art was determined to hike the 3 mile pali trail.   There are 26 switchbacks on the trail and it has a 1,600 foot elevation.  When I spoke to the Mule Ride company, they said it would be a bit rough for an 83 year old woman.  Therefore Dennis took mom on a very small airplane down to the peninsula.

Buzzy gave us a lesson on how to ride a mule.

Did you know a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey?  They are supposed to be sure footed.

I think I was one of the few people who had never ridden a mule or a horse.  I've ridden a donkey, but it's much smaller than a mule.

That fellow in the back with the cowboy hat is from Wyoming.  He and his ranching family were here on vacation.  I did notice that I was the only local person in this group.

Buzzy joked that they would match the mules to our faces and we had to remember their names.

My mule's name was Lahi Lahi.  Buzzy said it meant Slim.

The beginning of the trail is easier.

Art had to dodge mule urine and poop.  Eventually the trail got rockier and bumpier... very very bumpy.  I wore my bike pants, but it wasn't padded enough.  I would have preferred a pillow.

All the mules were well trained and Lahi Lahi seemed quite competent.

He had a lot of energy and soon pushed himself to the front just behind this very experienced Wyoming rancher.

The only problem with Lahi Lahi is that...

...he liked to snack!


I hated to keep pulling on the reins to nudge his head away from many of the bushes and clumps of delicious looking grass.

I'm afraid I must not have enough padding on my back side.  I seriously wished I could move my tummy fat to my backside.
Sigh....

All the mules are very well fed and cared for.  I was never afraid during the ride down the cliff.

When we got to the bottom, Art was waiting for me with another hiker who happened to be a doctor who'd studied in Chicago.  What a coincidence!

Dennis and mom had been picked up at the airport so we came together into an old school bus and our tour director, Norman took us around while giving us a history of Kalaupapa.

We told him about mom's dad, and Norman said the community house was still standing and was now a bookstore.  Norman called it a temple, but it was actually a meeting hall that grandfather had fund-raised to build.  My grandfather had also brought special food from Kaunakakai and Japanese language movies that he showed patients using a movie projector.

This is Norman and mom in front of the Americans of Japanese Ancestry Hall. Norman is Roman Catholic but was kind enough to show a lot of enthusiasm for our excitement in finding where the Buddhists were being supported.

This is just a fun, amazing coincidence.  I took this photo from the distant overlook the day before as we were looking down at the peninsula. I blew up the photo today and could see that the Tour Bus had been stopped right in front of the AJA Hall where we would be the following day.

Back on the bus, mom was all smiles.  She couldn't wait to show all the photos to her siblings in Hawaii and in Japan.

Tomorrow's post will be the second half of the day... and back on top of Lahi Lahi.