Instead of a Friday Five, today you get Part Five of our Hawaii adventure—the final installment. Whew! No one is more relieved than I am for these posts to be wrapping up…although it has been a fun way to relive the adventure.

# Day 8

As with yesterday, we continued being as flexible as possible. This was our last day, but since we were taking the red-eye flight home and had no set check-out time, we could do whatever we wanted. And what we wanted was to watch the sun rise over Haleakala. But weather forecasts the night before called for clouds and storms. So we slept in instead. See? Pretty flexible!

We were not about to give up on some kind of snorkeling. We wanted to see SOMETHING before we left, so back we went to the beach with our gear. The water was…you guessed it…too strong from the winds, so we walked the shore until we found these rocks that formed little pools of sea life, completely protected from the crashing waves.

Maui: 1, Joe & Marci: 1

Photo caption award goes to Sean for “My preeeecccciiiouussss”.

There we saw tons of fish, crabs, sea urchins, sea anemone and several eels, including this guy who kept popping out to say hi to Joe.

See him on the bottom?

We were out there for quite a while, but it was the perfect way to experience some ocean life and–the best part–we didn’t even have to get that wet!

Our little secluded spot offered some more gorgeous views of where we had spent our beach time the last two days.

After cleaning and packing up as much as possible, we took off for the middle area of Maui—a section we hadn’t yet explored. First up was lunch at the Hali’imaile General Store, another recommendation from Nat and Nicoleen.

Among other things, we split these brie and grape quesadillas that came with a cilantro and macadamia nut pesto and sweet pea guacamole. So. freakin’. good.

I also tried to cram in as much local pineapple into my last day as possible. Cue: Pineapple lemonade.

It was drizzling by midday, but that didn’t deter us from driving up (over 4000 feet!) to see the Ali’I Kula Lavender Farm.

See that fog? You’re supposed to be able to see the ocean!

Joe wasn’t really up for walking around in the rain, but I was. This place was breathtaking and the smell! Let’s just say I felt like I had been hit by a lavender tranquilizer gun…in the best way possible.

The lavender was lovely, of course, and covering just about every square inch of the farm.

Funny little blooms.

But there were also sprawling gardens of so much more. Like the most colorful succulents…

These were stunning.

There were also trees with these white bulbs all over them.

I had no idea what they were until I saw this one blooming. Fascinating! What is this and how can I have them all over my yard?!

It was just a magical place. I could have spent a lot of time here. Not to mention…their shop sells lavender tea, hot lavender scones and lavender brownies.

Go here. Rain or shine. Take a guided tour or just walk alone in the gardens. It’s worth it.

Now that we’re nearing the end of these posts, I bet you could guess the last thing I wanted to do before leaving for the airport.

If you said anything other than shave ice, you should start over with Part 1 again.

For our last time, I had Li Hing (duh), Passion Fruit and Blue Hawaii. And they even had Li Hing powder to sprinkle over the top!

Joe had Cola, Lime, and Mango. And we totally learned our lesson and got the micro size. #muchbetter

Do you see how the ice is like butter? The power of Ululani’s!

The sweetest way to end the sweetest of trips.

That night, we stood outside our gate at the airport and watched the sun set. It wasn’t as amazing as our first Maui sunset, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get choked up. This trip brought us so many smiles and laughs—something we needed after a handful of hard, emotionally-heavy months. It was a wonderful escape and the perfect way to celebrate our decade of togetherness. We didn’t want to leave. But, who ever does?

Mahalo, Hawaii.

And a big mahalo to you for reading the last five posts and for looking at a gazillion photos. Hawaii Trip 2015 is officially in the bag!