Thursday Fun Day at Poli Poli

A handful of us have Thursday off regularly, and last Thursday was no exception.  Our friend, Will, usually spends his Thursday upcountry at the disc golf course at Poli Poli.  Occasionally, Bryan will join him.  When Bryan comes back from their excursions, he always tells me how beautiful it us up there, and how I should come with them and check it out.  Last Thursday, I decided to take him up on the offer.

Will and our friend Sean piled into Will's Toyota truck with Will's dog, T-Bone, and Sean's new puppy, Makena.

Bryan and I followed closely behind in my car.

{On our way!  With T-Bone keeping watch}

We headed north up towards Haleakala.  The day was overcast, but the clouds and coolness were welcome after the heat and glare in Lahaina.

{Looking down towards the rest of the island from up on the banks of Haleakala}

The drive up to Poli Poli is a fairly steep climb, and unfortunately, my little green monster of a car had a little trouble making it al the way.

We overheated!

{the boys assessing the situation--you can see Bryan laughing under the hood}

We waited for the car to cool back down, and then we left it on the side of the road and continued up to the disc golf course in the back of Will's truck.

{lots of orange moss on all the trees around the course}

{scaring cows away at the first hole}

Disc golf is similar to traditional golf, but instead of playing with clubs and balls, players throw a disc (similar to a Frisbee) from a tee box towards a "hole."  The holes around the course are a type of basket that are raised up off the ground.  As the players progress down the fairway, the player must take each consecutive shot from where their disc has landed.  This makes the game very interesting if the disc has gotten caught in a thicket.  The last shot of the game is the putt when the disc is thrown into the basket.

The Poli Poli course is a dramatic course with gorgeous views (when the clouds lift) and steep climbs.  I got a serious workout simply from hiking around with the guys--and they were carrying coolers with them!

{view from the first tee}

{Will and Bryan up on a hill, working the fairway}

{crazy plants galore on the course}

{and, of course, plenty of cows.  Seriously.  A LOT of cows!}

We came across small groups of cows all afternoon.  Many of which did not seem at all perturbed by us  sending discs right over their heads.  We got a big kick listening to them moo.  Many times, we couldn't even see them in the distance because of the fog, so they sounded like faraway ghosts.

Our favorite moment of the day occurred when two cows decided they had enough of us and the dogs, and they galloped off down a cow path aiming for T-Bone.  I have never seen that dog move so fast.  He took off loping down the trail, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if the cows were still in hot pursuit.  He finally left the cow path and headed back uphill to where we were all standing, and the cows continued down the trail.  Poor T-Bone!  We all got a great belly laugh at his expense.

{all the boys resting before teeing off.  From left to right: Jay (unofficial grounds keeper), Will, Sean and Bryan with T-Bone and puppy Makena up front}

{Will teeing off}

{Bryan sending his disc flying}

{Sean in action}

{and of course, more cows}

{a mom with her baby}

{a small Buddha tucked behind a tee box}

We were up on the course for about 3 hours.  During that time, Jay managed to put a disc in my hand and gave me a few pointers.  I was terrible!  But it was a great introduction to the game.  I was impressed by the camaraderie up there.  We ran into Jay when we first parked the cars, and we had him join our group, and then we ran into an older gentleman out on the course, and he joined up with us as well.  It was a great afternoon.

After playing, we piled back into Will's red truck and drove back down to where we left the car.

{T-Bone and Bryan}

{cows on the ridge}

{Look at Makena's ears!!}

The little green monster had not caught fire in our absence.  The boys replaced her coolant and looked her over and deemed her safe to drive.  Bryan and I followed Will's truck down into Makawao where we ate a feast of epic proportions at the always popular Mexican restaurant, Polli's.  I may have overdone it.  We got their Happy Hour nachos (amazing!), and I picked at my Fish Burrito, most of which had to be packed up and taken home.  Those nachos did me in.

Another great Thursday Fun Day with the gang!