Kaupo Store

This trip to Hana we drove the south shore in the direction the tourists usually take. (as opposed to our trip last summer, when we went against the tourist traffic) After leaving Hana, the road snakes around the dense jungle coastline of Maui, the Jeep pinned to the sides of the cliffs. Even though I had held the image of the store strong in my mind (since I am using it in the novel I’m working on) I was amazed at how much my imagination had taken over—I had painted my own scene, which pleased me because I realized I had grown to know the area in my imagination much better than anything my mind could remember. That little store, out there in the middle of nowhere—sometimes I think about how they get supplies out there. Who is the brave soul who drives an ice cream truck out there? I can imagine a helicopter being an easier delivery vehicle. The store is at the bottom of Kaupo Gap, the last lava flow from Haleakala Crater. There is no other word than desolate to describe it: few houses, few fences, and cattle grates across the rutty road. We assured ourselves of the petroglyph location we had found last summer (a place I want to explore again), and continued on to civilization.