Is 4-Wheel drive really a necessity?

About a week a go, my very good friend decided to celebrate her birthday at her favorite spot!  Of course, this picture doesn't do Waipio Valley justice!

If you can make it down there...it's totally worth the 45 degree decline!

 Brad was busy at work...as usual...so we decided to brave the mountain all by ourselves!  We packed up in the new (old) truck (Brad traded his 2000 Mazda truck for a '98 F250 to one of his employees who wanted better gas mileage). 

Waipio was awesome.  Friends, food, fires, S'mores and a bit of rain...

Sina was so concerned about her marshmallows.  She didn't want to forget any of them!

Thank goodness for pop-up tents and car trunks!

After the sun left us in the dark, we all started heading back up the monster hill.  I was lucky enough to ask a friend to drive my truck up, cause I'm a mild wuss and he needed a ride up anyway, so why not put him in the driver seat? 

With kids scrunched in the back we headed out. 

Problems arose when the 4-Wheel drive decided to not work.  Hmmm, I guess the answer is YES, you do need 4-Wheel drive to visit Waipio!  Needless to say, the truck had an unexpected sleep over in Waipio, as it couldn't get a mere 100 feet up the hill. 

We caught a ride home with one of our friends and had to come back the next day after church and tow the truck  home.  Good thing Brad has a plethera of trucks lying around!