Personally I wouldn't miss Makena Beach for a picnic, swim (if the conditions are right) and sunset. Also snorkling at Le Perouse

Road to Hana is a big day, so on your upcountry day I would try to include a stop at Hali'imaile General Store for a Sashimi Neapolean - yumm!

If you have any interest, strolling the grounds and public areas of the grand hotels can be interesting. Lots of great art and interesting furnishings and tiki torches. You could park at the Shops of Wailiea and take the ocean path at the Marriott.

Safe journey!

In Kihei there is good snorkeling at Kamaole III beach along with showers and restrooms.
Try Da Kitchen for good inexpensive local food. It's close to the Denny's and the Kamaole beaches.

"Sashimi Neapolean - yumm!"
I don't know what that is, but I suspect I have to try it.

Solo, you might like an early boat trip for snorkeling at Molokini. Lahaina town and Iao Needle (state park) are great places to visit, and the historic buildings in Wailuku (near Iao and Kahului)are a nice visit. There is a petroglyph trail near Lahaina (Olowalu;http://www.to-hawaii.com/maui/ancientsites/olowalupetroglyphs.php) various heiaus (Kahanu gardens) and other archaeological sites, too.

Are you planning on going to sunrise/sunset at Haleakala? We liked both, an you can do upcountry and Haleakala on the same day. We really liked Big Beach at Makena and also Blackrock beach in Kaanapali. In Kihei, we loved having breakfast at Kihei Caffe.

Those are all great suggestions. What my husband and I did on our second trip there, was one day we took a trip over to Molokai, there was a booth by the harbor in Lahaina and we booked a package with round trip on the ferry and a beater rental car thrown in, we drove around parts of the island and had lunch at Hotel Molokai, had a great time.

One thing a lot of folks seem to like is the Trilogy tour over to Lanai for the day, if I went back I would do this.

WE also loved breakfast (french toast in particular) at Kihei Caffe. Makena is a beautiful beach, and very very different from the beach at Black Rock. Makena is wide and lovely and there will be some people there but not many. Black Rock is wide and soft and GREAT for snorkeling but consequently very crowded all the time.

Last time we were there (September), we drove up to Haleakala mid-morning (no sunrise OR sunset), hiked about 5 miles round-trip in the crate (we wanted to be able to look down into one of the many cones), and then drove through upcountry Maui, including Makawao on the way back. We would have eaten at Hailemale store except we were between lunch and dinner, so we ended up eating in Paia.

After dining at Hali'imaile General Store I started making those sashimi napoleans at home.
Crisp fried wonton wrappers serve as platforms for various kinds of seafood.
I use guacamole as the "glue" to hold things together and stack them three layers high. To enjoy them you must crush the tower so everything mixes together.
My daughter always has me make them for her birthday.

Thanks for your help. I have been just a little apprehensive about traveling alone again(it has been about 25 years). For some reason the most apprehension comes from the RtH trip and the hike after the pools. The rest "seems" to be not so bad. Driving several hours alone can be someone disconcerting. I guess that I will be rolling my eyes at myself when I have to take those "rest breaks."

I cannot wait to taste the cuisine ( is spam a sub category of some other sort of cuisine?)

No, spam is a category all it's own: http://www.todayifoundout.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/spam5.jpg. You'll find it in musubi, on breakfast menus, in fried rice...maybe a bit less so on Maui, though.

For those of you that have traveled the Road to Hana and then the hike to the Waimoku falls. Is it too much for a person to accomplish in a single day? Especially when traveling alone?

FYI La Perouse Bay is closed to snorkeling until July 2014.

No I don't think the RTH and then the hike is too much, many people do it. I think it depends on how much you want to stop on the way to Hana (and you should stop as there are some beautiful sights such as Keanae Peninsula, and Three Bears falls) - we did not do the hike when we did RTH, but we did spend some time at Oheo Gulch. A hike would still have been doable. We left for Hana very early am(6am), which gave us very little tourist traffic on the way there. On the way back there was definitely a noticeable difference in traffic but wasn't too crazy. I'd make sure to drive back before it gets dark though. And since you're in Kihei, I'd make it a point to visit Big Beach in Makena. Enjoy your trip!