We are back from Maui and it was great! Our photos are now online at http://thecones.shutterfly.com. It's the same password as last time. If you can't remember it, leave a comment or e-mail me and I'll e-mail it to you. We stayed at the ResortQuest Mahana and it was fabulous. The view was unbeatable - a whole wall in our living room and another wall in our bedroom were windows, and we had a great balcony with a table and chairs. On our first morning there, we woke up to a few rainbows in the sky and the sound of the waves in our ears, and saw a seal, spinner dolphins and whales within 20 minutes of each other. That alone made our stay there more than worthwhile.
The first day, we went to a time share presentation because they gave us a free snorkel tour. It was less than 90 minutes long, and it was a pain, but we decided it was worth it. That afternoon we checked out a beach at Napili. It was rough and we tried to snorkel but mostly laid around on the beach before going back to our room to shower before heading to dinner at Whaler’s Village. The restaurant we were trying to go to was closed for a private party, so we just grabbed something at the food court because we were so wiped out we didn’t want to look for something else.
We decided to work with our jet lag and we went to bed early because we had to get up at 5 a.m. for our snorkel tour to Molokini Crater and Turtle Town the next morning. We ended up using that strategy for the rest of the trip because we wanted to do a lot of snorkeling and with the strong wind in the afternoon there, it's better to go early in the day. We were hoping it’d help cope with the jet lag when we got home, but so far that hasn’t worked out.
The snorkel tour Wednesday was great. We saw many different kinds of beautiful fish and a turtle, and the view around the island was fantastic. We got back around 1 and relaxed in our room for a few more hours. I spent most of it looking out the window, which paid off because I saw some seals and more whales. That evening we went to a luau at the Hyatt, which was all right but not spectacular.
Thursday morning we set out to drive the road to Hana. It was an amazing day, but I think I liked it more than my husband, who heroically drove the narrow, windy roads in our huge boat of a rental car. We drove through the rainforests, with amazing views of the mountains out one side of the car and the ocean out the other side. We saw waterfalls, Waianapanapa State Park, which looks like the moon with its lava tube and rocks and black sand beach, and Ohe’o Gulch, with the Seven Sacred Pools. It was all stunning and it seems like there are about a zillion little ecosystems on the island. When we got back to our room, 11 hours later, we were tired and hungry, and I was craving teriyaki chicken, so we ordered Chinese delivery.
After cramming so much into the early part of the week, we decided to take it easy on the weekend. Friday morning we went to Black Rock to snorkel, which was great, then spent the afternoon playing shuffleboard and lying by the pool at the hotel next door, which was way better than our small, boring pool. Friday night we had a romantic dinner at an Italian place called Giovani’s. Saturday morning we snorkeled at Kahekili Beach Park, which had great coral and fish, and did the pool and shuffleboard again in the afternoon. That night we ate our leftovers from the week and watched the sun set and the stars come out from our balcony. Sunday our flight wasn’t leaving until 9 p.m. but we had to check out of our hotel at noon. I was sunburned and beat up from the saltwater, and we knew we couldn’t shower so we took the morning easy and had a leisurely breakfast and lunch before checking out. We spent the afternoon at Kahekili Beach Park, playing shuffleboard at our hotel and then had an early dinner at a great place – Aloha Mixed Plate, which I wish we’d have found earlier in the week so we could have gone again – before heading to the airport.
Overall it was a fantastic trip. If we'd have known what to expect with our room, we might have packed a little differently, and I learned some things I hope I remember for the next time we travel. We knew we'd have a kitchen and that Maui is expensive, so we brought a few things to eat (bagels, snacks, etc.). We also brought a lot of clothes, and found that we had a washer and dryer in our suite. If we'd have realized we'd have free, convenient laundry and that the groceries at the Star Market across the street literally cost four times what we pay at home, we probably would have packed fewer clothes, a small box of laundry detergent and more groceries. I definitely recommend staying someplace with a little kitchen if you are in Maui (or any touristy place for that matter) on a budget and/or don't want to have to eat out every time you're hungry. We had a lot of exhausting days in the water and sun, so it was nice to be able to come home, throw together a sandwich and hit the sack. Also, it made packing a lunch to take to the beach or on the Road to Hana drive easier than having to stop to pick up sandwiches somewhere.
The other thing I'll do differently if I go back to Maui again is I will spend a night over in Hana to break up the road to Hana drive, have more time to check out more of that side of the island, do one of the longer hikes at Ohe’o Gulch and get a break from touristy West Maui.
Yesterday was my first Mother's Day. My husband is going to San Diego for the week and I'm going to Pennsylvania, so we spent a lot of time together over the weekend. Saturday and yesterday we went to the dog park at Bull Creek with our pups, Peepa (the big black dog on my right) and Matty (the little black and white dog standing on the rock to my left). They swam a lot, and we had a great time. It was beautiful - I've never seen the creek that full of water. There were people, dogs and waterfalls everywhere. It was gorgeous and fun. Last night we went to see the Austin Symphonic Band at Zilker Park, which was a nice outing with the picnic and the dogs. We didn't do anything fancy this weekend, and it occurred to me how cool it is that while anyone can take you to a fancy restaurant or something, when you're with the right person, you can have fun no matter what you're doing or where you are. It's really nice to have that kind of comfortable relationship with somebody.
