We’ve made it back from Maui in one piece! The fuzz butts survived a whole week without mom and dad and were great for the sitter.

While it’s only been one day back on Oahu, we managed to get the house back in order relatively quickly. I spent the day doing laundry and going through the hundreds of photos I took while we were away. Just when I think I’m done looking at all the pictures, I find others to look through. We really had a great week away.

Day 1: Arrival on Maui and Ziplining.

We took Island Air from HNL and made the quick hop to Kahalui, Maui. When we checked in for our flight, we were asked if we wanted to catch an earlier flight at no charge, so naturally, we jumped at the chance.  Once we arrived in Maui, we headed up to Haiku to go ziplining with North Shore Zipline Co. I’d never done it before, but the Mister assured me it was a great time, so I gave it a go. Boy was he right! It was a fabulous rush and our guides were AWESOME (shout out to Pirate, PawPaw, and Maverick).

We ended the travel day with some amazing food and tasty local brews at Maui Brewing Company’s Pub near our hotel.

Day 2: Snorkeling at Molokini Crater and Turtle Town.

We got up bright and early on the second day to hit the harbor. We hopped on the Quicksilver and boated out to Molokini Crater to check out the amazingly clear waters. It was by far the best snorkeling we’ve done so far. The water was so clear and the coral wasn’t right up against us. Though it never happens, I got really seasick between Molokini and Turtle Town. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt ill on a boat. It left as soon as it came on. I think it had more to do with that time of the month than the boat ride. Either way, I felt better before we left Turtle Town. I saw one turtle while snorkeling there, but once it was spotted everyone swarmed. I wasn’t going to fight with 50 other people to see a turtle. I can snorkel with those any day I want at Lanikea, without a boat ride! Once we got back to dry land, we headed just down the road from our hotel to get a couples massage. Boy did that feel absolutely amazing after a long morning in the water. The gals at Zensations in Lahaina are amazing.

Day 3: Historic Lahaina and Natural Wonders

On our third day, we got suckered into watching a Wyndham timeshare presentation in the morning. Since my parents have one already and have never used it in nearly 10 years, we had no desire to even consider buying in to that. The $150 off of our outings was well worth it. We did decide to try the Discovery package so we could try out the resorts on the Big Island and Kauai later in the year. It’s a neat concept, but we aren’t in any position financially to spend that much. After the presentation, we checked out some of the historic buildings in Lahaina, the former royal capitol of Hawaii.

Then we took in the sights at Jodo Mission. I just love the giant Buddha. I have a number of photos of this guy.

Then we drove along the northwest side of Maui to see the Dragon’s Teeth. Here, lava met the ocean waves when Maui was forming and created jagged sculptures as it cooled. We had to skirt the Ritz Carlton’s golf course, which is probably the closest I’ll ever get to the Ritz.

We continued up the road a bit to the Nakalele Blowhole where waves crash into the underground lava tube and water shoots up through a collapsed hole.

In the same area, we found the famous heart shaped hole in the rock. It seems to have weathered down slightly so the heart wasn’t very heart-shaped. Still, it was pretty neat!

Our final stop of the day was at the Olivine Tide Pools. We didn’t feel the need to trek down the steep hillside (mostly because we didn’t want to hike back up), but we got to see how cool they look from above.

Day 4: Road to Hana

We decided to sleep in a bit and take on the (in)famous Road to Hana. This narrow, windy, often one laned road snakes from Kahalui to Hana. It passes through rainforests, rocky cliffsides, and loads of waterfalls. It was a thrilling ride, but a lot of the scenery can be seen in other parts of the world. It was neat to see the waterfalls so close to the road though. On the way to Hana, we skipped all the stop overs so we could get to the Hana Lava Cave. This lava tube stretches some 27 miles all the way to the ocean. It was a cool self-guided jaunt through about half a mile of the cave.

On the way back, we hit all the cool stops we passed.

Day 5: Lana’i Jeep Expedition

We decided to make a day trip to Lana’i to see what the Valley Isle had to offer. We took the ferry and rented a 4×4 Jeep to explore. Thank goodness the Mister has experience with off-roading. We ended up on some pretty crazy (and sometimes scary) trails. We got to see so much of that tiny island, including: Shipwreck Beach, Keomoku Village Church, Pu’u Pehe, and the Garden of the Gods.

We came back and chowed on some Bubba Gump’s before heading back to the hotel.

Day 6: Haleakala,Pipiwail Trail, Pools of Ohe’o, Tedeschi Vineyard, and Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm

The day before the last day was jam-packed! We started out bright and early to arrive at the top of Haleakala Crater before sunrise. We left our hotel about 3am. The sunrise in the “house of the sun” was stunning. It’s truly a magical sight.

We took the back way to Hana (shhh…don’t tell our rental company!) to the other side of Haleakala National Park to the Pools of Ohe’o and the Pipiwai Trail. Since we arrived so early, the Seven Sacred Pools weren’t packed to the gills with people yet and the trail was essentially empty.

As I am not in the best of shape and the Mister could do 4 miles in his sleep, we were apart for most of the trail. It was an amazing trek. So diverse and the falls at the end were SO worth it. Plus, finishing before 10am made it much less hot and uncomfortable.

After conquering the trail, we headed back along the Pililani Highway, braving the rocky cliffs and blind one lane corners (our rental car company REALLY didn’t want us to try this).

We rewarded our hard work with a wine tasting at Tedeschi Vineyards. Pineapple wines are astounding! We bought three different bottles to bring home.

Our last stop of the day was at Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm. I envisioned rolling fields of purple flowers. This was not the case, but it was a beautiful stopover. The smell alone was so relaxing.

Day 7: Iao Valley State Park and Home Again

Our final day in Maui was our least busy. We slept in and checked out of our hotel at 11am. We spent part of our day checking out all the unique touristy shops in Lahaina. Then we traveled up to Wailuku and checked out the Iao Valley State Park, home of the Iao Needle.

The rest of the day was spent leisurely wandering Kahalui, waiting to go to the airport. We hoped we’d be asked if we wanted to catch an earlier flight, but no such luck this time.  We made it home with no broken wine bottles and our house wasn’t too destroyed from our wild fuzz butts (our sitter is absolutely fabulous–she loves these furkids).

I’m not sure when I’ll be posting next as we have nothing planned for the rest of leave. Hopefully soon I’ll have more fun news or at least some hometown tourism snaps.

Until then,

Cheers!

-A.xoxo

Back again.

Not a whole lot has been happening since the last post.

Went to the social that Friday evening. Met some of the other wives and got to flex the creativity muscle.It was a decent time, but there are a few wives that remind me why I rarely go to the FRG meetings. Drama seems to follow them around. No thank you! But I’ll keep going. We have a paint party coming up in a few months and lord knows I’m stoked for that.

My anniversary came and went. The Mister was still on “no phones” so I didn’t hear from him until a couple days before he got back. But on the upside, I did receive my gift in time! It’s gorgeous. I got him the complete reboot series of Doctor Who (1-8). I’m such a nerd, but I love it.

On Memorial Day, I went to the floating lantern ceremony again. I got to float a lantern this year! It was a great time. Took another wife and we had a blast. It was nice to get out and do something.

With the creative juices flowing, I got to try out the paint and new glass drill bit. The results were great! I love the wine bottle lamp I started. I’m excited to get the lamp shade decorated and the lights put in. I have a few other bottles prepped and ready to go. Can’t wait to see how they turn out.

Hopefully the next time I update, I’ll have a bunch more photos to put on here. We take off to Maui on Monday. We’ve got ziplining, snorkeling at Molokini, sunrise at Haleakala, hiking the Pipiwai Trail, the road to Hana, 4x4ing Lana’i, and some historical Lahaina tours planned. Busy busy, but this should be a once in a lifetime trip (since the Mister says we’ll never come back here once we PCS).

Until next time.

Cheers!

-A. xoxo