Tuesday, December 13, 2011

LAST MINUTE MAUI

Big C came home from work last Tuesday and said, 'I don't really have any work the rest of the week and J is going to be gone. Let's go to Hawaii or something.' So we booked a trip that night and left early, early Thursday morning for Maui. What's even more strange is that our good friends that went with us to Hawaii last time, came with us again!
Here I am the first day, fresh off the plane (that's why I'm still in jeans). Leave it to Big C to find a beach first thing that was covered in kiteboarders (see them behind me?). He has a nose for the extreme. He never did get to try it though. The day we had it scheduled, the wind was gone. So sad.


The next day we got up early and drove the road to Hana. It is a skinny, winding road around the southeast part of the island. One lane, so you had to be careful no one was coming the other way before you crossed the bridges. It was an adventure in itself!

At a two-laned point we stopped and Friend C found a coconut. Having seen the coconut presentation at the Polynesian Culture Center nine years before, we were able to husk it and crack it open with the help of the guard rail's I-beam. It was yummy!

We stopped later, at a black sand beach and couldn't get over the black sand's contrast against the blue of the water. You couldn't swim here, unfortunately, because of jelly fish/man-o-wars, but it was gorgeous!

We went on a hike up to see a 400 ft. waterfall. This AMAZING banyan tree was on the way. It has to be the coolest tree I have ever seen!!

There were guavas on the trail the whole way up. Everyone ate them but me. I just couldn't do it. They are slimy with seeds. I do love the flavor though. Guava juice is one of my favorites.

On the way up to the waterfall we hiked through a bamboo forest! It was VERY cool!

We made it to the waterfall and then it started to pour on us. We came back very wet and muddy, but had such a great time!

Snorkeling was another favorite of the trip. We found a place where we saw so many turtles we lost track of how many there were. And the fish were gorgeous, very bright and not afraid of us at all.

It rained a good deal while we were there, but we didn't mind. We were in MAUI! No matter what the temperature was, it was warmer than home! We were just happy to be there. This was a rain forest we visited in the rain!

We had lots of good things to eat. I am not a seafood fan, but had good stuff anyway. This is at Bubba Gumps.

Lahaina was my favorite little town. It had an old Main Street with all the buildings turned into shops and eating places. We just had a great time! Last minute trips are the BEST!

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1 comment:

Christensens said...

Is it possible to be jealous of someone else's tropical vacation when I just had one? I must be one ungrateful person because I am totally envious! Mostly that you got to be somewhere warm whilst the rest of us were freezing. Beautiful pictures too!