Maui Day 6, Snorkeling

A perfect paradise day dawned today, so far that is how they have all been. Glorious!! First day of summer, had we been home I am sure we would of been wondering if summer was ever coming, but here we have been enjoying it every day. Heather and the kids arrived on time on Monday, we got them settled in and acquainted with the condo then it was off to eat. Two growing boys are ALWAYS hungry. We took them to an open air place we had found and liked called Lulu's. Spent some time in the water and exploring then of course it was time to eat again. In Kona, our last trip to Hawaii we all loved Bubba Gumps so we headed there for dinner, not the one in Kona but the one in Lahina. Filled ourselves with shrimp, then stopped at the ice cream shop and got ice cream. Not, me I had too much dinner.
The next day we decided to attempt snorkeling again at Black Rock beach, the spot of the key incident!! Everything went well, we kept the keys in a bag and one person stayed at the beach with the stuff, no one lost keys. LOL. The water is gorgeous, turquoise blue and so clear it is unbelievable. I went in the water but the surge is pretty strong and it is hard to stand when the water rushes back out and not being a great swimmer I decided I would wait for a calmer place to snorkel but everyone else saw beautiful fish, Tyler saw a sea turtle swim right by him.
Tyler and Brandon played in the surf and were having a great time letting the waves wash them in and out. I tried but my knee took a beating and I opted to just stay on my feet as best I could. Brandon said to me, as he is laughing with joy, "Grams, this is the best time I have ever had in my life." Oh, be still my heart, what great words for a grammy to hear. Love you all so much, and am so happy you are here to share this with us. Not sure what is on tap for today. Mornings start a bit slowly, Maui time ya know, no rush.

                                            Kid first wade in the ocean by the condo.

                                          Tyler at Kaanapali, Black Rock Beach snorkeling spot.

                                     The gorgeous turquoise water at Kaanapali

                                                   Tyler at Tiki Lounge

                                                   Brandon at Tiki Lounge

                                         Heather, Harry and I

                                              Margaritas at the Tiki Lounge

                                                     Parrots Beak flower.

After all the exercise in the water of course it is time to eat again, we came back and got cleaned up and headed into Keihi to the Tiki Lounge for pizza, well the kids and Heather had pizza, I opted for grilled shrimp and Harry had some amazing fish tacos. Then off to the grocery store to fill the cupboards and try not to have to take out a loan. Food is very expensive. Spent what was left of the evening relaxing with a glass of wine and tv. Kids wanted to swim, so they all went to the pool and took a walk before bedtime. Carl will be here tomorrow, I am sure they are all anxious for daddy to get here.
I have only taken photos with the iPhone, so these are snapshots of the first two days the kids are here.

Maui Day 5, 'Ioa Needle Hike

We woke, early again, to a little different weather, more clouds and a bit more humid. We had put off the sunrise trip to Haleakala for a weekday hoping there will be less of a crowd. Instead we had read about an easy hike to 'Ioa Needle in the mountains out of Wailuku on the other side of Maui. Sounds far but it is all of 8 miles I think. It is a popular and easy place to get to and the hike amounts to a walk up to the observation deck and and around the paved trail along the stream. Regardless it is beautiful. The mountains are high pointed peaks the needle itself sits alone more or less and is over 2200 ft tall. The mountains are taller.
I had told myself that this trip to Hawaii I was coming to do more relaxing and less photo taking. I would have been really upset with myself if I had not brought the camera, there are so many sights to see here that being a photographer you just have to be out there. So so much for just laying on the beach and soaking up the sun. Funny how our priorities change as we get older. When I was younger and came to Hawaii that is all we did pretty much. Had to have that tan. Not so much anymore.
On another note, Harry read that you should not take rocks from the island as Pele frowns on it and bad luck befalls those who dare!! Hmmm, I got to thinking about the key thing and wondered if the 2 rocks that I took from the volcano had anything to do with it. Coincidence?

 'Ioa valley peaks

 Looking toward the west side of Maui from the valley

 "Ioa Needle

 The rugged mountains of the valley. Below, one more of Haleakala

In just a little over an hour Heather and the kids get here, I am so excited. All of us have been planning and looking forward to this trip for at least 6 mo. It is finally all here. JOY.

Maui Day 4, OPPS

Ok, so one of the things that they told us at the car rental place was, "If you get the key wet, it will cost you $250.00". Yesterday we had decided to go to Black Rock beach in Kaanapali to snorkel, we had heard it was great. In the car we asked ourselves, what the heck do we do with the keys while we are in the water? Not wanting to leave them in the bag on the beach. I said we would just have to go in one at a time. With that Harry put them in his swimsuit pocket. Can you see where I am going with this?

                                         Cheeseburgers In Paradise

                                                          Beautiful Hanging white flowers, don't know what they are.

                                              Lahina, Maui HI. Below, sunset from the condo

I had a bit of trouble getting my mask adjusted, and since Harry was anxious to get in the water I told him just go I'll figure it out. Well, as I am sitting there a horrid thought came to mind where the hell did he put the keys? I tore the bag apart hoping against hope they were in there.............................NOT. They are still in his pocket!!!! He is swimming in the water of course and I tear down the beach hoping I can get him before he swims off and I can't yell at him, luckily he is headed back in cuz he forgot his flippers. I tried to keep my voice calm as I yelled "Where the HELL are the keys? You guessed it!!!! Needless to say we panicked, how do we get in the car if the remote doesn't work? No door locks on the car on the outside.  He told me to wait and he would go back to the car, so I waited and waited and waited, finally decided I better go see what happened or where the heck he was. Luckily, the remote worked once so the car was unlocked but he couldn't chance locking it to come get me so good thing I got upset waiting and went back. Needless to say our day was pretty much shot! All we could think about was that $250. we'd be out. Desperate, we tried to think what to do, go to the airport and confess pay the piper, try drying it out and hope for the best? We decided to try an new battery first since it is a common type and we found one at Longs. There must be a God in heaven cuz the darn remote is working fine now. Don't know if the car rental has a way of telling but if so I guess we fess up and pay. Tried to salvage the rest of the day by sitting by the pool and taking a swim in the beach by the condo. Needless to say no photos from yesterday. I am posting some from a few days ago.

Maui Day 3,Haleakela

                                         Pack horses coming out of the crater.

                                           Silversword plant, these actually look like someone sprayed the silver.

                                          Looking down into the volcano

                                          The cinder cones in the volcano

                                         On the way down.

                                          Shifting sands trail, believe me it was. Pic Below, Harry on the road up, we were above the clouds looking down on the island.

OMG, yesterday was such an experience. We want to see sunrise from the Haleakala Volcano but decided to drive up in the daylight to see how long it took and to scope it out. We knew it would be cold and we did not bring anything warm to wear so had to find a hoodie somewhere, luckly K Mart had some. I had remembered that it was a very windy place from my last visit to Maui but nothing, not even memories prepares you for the WIND. You can barely stand up and walk it blows so hard. But oh what a sight. You drive to the top and at the observation deck it is 10,023 ft above sea level. In total, counting what is beneath the sea Haleakala is actually 600+ ft. higher than Mt. Everest. There are trails all the way thru the crater to the end of the island 13 miles total,camping sites and cabins down in the middle of the crater. We took a short hike into the crater to get a closer view of the cinder cones. It is pretty eerie being in the middle of a volcano, albiet, an extinct one. It was so worth the effort, an experience not to be forgotten. Even tho' I complained the whole climb out LOL. The wind, luckily down in the crater was a lot less than on the top. Looking forward to seeing the sunrise, hopefully tomorrow morning. Even tho' it means getting up at 3am to get there in time. We have been told it is not to be missed. If the photos we saw in the visitors center are any indication, it is true. They are stunning.

Maui Day 2

                                                       Drinks at the Barefoot Bar

                                             One of the large koi in the pond at a small shopping mall in Keihi

                                                  Banyon tree in Lahaini planted in 1864

                                                   Cheeseburgers in Paradise......yummy

                                                            Harry's new friends from Dallas TX, they all had the same hat from the ABC store.

Woke up early because of the time difference so it has seemed like a very long day. Today was a day to explore and find some of the beaches that we want to snorkel at. Headed back into Keihi to do a bit more shopping, looking for snorkel gear and a few other things we needed. Took photos of the BIG Koi that were in the pool at the little mall where we had dinner yesterday.  Headed to Lahaina to see old town and have lunch at Cheeseburgers in Paradise and see the HUGE banyan tree in the park, amazing, it is so big. Walked from one end of town to the other to walk off the hamburger from lunch!! Still feel bloated and full. UGG. Headed to Kaanapali to see if I could find the beach side barefoot bar that I remembered from a trip to Maui yrs. ago. After not too much walking thru the Whalers Village Mall we found the Hula Grill where the bar was. So nice to sit by the beach with my toes in the sand. There is a great snorleling beach not far from there that we are hoping to go back to tomorrow. We walked on the beach but the wind was blowing so hard that the sand was blasting across the beach and actually hurt when it hit us. Little bit of rain but not enough to actually call it rain, not like home. All in all a very busy day and both of us are feeling exhausted, I think more from the heat and humidity than from activity. It is 11:50 pm at home and only 8:50 here, it is going to take a few days to get used to that. But I think I can manage to do that. Anxiously waiting for Heather and family to arrive next week.