Maui

I don’t write except for big events now apparently. We went on a much needed, well deserved vacation to Maui. We went with Vicky and Eric whom we’d gone with before, and their friends, Clint and Julie whom we’d never met. We stayed in 5b which is where we stayed with Hannah and Kent when we’d taken the whole family.

The flights there went well. It’s a couple hours to Phoenix then 5 plus to Maui. Scott and I watched movies and I did jigsaw on my iPad and also read from kindle on my phone. We got there at about 3:30. We rented a wagoneer, big enough for six adults and all our luggage. Cramming in the groceries we’d stopped at Costco for was tricky but it worked.

The roads to west Maui from the airport were familiar to me now. It was always exciting to see the ocean, then super sad to see the pictures of the lives lost in Lahaina. We could tell there had been more building along the road through Lahaina.

Pulling into Maui Sands felt like home. My home away from home. We put our luggage outside our rooms that weren’t ready, dug out some shorts to replace long pants and then gathered by the pool. We ate snacks and drank cocktails while we waited. We were pretty exhausted.

After we finally got to go into our rooms and unpack a little, we all walked over to The Fish Market to grab food. I had fish and chips and the fish of the day was Ahi. Vicki and Eric walked down to the bbq place. We all met up on the lanai at 5b. This is where we met nightly for cocktails and snacks. I bought the premixed Mai tai I always get when there and two big bags of toffee and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Yum. We all turned in early the first night. I loved sleeping with the sounds of the ocean waves crashing against the sea wall.

The next morning, I stumbled out to the kitchen and Vicki had already walked to Times grocery store for creamer then stood in line at Papi’s cinnamon rolls and made coffee. The cinnamon rolls were huge and the best I’d eaten in my entire life. We sat in our shorts and t shirts with no shoes or socks and watched for whales.

The whales were abundant on this trip. We saw many each time we glanced out. We’d see either a blow spout or a tail coming out or the fins. One time sitting right there on the lanai, we watched a whale go right up to a kayak then circle it. What a life changing thing for those people!

That first morning we spent sitting on the lounge chairs reading. The boys decided to go for a walk so we went with. We ended up walking all the way to whaler’s village and back! Six miles!

That night we walked to the food trucks after our sunset cocktails. I bought the grandgirls some flower barrettes from a gift stand. I ordered a burger and truffle Parmesan fries. I was a bit intoxicated. A couple nights we sat in the lanai after dinner and played a dice game, Farkle. We laughed quite a bit.

One of the afternoons, we went on a sunset cruise. We parked at Whaler’s village and the catamaran picked us up from the beach there. That was tricky. We drank and whale watched and ate an amazing gourmet dinner. They took pictures of us. We saw tons of whale fins and blow spouts. Then when I was standing at the back of the boat with the photographer next to me, a whale stuck his whole head out of the water and then his tail. It was the best whale sighting I’d ever had.

The next day we went to Kapalua Bay beach. I wanted to snorkel so I walked down past where the waves were breaking but I could still stand. I wanted to test my face mask so I stuck my face in the water. And right there was a sea turtle! A baby! The babies are still pretty big. He was coming toward me so I kept moving back. We aren’t allowed to be that close to them so I kept moving and he kept coming. It was so cool.

We ate pizza at Dolly’s and shopped nearby and walked home through the neighborhoods. We sat on another nearby beach, Pohaku Park and drank and read all day, just us girls.

We went with Trilogy on a snorkel sail. It was windy and rough but we did attempt to snorkel. I’d been in about three minutes when I came out to adjust my mask and drank a bunch of water so I got out. I spent time on the bridge chatting with Captain Nick and he let me drive the boat. Then they put the sails up which was super cool. Nick told me he lost his house in Lahaina and everything in it in the fire. He said the money to rebuild is just not coming through. We saw the Banyan Tree and chatted with a security guard who said he was the Lahaina Ambassador and we were welcome there. He said we brought positive energy and asked us to pray for the last souls he believed were still wandering there.

We drove one day to South Maui Gardens. I wasn’t a fan of the drive but was pleasantly surprised by the garden. We saw a giant turtle and exotic birds and got to hold them. Scott and I ate shaved ice. It was good, mango, but not as good as the pineapple shave ice in the strip mall closer to us.

On the way back, we ate at Leona’s. I had beef pot pie and split a chocolate macadamia mini pie with Scott. I wish I’d gotten one just for me. It was amazing. We also loved watching the roosters.

We ate at the fish market and L and L bbq. Ahi fish and chips and teriyaki Hawaiian lunch plate. I bought chocolate and toffee covered macadamia nuts and we killed two large bags of them. We always shop at the ABC store a half clock from us.

And we drank. Mai tai’s, canned cocktails, tequila and orange juices, Kona beer.

On the last day I got stung by something at the pool and had a reaction to it that wasn’t fun. And the long flight home is never fun.