Goin' South

This morning, we left our condo in Kahana and traveled south. Our plan was to go to the Maui county fair before settling into our condo in Kihei. But, when we got there, the traffic for parking was soooo bad, we decided it wasn't worth it. It looked like it was very well attended, but it was pretty small and the line for parking was at least a mile long. At least, it seemed like it! No, thank you! We'll just keep heading south.


After eating lunch in a big mall that we found, we did a little window shopping. But, I ended up with another swim suit. (I know, I didn't NEED one!), but for 6.99 at 85% off, I couldn't NOT get it. See, you can even find bargains on Maui! :-)

We found our condo with no problem. We really like it. Very comfy and homey and we got another great view out our Lanai!


So, after settling in, we headed south to scope out the beaches for tomorrow!
There are a lot of beaches on Maui, but they are all great for different reasons. Some are good for swimming. Some for snorkeling. Some for fishing. Some for surfing. So, you have to know what you're looking for.

Last Day at the Royal Kahana

We're on our last full day in Kahana on the NW coast of Maui. Next, we're headed down south for four more nights in the town of Kihei. It has been so relaxing and fun being able to spend hot days in the warm ocean or pool. Today, that's exactly what we did. After talking with our grandkids on skype, we took a dip in the pool. We had the whole pool to ourselves! Cool!


Then,we came back to our unit,had lunch and headed out to another beach. This time, we found one right past the Old Lahaina Lu'au property. It was a great swimming beach. We could tell right away because of all the little kids in the water.




So, in and out of the water we went, all afternoon. And,there was so much to watch!

Skypin' on Maui

This morning, we had a Skyping date with our grandkids. What a treat! I just love technology (when it works!).

Old Lahaina Lu'au

Later on in the day, we drove a bit south to the town of Lahaina and experienced our first Lu'au. It was pretty cool! Before we even got through the entrance, we were greeted by traditional Hawaiian music to set the mood for the evening.



It was a really great experience. They treat you like royalty, the roasted pig in the pit, the buffet, the entertainment, the atmosphere....everything was wonderful! Spendy, but we're glad we did it!





We had two bonuses for the evening. One was that we sat with newlyweds, "Rad" Brad and Michelle who just got married on Friday. "Rad" because they misspelled his name on their entrance ticket :-). We found out that he is a Pastor of discipleship at a new church plant in Michigan. Fellow believers! It was cool!


The second bonus...the beautiful sunset right before the festivities began!

A Relaxing Day on Maui

This morning, we drove a little north again to find a place to swim. But, there was a high wind warning and with that comes, "I wouldn't get out in the water if I was you". So, we opted to let others go in and brave it and we just plunked ourselves down in the sand and read. It was nice and we stayed there for about an hour and a half before the sand blowing in our faces forced us to leave...for now.


Hmmm, by these pictures, the surf looks calm...believe me, it wasn't!

Maui-Day 5, Lahaina/North Coast

Today,we did some exploring on the NW Coast. We found a better beach to swim down the road in Kaanapali. The water was so nice and warm. Unbelievable, when you're used to your toes getting numb and falling off in the cold Oregon water!

We also went to the historic town of Lahaina where the world's largest Banyan Tree is. The tree grows humungous roots from every huge branch and then they go straight down into the ground looking like it's a different tree. But it's all one tree. It takes up the whole block!




After coming back to the condo to eat lunch, get all the salt water off of us and relax for a couple of hours, we did some more exploring. This time, we went North. We found a great open air restaurant, The Sea House, right on Napili Bay. Great food and a great view of the bay!



I have to tell you a funny story. Lamar called the restaurant ahead of time to get directions just in case we decided to stop. On the piece of paper, he wrote, turn left at P House Street. When I asked him about it, he said that the person was foreign and it was hard to understand him. When we stopped at this intersection, we both started cracking up because we realized that this was the street we needed. P House Street ended up being Napilihau Street. :-)


Mokuleia Bay-North Coast


Napili Bay Sunset...Good Night!

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Hawaii-Day 4-Kahana, Maui!

Well, we arrived on Maui around lunchtime. We couldn't check into our condo until 3:00, so we spent the next three hours fixed on food. First, we went to Costco, right outside the airport. We will be spending nine nights in condos here on Maui, so we needed to get some things to ease the cost of feeding our faces. -) After that, we ate lunch and then continued on to the town of Kahana. Five minutes before arriving, we spent more food money at Safeway. It had to be done. I'm sure it will save us quite a bit making our own meals, although we're finding that the prices over here really aren't that much different than any restaurants at home! We've been surprised, really. We thought they'd be a lot more expensive. Yay!

Our condo here in Kahana is beautiful. We are beach front with a wrap-around lanai (balcony) since our unit is on the corner. We're already a lot more relaxed here having a condo to spread out and make ourselves at home...and I'm in heaven being able to sit out on our Lanai working on our pictures of the day! Here, I'm working...(really,it isn't work at all) on pictures before the sun sets.


After we got settled in, we went down to get our feet wet. Oh, the water is so nice and warm! Just like pool water. And while we were walking, we got a special treat and got to watch three manta rays playing just feet from the shore. I think they liked all the attention that they were creating.





I think we could get used to this every night!

Our Last Night in Honolulu, Oahu

After driving around the island, Lamar and I walked down to Waikiki Beach, a short few blocks away from our hotel. There was no shade, so we opted to just sit under the shade of the Banyan trees in the picnic area right off the beach. There were a lot more people on the beach this time, being the weekend. But,we found that most people were already on their way out while we were just arriving.

After that, we went back to the hotel room and ate our dinner only to go back out again to see our last sunset on Oahu.



Afterwards, we walked somemore to enjoy the night lights of the city. It is really is a pretty city both in the daylight and after dark.

Hawaii-Day 3-Oahu Drive

We decided that our third and last full day here on Oahu would be better spent driving around to some other part the island. So, that's what we did. We drove west out of the big city and headed north through the center of the island. Our original plan was to go directly to the North Shore and stop at different beaches along the way back using the same road. But, we found out that making the loop around the whole island really doesn't take that long. So, we did that instead. Before we reached the North Shore, we stopped at the Dole Pinapple Plantation. We were planning on staying just a little while just to check things out, but we weren't even allowed on the grounds because they weren't open yet. So, I just took a quick picture of the front and we were on our way. Too bad, because they really had some pretty grounds that would have been fun to explore.


There were many small beaches along the way and they all had their own personality.



Most of the beaches we passed, we just stayed briefly, but we did stay at the Bonzai Pipeline which is where a lot of the surfers go. The waves were actually pretty tame today, but it was fun watching these men and women of all ages in and out of the water.



Once we left the North Shore, we not only saw the beautiful mountains of Oahu, but we also saw lots of...bicyclists on a major race. NOT a good thing.
The highway along the coastline is narrow and windy,alot of it without much of a shoulder for them to get out of the road. So,it ended up being a frustrating drive instead of the leisurely one that we had hoped for. Because they were making it so hard to get in and out of side roads, we decided not to go to some of the places we would have gone otherwise. Stupid race!


After driving back to the hotel, we took a little break and then went again to Waikiki Beach. I'll post more on that tomorrow. Good Night!

Hawaii-Day 2 Hanauma Bay

Need I say more?!