Maui 2010 Day 6

Happy 20th Birthday to Brittany! We started the day off by getting a massage...she made me go too.  I know....sacrifices.  This was taken after our side by side mssages.  Can you tell we are really really relaxed?!

We spent time on the beach...of course...mostly snoozin. :-)

Later on, we went up north again to Lahaina and had dinner at the Melting Pot.  Yum!

Afterwards, we just walked around town.  We stopped by the Old Lahaina Lu'au grounds after one of their Lu'aus and took some pictures since it was so interesting and pretty.  Brittany had some fun with it.

At the end of the evening, we went back to the condo and had a piece of birthday cake and just relaxed.  I think Brittany will remember this birthday for sure.

Maui 2010 Day 5

We weren't planning on going on the road to Hana again, but left it up to Brittany.  So, we ended up just driving that way with the intention of just "playing it by ear" on how far we'd go and when we'd turn around.
Another gorgeous day to enjoy another part of the island.

The mountains that are on the middle of the island are so beautiful. The clouds hugging them all week made them even more beautiful, I think.

There are lots of sugar cane fields on the way...

The old Cemetaries along the Maui shores are....ugly.  Very different than we would have here.  No grass, just lots of sand and tomb stones.  And if you're lucky, a tree.

Our first stop along the road to Hana was the bamboo forest.  You just park along the road (which may or may not be too safe).  We didn't stay very long, so we didn't get to the big bamboo because it was pretty muddy and we didn't want to leave our car there too long, but it was pretty cool.  Here is just a sample of all the windshield glass along the road where we parked...

Here is a couple of the beautiful views along the road to Hana.

About a third of the way down the road you can turn off on a side road that takes you to the little town of Ke'anae .  It has the oldest church on the island.  The shoreline here is all lava rock and is just beautiful.

That's as far as we went this time...Brittany wasn't too keen on the windy and "very dangerous" road to Hana.  On our way back, we saw lots of activity in the waves.  Fun to watch!

After we got back home, once again we regrouped and headed for our favorite beach.

Maui 2010 Day 4

We knew that when we went back to Maui,  we would do the Molokini Snorkel Cruise again.  But, this time we decided to take a different boat, which was the Four Winds II.  It was nice to have the variety.  My sister, Lori took this one when they went seven years ago, so we decided to give it a try too since it got such rave reviews!  This one had a bigger glass bottom (room) for viewing, which is where we spotted the Ray which was very rare, so we heard from the staff on the boat.  Morning cruises are the best ones because the winds are usually calmer in the morning.  That means, you start pretty early.  We got there at 7 a.m.  The Bay there is the 2nd windiest bay in the world!  And it didn't let us down.  We almost thought that we wouldn't be able to go to Molokini Crater because it was that windy, but it died down by the time we left.  Yay...that would have been really disappointing!

Sunrise from the bay over the mountains of Maui.

Four Winds II

Lamar and Brittany in the water.

The view that we had from the water toward the boat.

Here are some shots underneath the water.  We splurged and rented one of their digital underwater cameras that came with unlimited pictures and a disc.   Thought it was worth it...this time. :-)

It sure was cool swimming around with the fishies.

Lamar got cold after awhile, so he went back on the boat.  But, Brittany and I stayed in the water.  Who would have thought that two girls who are a little afraid of the water, would be one of the last ones OUT of the water!

Sea Turtles!

Back to the harbor...

and back to the wind!

After our snorkel adventure, we went back to the condo, regrouped and  headed back to the beach!  What can I say?

Maui 2010 Day 3

On our third day, we drove up north a ways and stopped in Lahaina, the oldest town on the west side of Maui. The Harbour is beautiful and peaceful.

In Lahaina, is the famous Banyan tree.  It takes  up the whole block.  These trees grow roots from their branches and then it makes additional trees.  It's pretty amazing.  We were here on a Sunday, so there was a market going on underneath it all, which kind of took away from its glory.  Behind the lady in the middle is the original trunk of the tree.  Everything else going down to the ground are roots and babies. Kind of creepy looking, but very cool!

We have found that the sunsets are always so beautiful in Lahaina.  Although, they are tend to be gorgeous wherever you are on Maui!