Maui Get-Away 2012- Parents only!!!

So this year our winter get-away destination was Maui. I have been twice as a kid and have told Byron ALL about it. Finally I was able to convince him we should go. We have decided it is a great place. Great beaches, lots of fun things to do. It's biggest perk though is we always felt safe there. We have been to a few other exotic beach destinations and have never had any problems but Maui just lent itself to feeling very comfortable and relaxed. We didn't feel like we needed to be on our guard all the time. We would definitely take the kids there and could relax. The kids are asking us when they are going to get to go; not this year. But maybe next....or possibly the year after. It is officially on the list!

So you can scan through and see the cool photos if you want the quick tour....the extended version though is for me so I won't forget. We had such a great time. I just love my hubby so much! I have always wondered how I got so lucky in love. He is an amazing father but he is also an outstanding husband. I look forward to our empty nester days with excitement. Hopefully he will still be as fun to hang out with when he is old. :-)

Refer to last year's blog entry for my pep-talk on taking a parent only vacation. I strongly advise it but won't give you my long speech again.

(in the photo above) Notice Byron's bamboo walking stick...I ditched mine way back on the trail. I did use his on the way down though. That stick is the size of a twig off the bamboo trees we saw.

We headed out early for our day trip to Hana. There are lots of things to do on the way and we stopped at nearly all of them. By the time we got to the end we were rushed for time and didn't realize we still had the best for last. So we ran up a two mile hike to make to the 400 foot waterfall. We went through this amazing bamboo forest on the way and passed three other really impressive falls as we were going. The bamboo forest was one of our favorite parts of the trip and I really wish we had a good photo of it. It was so dark in there and we were rushing so fast we didn't stop to adjust the camera for the lighting. The bamboo was impressively mature and there was so much of it. They had literally cut a pathway about 6 feet wide through the middle of the forest and put in a little boardwalk to walk on for some of the way, the rest was mud and rocks. It made hurrying easy as we could quickly run along the slippery boardwalk. It grew very dark in the bamboo forest and felt kind of eery and ominous. Byron joked that he felt like he was in one of the kids wii games, which really described it quite well. So we made pretty good time and a few steps, literally like three steps from the top of the hike my trusty old flip-flop blew it's top. We got up to the waterfall, the big one above and took three photos before we turned around to head back. Byron was worried on the way up that we wouldn't get down before dark and now he was really worried because I was walking on a flop with no flip. So down we headed. I lead the way this time and tried to make good time. The way up I was jumping from rock to rock trying to avoid the mud. On the way down I was jumping from one mud puddle to the next mud puddle trying to avoid the rocks. Honestly I did okay I took both shoes off for most of the hike because being crooked doesn't help things move along quickly. When we got near the end though I put my flop back on and that helped on the gravelly bits. Byron offered to carry me, but seriously we are trying to beat the light so grin and bear it right.
We made it to our car just as it was getting dark. I of course still had to see the seven sacred pools that are also at that stop so we headed down to the pools. I didn't dare swim in them because it was dark pools of water by the time we got there and I am not jumping into any dark water. So we sat for twenty seconds and soaked our feet in the water, hoping for some healing powers to flow through and then limped back up the gravel path to our jeep. That last bit was the worst and I was very grateful to make it to the paved parking lot. Such a fun day!!! Highlight was definitely the bamboo forest but the never forget moment will be the hike down. I was very grateful for my new pair of flip-flops I purchased the next morning at a tourist shop. I have never been a big fan of wearing shoes but it has never felt more comfy than it did that morning.
Sad thing is the real injury of the day was when Byron ducked under a tree as we were hiking through the rainforest and when he came up he had cleared the tree but not the branch on the far side of the tree. He hit his head quite hard and said he felt it crushing his neck bones together. I believe the phrase seeing stars would be appropriate here. We are two weeks out now and he just went to the chiropractor today for an adjustment as it hasn't gotten any better. Hopefully with a few cracks they can whip him back into shape. He was careful not to complain too loudly about his neck as I was hurrying bare footed back to the car.

On our drive to Hana we stopped at lots of waterfalls. This isn't one of them. This is just a weeping cave wall that a nice fella took our photo by. The road to Hana was one of our favorite days. We took our time hiking the rain forest of Maui and enjoying the beautiful and breathtaking views. Luckily we stayed on the road and did not fall off any of the many turns. It makes our little cottonwood canyon look like a stroll in the park. We loved the whole drive to Hana and hated every minute of the drive back. It was dark and rainy and full of peril. Plus it was 40 miles long and I was SOOO tired I could hardly force my eyes to stay open. By the time we got back home I begged Byron to pick up McD's for himself and take me to our hotel to sleep. My sand filled sheets never felt so good!

Can I say LOVED.....I so loved our whale watching trip. We went out with on the Frogman II ship and they did a great job getting us up close and personal with the whales. Quite frankly I don't see that much skill is involved with the captain. You see the air-blows you drive the boat over to where they are and hope for a breach. Well, as you can see....we got one!!!
So we were sitting at the front of the boat and we were tracking this male. We got in as close as we are allowed, 100 yards....then he started circling us, awesome! We were sitting at about ten o'clock. The whale lady tour guide was yelling out, he's at eleven o'clock, (I'm thinking this is so perfect.) he's at one o'clock.....still pretty good line of sight, he's at four o'clock...(dang it I won't be able to see him through the captain's quarters.....so I jump up and make a run for the back of the boat. I dash through and make it to the very rear of the boat just as she is yelling out 7 o'clock and wouldn't you know it this whale leaps right out of the water directly in front of me!!! Even more amazing was that with my chin hanging down at my feet I was still somehow able to draw my camera and get a shot of him in mid flight. My heart was racing and my eyes teared up at the beauty and majesty of what I had just witnessed. I have been chasing whales my entire life. Well, since I was twelve and first went to Hawaii I have wanted nothing more than to see a Humpback whale. I have seen them before, off the coastline in CA.... in Cabo from our beach house....but never in my life have I had an enormously huge male humpback breach out of the water right in front of me. When my mind cleared I was so worried that Byron had missed it, I had after all raced to the back of the boat worrying that I wouldn't be able to see the whale. Thankfully the boat had aligned enough for Byron to see it as well. Funny thing was that his first thought was that somehow I had missed it. Anyway, we both saw it and the moment was amazing. I am addicted now. I will never be satisfied until I can see it again and again and again. Add it to the bucket list. It was an inspiring moment and it took my breath away quite literally. I gasped out loud and started crying it was so beautiful. Then I had to talk myself into not being ridiculous to cry over a breaching whale but....oh my gosh, okay you get it....I hope I never forget that moment for as long as I live.

So there is a fish taco place that Byron frequents for lunch near Sugarhouse called Julio's. He thought they were serving pretty good fish tacos and liked eating there. Thanks to Fred's Mexican Cafe he has now changed his opinion. The fish tacos in Utah are terrible when compared to Fred's. So sad for Byron since we live in Utah and not Maui. Though I could easily be persuaded to remedy that situation. Fred's was so good we ate there a second night just so Byron could be sure the fish tacos were as good as he thought they were. They are....eat at Fred's!!!! I ordered a virgin Pina-Colada at Fred's and Byron and I both laughed when it came. They should have called it the mico-colada as it was so small. We had a pina-colada party at our house on Monday to make up for the sad pina I had in Hawaii.

We headed to Lahaina one afternoon and decided to have gelato's once we got there. Fortunately for us there was a Hawaiian shaved ice shack that drew us in and ummm so good. We were so glad we did. If we weren't in such a rush to get to the airport we would have had a second one after our Burgers in Paradise burgers. The burgers were fairly terrible but the view couldn't be beat. We sat right at the window with the sea lapping at our feet. Fun!

To get to this beach we drove south on North Kihei Rd and just kept going as far as we could, even when the map turned to dot to dots. They have built the road through the middle of a lava flow that has absolutely nothing growing on it for as far as the eye can see. It was very intimidating to be surrounded by such a seriously harsh environment. I challenge one of those survivor shows to get stranded in the middle of a lava flow....there was nothing to survive on out there. Luckily our car did not break down so we had a fun trip just looking at the jaggedy volcanic rock. I guess the last time Maui's volcanoe erupted was 150 years ago so it is all old lava but still young in volcano years.

Wish I could say we stayed at the Grand Waillea but we stayed at the Oceanside Inn a property of Days Inn. Our place was perfectly situated right on the beach, and honestly the best beach we found on Maui for snorkeling and playing in the water. The Grand Waillea was half mile or so down the beach and the grounds there were fabulous! We enjoyed walking around and enjoying the gardens.

After our snorkel trip/boat ride. Happy sailers!!! It is so nice to have time to just focus on us and be a little selfish for a week. Lying on the beach, reading a book and not having to wonder if anyone is going to drowned in the waves. Relaxation defined.

Le Punnini or something close to that. This bay is where the dolphins come to rest at. They shut their brains half off and circle around to "sleep" We found some sea glass along this site which is fairly hard to find in Hawaii. My personal theory is that the lava rock is so abrasive it grinds the sea glass to dust and you don't find much of it around.

These are some shots of Byron and me snorkeling during the week. Underwater camera $16.00, developing a roll of film, $15.00....photos of the turtles....priceless!!! Well almost that does seem a little steep when a cool postcard is only what 50 cents? We had fun anyway chasing down our underwater shots.

Out by Molokini on our boat trip. Good news, the dramamine worked and I did not get sea-sick. Bad news, we saw more turtles outside our hotel than we did in Turtle-Town. It was a fun trip to snorkel out in the wide-open ocean rather than from the sea side. There is a bit of a rush jumping off the side of a boat into the vastness that is scary but was also good.

The resident turtle. We saw this little guy out by our hotel nearly every day when we went out. We even learned where his favorite hidey hole rock is. He is a friendly guy and doesn't mind you swimming right along with him. It is so fun to swim with the turtles. They are really people friendly and so gracefully glide and maneuver through the water. So fun!!! When I retire from being a Mom....(ha, ha does that ever happen) but when I do I plan on being known as the "Turtle Lady" at my beach house community. I will sit by the ocean all night and help the Mama turtles by guarding their nests and making sure the turtles run in the right direction when they hatch. It is the perfect job for me as I can be up all night and not have any guilt sleeping in the next day.

My favorite time of year has come and quickly gone. A week in paradise doesn't last very long. Thank you so much Laura, (Byrons Mom) for watching the kiddos. They had a blast: treasure hunts, string parties, movies, lots of littlest pet shop playing, marbles, etc. etc. etc.....our kids were very spoiled and they loved every minute of Mom and Dad being away. Just tonight Ali said Mom it felt like you guys were hardly gone at all. I felt the same way. Time goes fast when you are having fun! Thank you for taking such great care of our kids! We love you and they most certainly love you.