Maui 2018

Keawakapu Beach is pretty much our second home at this point. It would be hard to imagine a trip to Maui where we are not eating our bowls of granola, yogurt and local fruit for breakfast. Followed by a leisurely snorkel to visit the snowflake eel and green sea turtles. I pretty much exist through the Montana winter so I can sit on this beach and soak in the vitamin D for a week.

Ally is in love with geckos and lizards currently and our task was to find her as many as we could and send home photos. The best part was there must have been a bumper crop of geckos this year or I just noticed them more as I had been tasked with this mission. I found more than I have ever noticed before. They are all over our hotel and love the palm trees to the south of our place.

Hawaiian ice at it's best. We are enjoying the lime and strawberry version here. So so delicious. It has coconut ice cream inside and is heavenly when it gets all mushy at the bottom and so sweet. Byron and I had been on a no sugar diet prior to our Hawaiian vacation and were both successful in dropping fifteen pounds before we went. I was wondering if the ice would be too sweet for us but no, easy peasy to jump right back into full sugar overload.

I had listened to a podcast about the Menehune legend a few weeks before coming to Hawaii this year and was just astonished that I hadn't ever heard about them before. There's legend that they build rock enclosures for childrens pools along the beaches and other ancient structures around the islands. It's interesting how when you are tuned into something (aka the day geckos this year also) you start seeing reference to it all around. For the first time I noticed reference to them all over the place.

My niece Amanda, my parents and my sister Sonja were all on the island at the same time as us. We got to steal Amanda and adventure with her often. We'd meet the others for dinner. So, so, so fun to get to have some time with my baby girl. I was thirteen when she was born and pretty much stole her from her mom.

So the fish taco truck south of town only takes cash....urgh. We shared two fish tacos between the two of us. They were good though so we'll be back.

Iao Needle hike. My parents, Sonja and Amanda all came along for this not so strenuous adventure. There's some cool gardens under the needle that show native gardening/cultivation techniques. I found it to be interesting.

So it's a dream of mine to own a VW bus....someday it will happen. This ingenious lady has turned her van into a traveling shop. It has shelves and hangers. She sells clothes and jewelry from her van. This was at a local party they have in the parking lot every Thursday. Fun to shop around and see what the local tradesman/tradeswoman are up to.

More fun at the needles expense.

This is the first LDS chapel on Maui. It's such a cute little white church. They have a bigger building now that they actually meet in but the church keeps up this little tourist site quite nicely.

Hiking with my handsome man through the gorgeous maui forests....couldn't be happier.

My dad is a mile into the bamboo trail hike and he pops open a pepsi out of nowhere. I think this is when I realized his deep devotion to his caffeine habit. He is one dedicated man. He had been hiking with a can of pepsi in his deep cargo short pockets. That can't be comfy.

My dad was reminding me of the turtle in the kung fu panda movies. He was just slowly trudging along making his way in his own time. My dads knees aren't great right now but he isn't ready to give up the best hike on Maui quite yet. I do fear this may be his last year though. It was not an easy hike for him.

So my Dad stopped to ice his knees on the way down from the top. He enjoyed a soak for about ten minutes and then it took quite some effort to extract himself from the stream. There was a fellow traveler (Englishman and his wife) They wouldn't leave us until he was certain my dad was safe and out of the water. It was very kind of them. My dad used the rock as a back brace and slowly wiggled his way out of the stream. He kept his spirits high and had a great attitude though I know he was in quite a deal of pain. This knee of his just won't get better. My dad is as cool as he looks in this photo though.

Amanda and I at the top of the hike!! Under the gorgeous waterfall enjoying the cool non-glacial water falling onto our heads.

We may have done it now. Our girls might never forgive us but by some strange twist of fate Byron and I ended up in Maui with Ally's best friends parents Adam and Bridgette. The girls were beside themselves when they found out we'd be hanging out in Maui without them. Parents only trips are the best!!! We had so much fun though hiking and sightseeing with the Anderson's. They have become some of our closest friends since we moved away from UT. Strange but true. We hope they keep coming to spend time with us in Montana as well but Maui was such a fun bonus. Whale watching was a success!!

Hiking the lava fields with Bridgett, Adam, Byron and Amanda. How are all my favorite people in Maui at the same time. It's no wonder I have a love affair with this island!!

Do you see this handsome beard growing on this man of mine. A week at sea will do it.

This is a replica of what a ship would have looked like when the islanders were traveling to and from the islands in the early days. We got to go onboard and have a look at the living conditions and such of a team who just used this ship to travel around the world. Very impressive. Also, there's no loo, you know powder room, water closet, bathroom....they just hang it over the edge and hold on tight. I can't even imagine! This is why I was born in this century.