Maui: the Leftovers

We all went home on Day 8, and even though we were there for a full day before going home in the evening, I didn't break out my camera much on the last day.  We did go to the beach and maybe the pool... we packed, and wandered around Lahaina one last time looking for a last minute souvenir.  But other than that, nothing exciting.  Here's the last of my pictures I wanted to share... in no real order.  They are just the extras that didn't make it into other posts, for whatever reason!

Here's the condo complex, my parents consider "home away from home".  Only 14 units... and very low key and quiet.  This was the view from our balcony:

On my first morning I took a picture of this dog running around the property.  How cool, I thought... until the next morning when that dog started howling across the street at 6 a.m. because it was tied up and very UNhappy about the situation.

A cool bird that landed in the shrubs above the pool.  No idea what kind of bird it is, but it looked cool!

Me and my mom!

This is the place you'll find the BEST pork tacos on the island.  They can give Cafe Rio a run for their money.  I swear!  The red sticker on the wall under the sign says, "Don't feed the hippies."  It's funny because Pa'ia is the Santa Cruz-ish hippie town of Maui!

My brother, Adam, napping.  A nap is a treat when you are on vacay, right?

We found the best shaved ice ever!  In Hawaii, they put a scoop of ice cream in the bottom, then shape the shaved ice over the top, then cover it with the special "kalua cream" sauce over the top.  It's to die for... seriously!  Eric's not a fruit lover, so we got the Root Beer Float version... awesome!

I missed adding this cool fish photo to my other posts about snorkeling... so I had to include it here.

I hate asking other tourists to take pictures of us... they never do a good job... even when they look like they know what they are doing.

Me with my second-best-friend.  Eric is my first-best-friend.  (Just in case you were wondering....)

Brother and Sister... how cute! 

This is the guy who we bought our tiki statues from.  This family is LDS and we met them when we visited four years ago.  We bought a small totem pole from them last time, and we had to give them some repeat business and start a collection.  The mom sells crafts in the same shop we got the shaved ice, and the sons all have "stalls" up and down Front Street.  The mom is always so sweet to us, and this visit, she dug out her cooler and gave us all a piece of fresh pineapple from her lunch.  I think it was the best slice of pineapple I've ever eaten!  Right now he's working on the tiki that Adam bought... adding some custom details.  The craftsmanship is unreal.  Absolutely amazing!

So that concludes my trip to Maui.  In the morning, I set off for Girl's Camp with Megan and the other girls from my local congregation.  I'm excited... it's going to be lots of fun.  And cold... very cold... which will be a nice change from what we've been having around here lately!

Aloha!

Maui: Day Seven

On Tuesday morning, we decided to find some Tide Pools that another resident at One Napili Way told us about.  None of us had ever been there before, which is remarkable, because my parents have pretty much seen everything there is to do on this island in all the trips they've made!   I can't give you the exact info on how to find this place but the neighbor got it out of the "Maui Revealed" guide book, and the name of the tide pools started with an "O".  They are north of Kapalua around the area where the highway number changes.  That's all I can give you on the location.  On our way to the tide pools, we stopped to look at Honolua Bay... it's absolutely gorgeous!  This bay is known to have some of the best snorkeling and surfing on the whole island.  Crazy, huh?

Here's the boat that the guys went out to Molokini on.  Apparently, the Trilogy V makes the rounds all over the island!

This is the jungle forest you have to walk through to get to Honolua.  We never made it here for snorkeling, but I think we will make it a priority on our next visit.

We made it to the tide pools... and even though we had to climb down probably 500+ feet over rocky terrain, it was NOT a hike!  (Inside Joke...)   We were there just after low tide... I think during High tide the rock I am standing on will be under water.

We swam with these guys.  I am slowly getting over my aversion to swimming with fish.  I'm finding that if they are "cute" fish, it helps me not be freaked out.  I know... I'm prejudiced and stuck-up.  Ugly fish have feelings too.

Look how calm the water is in the pool with the sea raging just over the rocks.  We could have sat there all day and watched the waves crash over the rocks.  It was cool.

This is the view of the pools from the top of the hill near the road.  Again, I repeat, it was NOT a hike!  ;-)

Tuesday night was Luau night for us.  We splurged and went to the Old Lahaina Luau.  My dad got us front row seats.  It was fantastic food and a wonderful show!

Maui: Day Six

On Monday, we were beach bums... and it was great!

We didn't spot any turtles in the usual places... just some fish.  I did see an eel, (it looked like a diamondback rattler), but by the time I got Eric's attention to come look at it, it was gone. 

We are so accustomed to always being able to find turtles in Napili Bay, that if we don't find them, we know where else to look.  Just south of the bay is another smaller cove called Honokeana Cove.   (Hono means turtle.)Eric and I stayed behind while Adam, Mom and Dad ventured over to the cove.  It's quite a walk over lava rocks and you really need to have water shoes to swim over there because there isn't a "safe" entrance.  (Mom can testify to that as she was stung by a sea urchin getting in the water...)  But, the water was clearer than normal and the turtles did not disappoint!

Maui: Day Five

Sunday was a day to drive around the island and see some stuff you can't see from the beach.  Our first stop was the I'ao Valley.  Just as pretty as the east side of the island, but without the 4 hours of winding road. 

Our next stop was Pa'ia where we had the best Mexican food I've had on Maui.  Milagros has ousted Maui Tacos as our favorite.  The pork tacos were to die for.  Literally.  Then we drove over to the Hoo'kipa Lookout.  Gorgeous views in all directions!

Got wind?

After dinner we went for a sunset walk along the Kapalua Coastal trail.  More gorgeous views....

And last, but not least, I took this one off the balcony from the condo.  Cool, huh?