A Visit From Charlie

Of course, a visit from Charlie means a visit from my parents... but lets face it mom and dad, the dog is the superstar in the family right now!

While they were here, we swam...

and tackled a few painting projects....

and hung out and rested....

and eventually said good-bye.  We had a great visit, which included a trip to the wave pool, for which I don't have any pictures.  Uh-hum... cough... mom...

Until next time....

Girls Camp: Long Valley

I have been trying to get to Girls Camp for years.  I LOVE going camping, and I love hanging out with the teenage girls in our church... so what better way to spend a few days, right? 

I've also been dying to visit Long Valley.  It's a piece of property our church owns up in the mountains on the Mogollon Rim.  (Mogollon is pronounced Mon-gee-on).  It's at 8000 feet, in beautiful ponderosa pine country with no cactus in sight!  Yeah!

Proof I was there!  This was the first night, while I still had good hair... thank goodness the first day was the hottest, so I could spend the rest of the time with baseball caps or beanies on my head and be comfortable!

This gully runs the whole length of the valley.  It's really beautiful!

I loved being at camp with Megan and all the other young ladies from our local congregations.  We have some fabulous girls in our ward and stake.  I was so impressed with their testimonies, their leadership skills and their spirit of fun and creativity.  I loved seeing their "true selves".... make-up-less, cell-phone-less and relaxed... just up there to have fun.  I am hoping to weasel my way into the pool for the 4th year hike next year... now that would be even better!

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!