Traveling Toward Retirement

We have been planning this trip to Hana for a few days since the McAdams hadn’t been yet. We packed lunches and squeezed into the minivan rental. Hana is a long trip and we needed to get going early! Our first stop was a great waterfall spot where the girls got into the water for a perfect photo opportunity.  There are lots of visuals to see along the road to Hana, but there aren’t always opportunities to park and get out. Many of the bridges have beautiful waterfalls to see for a quick second as you drive over them, but they don’t usually have a walking path or easy access to get into the water. This was a perfect stop for a quick dip, but we also saw these two cuties - who were very clearly social and excited for the visitors   Eventually, we finally found ourselves at the bottom of the road to Hana. We stopped at Hana Bay Beach and had our picnic lunch. We were killing some time before our reservation time at the  Wai’ānapanapa State Park , which means glistening water...

Today started with less drizzle than most of our other days here. My early morning rise was pushing 6am instead of the usual 5am. After a hodgepodge of breakfast leftovers and even a few ribs heated up, we set off for an early morning jaunt to Honokahua Bay where many tour boats take people for snorkel excursions.  It’s only a ten minute drive from our condo in West Maui but the landscape seems to change rather drastically. It seemed much more lush and green on our walk to the bay. Vines were growing in the exterior trunks of trees creating this tropical look that seemed almost artificial.  You have to be careful for dropping mangos because they really do just drop when they are ripe and there were mango pits/seeds smashed all over the walking path. It reminded me of that scene in the movie Castaway where he thinks someone is in the bushes because coconuts keep falling to the ground   The bay water is a warm 79 degrees so wadding in was no problem, but the rocky shoreline...

Today we are rolling into the fourth day of our trip with more drizzling rain. After eating through most of the breakfast leftovers from yesterday many of us ventured out for some snorkeling. Again, turtles. It’s a great cove for turtles!  A little work was done and some showers were taken in preparation for our nice dinner out, but before that we lunched on the ribs leftovers and if you’re sensing a theme here, yes we indeed have lots of leftovers. We are hoping to plow through some of them so we don’t waste any food.  By 1pm we were ready to venture to the other side of the island to the town of Paia where shops and trinkets awaited our open wallets. We found gelato and tried tons of flavors like pineapple upside down cake, pistachio, POG, and even one named Lahaina. They were delicious and it satisfied a few people who love love love gelato.   Our dinner reservations were for Mama’s Fish House which is an island staple for us when we are here. Sadly, it’s a place that...

The 5am wake up today was followed by a surprise to see it raining pretty well. The was a bummer because today was the day that we planned to go to one of our favorite restaurants on the island, The Gazebo. This is literally a gazebo that’s been turned into a very popular breakfast and brunch spot. The line gets long fast, so we opt to arrive before they open and get in with the first seating. So that means at 6:20am walk to the condo complex next door to wait for the 7:30am opening. I’m smiling because we were fifth in line   And this was the line at 7:15am. It’s worth it. Obviously we wouldn’t subject ourselves to standing in the rain for an hour if it weren’t. Luckily for some, they got to wait until 7:25am to head over while others saved spots in line.  The popular items here are the fried rice and the macadamia nut pancakes. I get the eggs Benedict but to each their own! We got the local farmers market but it was much smaller than we remembered and we didn’t find too much...

My morning began at 5am because my body felt like we should watch the sunrise on our first full day on the island. I only wish that I had known how to use the coffee maker so I could enjoy the view from the lanai with a cup of joe.  When others started rousing, we all enjoy some warm brewed Vanilla Macadamia Nut coffee with muffins or eggs, depending on your fancy. Our leisurely morning included a stroll to the neighboring resort to get prescription snorkel gear rented for the week. Did you know they make that stuff? It sure comes in handy for the people who don’t use contacts. Todd was all set up and Papa and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the complex for a quick half mile walk in the hot Hawaiian sun.  A few of us decided to try our hands at ocean snorkeling  and it was the first time snorkeling in the ocean for Macey. It was a fun experience to share and it undoubtedly was something that we do a lot of while we’re here. Our excursion today was the old town of Laha...

Our SF flight was early this morning with alarms going off at 3:45am and a plan to meet in the lobby at 4:15am. But we had a party bus shuttle! Oh joy.  Luckily, we had no hiccups with check-in and getting the magical wristband which allows you to avoid the mandatory quarantine in Hawaii. The flight was uneventful and surprisingly served food (of course it wasn’t tasty, but we were surprised to even be served food in the Covid era).   The downside of catching the 7:15am flight is that you arrive in Maui exhausted at 9:30am and you can’t check into your condo until 3pm. Sooooo we headed out to Iao Valley  which is only about 15 minutes from the airport to check out one of the sights on the island.  It’s often called The Needle and we had a pleasant little hike up a couple flights of stairs to the top where we took the obligatory photos.  We also checked out the Korean garden right down the road, as well as the Portuguese Garden . So many wonderful cultures all mi...