For this final post about our Maui trip, Vicki suggested I put up the contents of her travelogue emails that were sent to a select few while we were way. Here, then, is the 2-week trip through Vicki's eyes:
Vicki's March 2nd 2016 Update:
Thankfully we had a great, uneventful drive to Detroit on Monday after dropping off Jonesy with Susan. One last pet and hug. Then we sat in cat hair, but had a good drive to airport hotel. Only one wrong turn as I tried to check us into the Courtyard Marriott rather than the Marriott which was one hotel down.
Neither of us slept much on Monday night....we think 2 1/2 hrs followed by a
long stretch of wakefulness, then perhaps another 2 hrs. Ah well...too excited I
guess. Breakfast in the hotel by 830, then the 9:30 shuttle to the airport and
the fun began. By late afternoon when we landed in Seattle we were both ready
to call it a day, but not yet! Food court dinner in the airport, lots of
walking about, one gate change which required a tram to get us to another
terminal, and then we waited....airplane lavatory problems...oh my!
Finally in the air about an hour later than planned, with a wicked headwind, and turbulence most of the way....seat belts on folks! And comfort class just barely, barely was an upgrade. Matt's knees were touching the seat back in front of him....silly long legs. It is after midnight when we land, closer to 1 am. Off we go to find a pay phone to let our car rental guys know we are here. Did you know that we saw about six banks of pay phones in various locations throughout the airport, and all but one of them had the phones removed. Sad looking wires peeking out when we wanted a phone! Finally made the call and waited maybe two mins....then did the contract/cash exchange in the parking lot. Have I mentioned that we didn't sleep much the night before, did not sleep on the plane ( though I might have shut my eyes for a couple of half hour stretches)...so it is now 6 in the morning to us and we are taking on this strange car in a parking lot from a nice long haired hippy surfer guy. Hmmmm.Matt bravely figured out how to drive our Mazda hatchback, and we navigated dark strange roads for 40 mins to our hotel. What are policeman doing with radar guns at 1:30 am? Fortunately we were doing the posted road speeds of between 35 and 45 miles per hour the whole 40 mins. Checkin was great....our heads hit the pillow at 2:15 Maui time or 7:15 Matt & Vicki body time. We quickly fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach. All good.
Vicki's March 4th 2016 Update:
Aloha,
Yesterday was lovely. Up early, breakfast on the lanai, Trump in the news (do Republicans really care what Romney thinks?), then it's time to put the suits on and pack the beach towels. I found our favourite beach from eleven years ago on the first try! Matt was impressed. This is the beach at Napilli that is perfect for tumbling. It is a lovely bay and near the left side where we entered the waves are crazy big with a huge undertow. We played there for at least an hour! The game is to try and stay on your feet, and for me to be close enough to Matt when I'm knocked over that he can grab me before I'm swept out to sea! I'm still finding sand in my hair after 24 hrs and two showers later.
So after the first hour, more people started showing up at the beach and we decided to stroll further down, and while the waves were still big, it was safer to go just past the surf break and bob up and down. I'm about two feet from shore and the waves are easily over my head, but the undertow is less, I just lift my feet and float on my back when it starts to pull. Lots of sea turtles spotted. Funniest part was when we were sitting for a bit listening to and watching the surf board instructor with her three middle aged trainees. To her credit she did manage to get them all standing on their boards eventually, though I didn't see any actual surfing happen.
At the far end of this beach was a restaurant and a lovely shore line path along the rocks out to the far point of this cove beach....maybe a four min walk. We had lunch at the restaurant...fish for Matt and a yummy spinach and papaya salad for me.
All of this before one o'clock. A rest, some time by the pool at our hotel, out to Mamas ribs and rotisserie for take out ribs on the Lanai for dinner, Then, lucky us, back to Trump and little Marco and lying Ted....we miss our Netflix and DVR shows....news in the US is tiring and laughable. And this morning it is all about OJ Simpson...déjà vu!
Vicki's March 7th 2016 Update:
Finally in the air about an hour later than planned, with a wicked headwind, and turbulence most of the way....seat belts on folks! And comfort class just barely, barely was an upgrade. Matt's knees were touching the seat back in front of him....silly long legs. It is after midnight when we land, closer to 1 am. Off we go to find a pay phone to let our car rental guys know we are here. Did you know that we saw about six banks of pay phones in various locations throughout the airport, and all but one of them had the phones removed. Sad looking wires peeking out when we wanted a phone! Finally made the call and waited maybe two mins....then did the contract/cash exchange in the parking lot. Have I mentioned that we didn't sleep much the night before, did not sleep on the plane ( though I might have shut my eyes for a couple of half hour stretches)...so it is now 6 in the morning to us and we are taking on this strange car in a parking lot from a nice long haired hippy surfer guy. Hmmmm.Matt bravely figured out how to drive our Mazda hatchback, and we navigated dark strange roads for 40 mins to our hotel. What are policeman doing with radar guns at 1:30 am? Fortunately we were doing the posted road speeds of between 35 and 45 miles per hour the whole 40 mins. Checkin was great....our heads hit the pillow at 2:15 Maui time or 7:15 Matt & Vicki body time. We quickly fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach. All good.
Vicki's March 4th 2016 Update:
Aloha,
Yesterday was lovely. Up early, breakfast on the lanai, Trump in the news (do Republicans really care what Romney thinks?), then it's time to put the suits on and pack the beach towels. I found our favourite beach from eleven years ago on the first try! Matt was impressed. This is the beach at Napilli that is perfect for tumbling. It is a lovely bay and near the left side where we entered the waves are crazy big with a huge undertow. We played there for at least an hour! The game is to try and stay on your feet, and for me to be close enough to Matt when I'm knocked over that he can grab me before I'm swept out to sea! I'm still finding sand in my hair after 24 hrs and two showers later.
So after the first hour, more people started showing up at the beach and we decided to stroll further down, and while the waves were still big, it was safer to go just past the surf break and bob up and down. I'm about two feet from shore and the waves are easily over my head, but the undertow is less, I just lift my feet and float on my back when it starts to pull. Lots of sea turtles spotted. Funniest part was when we were sitting for a bit listening to and watching the surf board instructor with her three middle aged trainees. To her credit she did manage to get them all standing on their boards eventually, though I didn't see any actual surfing happen.
At the far end of this beach was a restaurant and a lovely shore line path along the rocks out to the far point of this cove beach....maybe a four min walk. We had lunch at the restaurant...fish for Matt and a yummy spinach and papaya salad for me.
All of this before one o'clock. A rest, some time by the pool at our hotel, out to Mamas ribs and rotisserie for take out ribs on the Lanai for dinner, Then, lucky us, back to Trump and little Marco and lying Ted....we miss our Netflix and DVR shows....news in the US is tiring and laughable. And this morning it is all about OJ Simpson...déjà vu!
Vicki's March 7th 2016 Update:
Who knows where I left off....the days are starting to blurr....this morning
after eight hours of lovely deep sleep, we are up before sunrise, stuffed full
of breakfast and on the road by 6:40. Heading towards the north shore of Maui
and the hippy town of Paia. Forecast is for rain on the north shore around
noon, but we knew it was only about an hour drive. Lovely morning but our trip
took us right by the airport....I could feel the driver fighting the wheel to
head home.
First beach was Baldwin. We beat everyone there....including the lifeguards.....only one guy and his dog on the beach. Amazing waves, sandy beach, but rocks at the shore break....so not good for sitting and getting knocked over. But a lovely long beach, so off we went for a walk. By the time we got back the lifeguards had arrived. So it was time to leave and go find the second beach.
We drove through the small one stop light hippy town of Paia and quickly found the surfers about two miles up the road....probably fifty or more....and huge waves. Again, lovely sand, but not a swimming beach because of the rocks at the shore break. We were surprised to see a charging station for cell phones and free wifi at the outdoor BBQ shelters at this beach. And sure enough, not long after we found a spot for our towels on the sand, along came a millennial with her towel and cell phone....she talked the whole half hour we were there. Watched some amazing surfers though!
Back to Paia for a second breakfast as it is about 9:30 by now, then some 'main' street shopping...all shops seemed to sell cigarette rolling papers...hmmmmm.
First beach was Baldwin. We beat everyone there....including the lifeguards.....only one guy and his dog on the beach. Amazing waves, sandy beach, but rocks at the shore break....so not good for sitting and getting knocked over. But a lovely long beach, so off we went for a walk. By the time we got back the lifeguards had arrived. So it was time to leave and go find the second beach.
We drove through the small one stop light hippy town of Paia and quickly found the surfers about two miles up the road....probably fifty or more....and huge waves. Again, lovely sand, but not a swimming beach because of the rocks at the shore break. We were surprised to see a charging station for cell phones and free wifi at the outdoor BBQ shelters at this beach. And sure enough, not long after we found a spot for our towels on the sand, along came a millennial with her towel and cell phone....she talked the whole half hour we were there. Watched some amazing surfers though!
Back to Paia for a second breakfast as it is about 9:30 by now, then some 'main' street shopping...all shops seemed to sell cigarette rolling papers...hmmmmm.
Back to Baldwin beach for another hour of
sand and fun....gets to be noon and no rain in sight but time to head back
anyway. So much sun and fresh air and standing in the shore breaks...which
does manage to get me soaked, including my hair!
Stopped in Olowalu at
Leodas for pie and lunch...oh my....lovely pies, and more pies. Picked out an
apple crumb to take out, but while we were waiting for our eat in lunch (I had
chicken pot pie), Matt decided it wasn't really big enough to share, so I
quickly volunteered to get a lime pie....can't wait to dig into them later.
We are both resting in our room slathered with After Sun Lotion now!
We are both resting in our room slathered with After Sun Lotion now!
Vicki's March 8th 2016 Update (our actual 25th wedding anniversary):
It is around 8 am, and lovely out....short sleeves and shorts weather...currently 68, feels like 81. However a cold front is coming today, with rain and it is only going to be 75. Oh my! Smiling!
Today's plans are in flux, but we are still packing sun screen, suits and towels!
Vicki and Matt...here is to 25 more!
Vicki's March 9th 2016 Update:
Lovely day yesterday at the resorts of Kaanapali....think Westin, Marriott,
Hyatt, etc. They certainly claimed a prime area of beach in Maui....but of
course we found the free parking and shore access, so we had a lovely beach day
and were able to grab lunch on the grounds. Highlight was watching an
enthusiastic golden retriever with his flip flop. His owner would
occasionally give it a good toss into the ocean and off this dog would go. He
was well trained to bring back the shoe, but not too close and then have a good
water shake followed by a roll in the sand. Adorable.
Lovely temps, great beach day, no rain until about 5pm....just as we were heading to Lahaina for the evening and dinner reservations. Good news is that the rain was light and warm. We had a good meal but in a very packed restaurant, as about half of their seating wasn't available due to the rain. As we were finishing up, one of the staff came to check the tied down awning and informed us that the weather was going to get worse! We took that as a sign to skip dessert, head out and enjoy ice cream in our room. Within about ten minutes of getting back we decided that we should be good tenants and bring in the lanai table and chairs as it had started to blow! Whew....lots of very strong winds all night!
A bit cooler today with early morning temps of 68....so grocery shopping, lunch in the room and off to the beaches a bit later today. This will be our coolest day with a high of 73. All uphill after today!
Appreciate the updates from home....sounds like Spring has arrived.
Lovely temps, great beach day, no rain until about 5pm....just as we were heading to Lahaina for the evening and dinner reservations. Good news is that the rain was light and warm. We had a good meal but in a very packed restaurant, as about half of their seating wasn't available due to the rain. As we were finishing up, one of the staff came to check the tied down awning and informed us that the weather was going to get worse! We took that as a sign to skip dessert, head out and enjoy ice cream in our room. Within about ten minutes of getting back we decided that we should be good tenants and bring in the lanai table and chairs as it had started to blow! Whew....lots of very strong winds all night!
A bit cooler today with early morning temps of 68....so grocery shopping, lunch in the room and off to the beaches a bit later today. This will be our coolest day with a high of 73. All uphill after today!
Appreciate the updates from home....sounds like Spring has arrived.
Vicki's March 10th 2016 Update:
Spiders = none! 😅 🕷
Cockroaches = none! 🐜
Sea turtles = lots! 🐢🐢🐢🐢 including the one this morning. It is before 9 am and we are at the fun tumbling beach, but set up the beach towel about twenty feet further down the beach, and in the lovely clear water noticed a big rock to avoid. While we are sitting there waiting for some clouds to blow over, we spotted a second big round rock....but it was moving! It was heading for a lady in the water, so we were waiting for the scream, but she stayed calm! Boring....it swam right up to her and it was big!
Kitty = small, skinny orange kitty.....not friendly, sniff. 🐱
Kitty = small, skinny Rascal kitty....aw, friendly, came for pets when I called. 😻
Whales = lots but not up close...🐳🐳🐳 I think I've seen them everyday
Dogs = lots on the beaches...🐕🐕 🏊🏻 and fetching.
None of these 🦄
Today Matt got to pick everything, so we were up early, went to the tumbling beach, talked about TV shows and politics, lunch was takeout Teriyaki chicken, a walk, and then a joint effort logic puzzle (it was a hard one), and finally take out pizza. We did another beach walk and saw a lovely crescent moon....but the crescent was on the bottom, not the side. Silly latitude differences!
Vicki - still getting great Jonesy updates from Susan, and LV updates from R&M...fun! Tammy is MIA!
Cockroaches = none! 🐜
Sea turtles = lots! 🐢🐢🐢🐢 including the one this morning. It is before 9 am and we are at the fun tumbling beach, but set up the beach towel about twenty feet further down the beach, and in the lovely clear water noticed a big rock to avoid. While we are sitting there waiting for some clouds to blow over, we spotted a second big round rock....but it was moving! It was heading for a lady in the water, so we were waiting for the scream, but she stayed calm! Boring....it swam right up to her and it was big!
Kitty = small, skinny orange kitty.....not friendly, sniff. 🐱
Kitty = small, skinny Rascal kitty....aw, friendly, came for pets when I called. 😻
Whales = lots but not up close...🐳🐳🐳 I think I've seen them everyday
Dogs = lots on the beaches...🐕🐕 🏊🏻 and fetching.
None of these 🦄
Today Matt got to pick everything, so we were up early, went to the tumbling beach, talked about TV shows and politics, lunch was takeout Teriyaki chicken, a walk, and then a joint effort logic puzzle (it was a hard one), and finally take out pizza. We did another beach walk and saw a lovely crescent moon....but the crescent was on the bottom, not the side. Silly latitude differences!
Vicki - still getting great Jonesy updates from Susan, and LV updates from R&M...fun! Tammy is MIA!
Vicki's March 13th 2016 Update:
Can't believe we didn't have our camera today! Lol! Matt called me sleepyhead and woke me up
at 6:45....sheesh...just because he'd been awake since 5:00....smiling. He is
doing his best to keep us close to Ontario time. So we made our plans...drive
North, find a new beach since we've only been to thirteen so far, and after that
go back to the D T Flemming beach which has no shoreline rocks, nice waves and
is pretty.
Best laid plans....all packed up, sunscreen applied, map at the ready to find the new beach, and we get as far as Kapalua (all of 8 minutes away) and it starts to seriously rain! We come home for a bit. Sun is shining here...hummpf.....so we repack our stuff and just head down to swim at our own beach Kahana, which is down the elevator, past the pool and onto the sand! So we needed seriously less stuff....towels and shoes! We put our stuff down and all of a sudden notice the great big sea turtle on the shore, about twenty feet from us. As we are discussing if it is alive or not...it moves! That was when we thought of the camera. Turtles are really big and really, really slow. This guy was huge.
So once he safely swam off, in we go. Not as nice as most of the other beaches, but we knew that....better for watching wind surfers and regular surfers and taking short walks. After lunch we tried heading north again...hoping that the rain had passed and it had....blue skies. We decided on D T Flemming beach and we were glad we did. Biggest waves yet! Where was the camera? Still back in the room...sigh. The lifeguards had the beach divided in half between swimmers and surfers so that the surfers didn't run us over. Matt and I took turns in the surf, so if one of us started to drown in those huge waves the other could alert someone! Very strong undertow and just so much fun. The undertow was good for about a fifteen foot ride to the right if you didn't have your feet down to brace yourself. It was the only day that I wanted to have a boogie board.
We marvelled at the young couple with baby in arms....quite sure that Dad was going to go down as he kept edging further into the surfer, but he kept his footing somehow.
We decided many of the swimmers were chicken, or perhaps smarter than we were as they were often staying pretty close to shore. Fun fun.
Sunset dInner was back to the Aloha Mixed Plate. Outdoors, lovely, yummy food, twenty minute wait which was OK. And we saw Rich there....or at least his twin....baseball cap and all...nice tan!
All good. Sorry no pictures today!
Vicki ...Sunday, aka, one more day!
Best laid plans....all packed up, sunscreen applied, map at the ready to find the new beach, and we get as far as Kapalua (all of 8 minutes away) and it starts to seriously rain! We come home for a bit. Sun is shining here...hummpf.....so we repack our stuff and just head down to swim at our own beach Kahana, which is down the elevator, past the pool and onto the sand! So we needed seriously less stuff....towels and shoes! We put our stuff down and all of a sudden notice the great big sea turtle on the shore, about twenty feet from us. As we are discussing if it is alive or not...it moves! That was when we thought of the camera. Turtles are really big and really, really slow. This guy was huge.
So once he safely swam off, in we go. Not as nice as most of the other beaches, but we knew that....better for watching wind surfers and regular surfers and taking short walks. After lunch we tried heading north again...hoping that the rain had passed and it had....blue skies. We decided on D T Flemming beach and we were glad we did. Biggest waves yet! Where was the camera? Still back in the room...sigh. The lifeguards had the beach divided in half between swimmers and surfers so that the surfers didn't run us over. Matt and I took turns in the surf, so if one of us started to drown in those huge waves the other could alert someone! Very strong undertow and just so much fun. The undertow was good for about a fifteen foot ride to the right if you didn't have your feet down to brace yourself. It was the only day that I wanted to have a boogie board.
We marvelled at the young couple with baby in arms....quite sure that Dad was going to go down as he kept edging further into the surfer, but he kept his footing somehow.
We decided many of the swimmers were chicken, or perhaps smarter than we were as they were often staying pretty close to shore. Fun fun.
Sunset dInner was back to the Aloha Mixed Plate. Outdoors, lovely, yummy food, twenty minute wait which was OK. And we saw Rich there....or at least his twin....baseball cap and all...nice tan!
All good. Sorry no pictures today!
Vicki ...Sunday, aka, one more day!
Vicki's March 14th 2016 Update:
One lovely last day in the land of crazy US politics, sunshine, lovely door
open breezes day and night, sound of waves, beaches, beaches and more
beaches!
Dinner last night was very good. We went back to the
Aloha Mixed Plate where we had lunch one day. We both enjoyed our dinner in a
pretty outdoor setting on the beach in Lahaina at sunset....nice!
Today we went to Napili beach in the morning....aka
tumbling beach....and had a great time followed by lunch at the Sea House at
Napili beach. Great people watching cause it isn't only us getting knocked over
by the waves. After a rest, we headed out to Flemming beach to say goodbye.
Took turns being tossed about by the waves until we were both exhausted.
Dinner tonight is at the Beach House at Kahana beach. I'm looking forward to
that. Then perhaps packing, but I may just live on the wild side and do that
in the morning.
We fly out at 12:20 HST tomorrow, Tuesday, and arrive
in Detroit at 6:34 am on Wednesday...yawn! But then it is onto the parking
shuttle bus, over the Blue Water Bridge and onto the 403/401 to Susan's we go to
get Jonesy! Hopefully he still remembers us and doesn't want to just stay with
Susan as her back up alarm clock.
Mahalo!
Vicki's March 15th 2016 Update:
One of us was up at 5:00 am....one of us wasn't! All fed, showered, packed
and ready to go....just waiting for the clock to tick on by for another hour or
two before we leave for the airport and the fun begins!
Lovely morning here, sun shining, birds singing, view amazing, whales jumping, waves crashing. Maui will be missed.
Vicki p.s. Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday.
Lovely morning here, sun shining, birds singing, view amazing, whales jumping, waves crashing. Maui will be missed.
Vicki p.s. Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday.
1 comment:
Sounds like you both had a great time. Happy 25th!
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