Maui Continued!!!

I will make this one short and sweet. I want to get to posting recipes! I wish the pictures could do the island justice. It really was the best trip of my life. We were busy every second unless we didn't want to be.

We took the road to Hana which was an 8 hour drive through the rain forest to the desert on the back side of a volcano. Here is a shot from the road. You could see down into the taro fields and little towns. We just pulled over at random spots and explored.

This is the most amazing waterfall we found. I spotted it from the road and we pulled over and found a way in. I was a short but tricky hike because everything is so moist and slippery there. We jumped in the second pool. It was so refreshing. After this we were starving so we stopped on the side of the road literally in someone's front yard for a mixed plate lunch. We each got the Teriyaki Chicken. It was the best teriyaki sauce I've ever had! All mixed plates come with 2 scoops of white rice and 1 scoop of macaroni salad...carb. overload! It was so much food we could have shared one plate and still had leftovers. But we didn't. :)
  

We continued on and found the black sand beaches at Wainapanapa State Park. It was a beautiful area. Great for picnics!

These are the "Seven Sacred Pools" now called the Pools of O'heo. We didnt think that they were too sacred. Swimming in a pool not much bigger than my diving pool didn't look to relaxing. We preferred our little secret pools much more.

A beautiful tree on the South side of Maui. We took the full loop around instead of taking hwy 36 back though Hana. Its about the same distance both ways. This drive was so geographically different from the other. Fun fact for ya: This side of the island has the most recent lava flow from about 300 years ago.

The back of Haleakala volcano was a sight to see! We felt like we were in another country!

Toward the end of our drive we found a winery and vineyard. It was perfect timing as it was about 4pm pm. on St. Patrick's day and we hadn't had a drink yet! I know, bad! So we tried 4 different types of wine and fell in love with the wines that were made from pineapple instead of grapes. Wow! The Maui Blanc was our favorite. We bought two bottles and ended up buying more at the grocery store a few days later to bring home with us! We still have some! I eye it nightly....

Another beautiful sunset enjoying a cocktail from our condo. Postcard views nightly.

We took a boat to Molokini crater and on the way saw whales and dolphins. It was amazing to be so close to them. I couldn't get a good pic. They just wouldn't hold still for the camera. It was a good adventure but we found better snorkeling at the random spots that we stopped at on Maui.

 Stop one on our beach exploration adventure: a beautiful beach with amazing snorkeling. The reefs here were so colorful.

On this day we went to four beaches (including the previous one) that we read about to snorkel, body surf, hike, relax, and swim. It was a great day. This is Kapalua Beach. We sat on the beach for a while but it turned into a sand storm. I think I still have sand in my ears.

This is Honolua Bay. It was beautiful with some crazy waves. When the waves were receding they would crash with the incoming wave and it was wild! It was great body surfing! Some wonderful old, bald dudes were body surfing like 10 year olds. It was awesome!






Overlooking where the Nakalele Blowhole is located. We never made it to the blowhole and were happy with the cliff views. And...I almost fell off the side one time so we were out! The beaches and adventures were amazing. We felt as though we got to accomplish everything we wanted to. I feel so lucky to have had this experience! Now, we want to go back with friends! Who's in?


Next up, the amazing foods we ate in Maui!

Maui or Bust!

We are back and recovered from our trip to Maui. It was as amazing. It was everything we expected and more. We got to do everything that we wanted including snorkeling, hiking, eating amazing food, and relaxing on the beach. I will post the different adventures and meals by day as there is so much that I want to have to remember the trip by.

Our condo was in Kihei, a low key town on the South side of the island. We were so glad to stay her after visiting Lahaina. It was local, friendly, and had everything that we needed. We stayed at teh Sugar Beach resort at the North end of Kihei. Our condo was right on the beach and felt like our own little house.

The sunset from our lanai.

Our two favorite chairs!!!

Love this! We can share a suitcase!

Our comfy bed.

It had a full kitchen, bedroom, living room with TV and DVD, and lanai (patio) 15ft from the beach. It had all of the amenities we could ever need including beach towels, a cooler to take on excursions (complete with cold packs in the freezer), all of the  cooking utensils one could need, a washer and dryer, safe and more.

This is a view of Lanai.

View from the kitchen

We folded out the couch.

Our living room.

I read the book I am Number Four which was a quick and entertaining read. I began to read Bram Stoker's Dracula which was great but thank god my Kindle has a built in dictionary. Jeff read In the Heart of the Sea a great lost at sea story.

On the first night we were tired from travel and decided to go grocery shopping and stock up for the week ahead. Wow, groceries are expensive in Hawaii! We picked up the necessities and a a ton of pineapple. It was our favorite snack we ate it with almost every meal. We made Shrimp Alfredo pasta that night using a jarred Alfredo sauce to make our lives easy. It was delicious. Our favorite cocktail mixer was POG Passion-Orange Guava Juice. Amazing!!!

Our shrimp alfredo pasta!!! Yummo!

I will continue to retell our adventures. It was truly a magical vacation!