Valentines Day in Paradise

    It was a wonderful Valentine's Day.  We woke up to a warm breeze and the sound of waves.  We had a slow, quiet morning sipping coffee while looking at a ocean full of spouting and breaching whales.  We sat in our PJs with all the windows open and read the home and national news on our Ipads.  

    We drove to the local mall on what are now very familiar streets in our little neighborhood of Napalii-Honokowai.  There is a nice mixture of condos and residential area here.  Lots of small businesses and no chain restaurants.  A sidewalk runs along the street and everyone stops for pedestrians crossing to the beach.  It was a very easy place to settle into.

    We did a little last minute shopping and then had lunch at an open air cafe.  This is one of my favorite things to do when I escape Minnesota cold - have some delicious food and feel the Maui breeze.

    We are getting on the plane at 11:30 tonight for our flight back, so it was time to pack.  Our stuff has migrated everywhere in this two bedroom place.  We did a pretty good job of eating up all the food that we bought.  Some will come on the plane with us for midnight snacks.  I rarely can sleep so its nice to have a snack.

    We swam and saw our turtle friends again.  This time just a couple feet from shore.  They came to say, "Aloha."  It was hard to get out of the water knowing that it will be the last time.  But overall it has been a perfect Valentines Day because I got to spend it with my best friend.  

   Tomorrow we will be back in Minnesota, close to the people we love.  That will be paradise too!

Maui Quilt Shop, Kihei

     I would say that admitting my addiction is the first step to recovery, but I'm pretty sure that saying that I have a problem with fabric won't stop me from buying more.  I have been working now and then on a Hawaiian applique wall hanging of green sea turtles that I bought on the Big Island two years ago.   When i was shopping with Connie I found a pattern for seaweed that I can use to make the whloe project bigger and more of a throw.  So today we trekked to the south end of the island to a nice shop that specializes in Hawaiian patterns and fabric.  It is a wonderful shop with a great selection of batiks.  The friendly sales ladies had lots of good advise, too.  I bought five yards of fabric - just a taste of the many beautiful choices.  My perfect kind of souvenier to remember this delightful vacation.

    On our way to Kihei we stopped at the wildlife refuge boardwalk again.  It was much warmer out there today and we saw fewer birds, but I added a couple more to my list.  We have a resident Great Blue Heron at our cabin so I have a particular affection for them.  Earlier in the week we saw several adult and juvenile Black-capped Herons.  Today I saw two Green Herons.  A big deal for me, not maybe so much for Rick.   

    Today the ocean is much quieter.  The big swells have moved on, so we had an afternoon of sun and fun in the water.  All week we have seen the green turtles swimming in front of our condo.  They are the largest of the sea turtles and can get up to 700 pounds, with a shell that is five feet from head to tail.  The ones we have seen are, by that standard, medium sized.  Many of the about two and a half to three feet.  They have smooth, brown shells and green skin.  They can't retract their heads.  They have very powerful flippers and can swim amazingly fast for something that looks like a rock with legs.

     The little beach where we swim is between very rocky areas.  The turtles hang out in the rocks on one side and then swim across the open area to the other side.  I keep an eye out for them because they're protected, they are amazing, and they have sharp claws.  As I was floating in the rolling waves I went to put my foot down and stand up when, Whoops!!!!!  THERE IS A BIG TURTLE RIGHT THERE UNDER MY FOOT!  We both wisely paddled away from each other and I tried to warn Rick that he was coming his way.  Instead I scared the lady swimming next to me who shouted, "What was that?  What did you see?"  She was happy to hear that it was just a really big turtle trying to mind his own business.

     As we ate leftovers on our lanai tonight we saw the mother whale and her calf back in the same spot that we had seen them before.  The two whales stayed near the surface and provided great entertainment for a sailboat cruising by.  At one point Mama whale smacked her tail ten times in a row.  I've never seen this before.  What an amazing day!

Whaler's Village, Ka'anapali Beach

     There are only 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet - 5 vowels and 8 consonants.  There is also a glottal stop called an 'okina.  This makes the area we went to this evening ka-an-a-poli. Not kaan-a-poli.  Once you get the hang of it the names are pretty easy to say, unlike English which has many different sounds for the same combination of letters.  With fewer letter combos to choose from some of the words get really long. I find it an interesting and musical language and repeat some words just because I like how they sound - Waianapanapa Park for example!

    We had a quiet day today, just enjoying the warmth of the sunshine, the rhythm of the waves and the scent of flowers.  We finally got ourselves off the lanai this morning and took a good walk.  I saw another tropical bird - a Java Sparrow.  They are purple and yellow instead of our brown Minnesota variety.

    The surf is still high with warnings everywhere.  We went to the nearby Honokowai Beach park, but were diappointed to see lots of rock ledges and a warning of severe undertow.  Instead we relaxed on our patio, watched the sea turtles on the rocks and dipped in the chilly swimming pool.  

    Ka'anapali Beach is the fancy part of north west Maui.  We went to an outdoor upscale shopping center, Whaler's Village, to stroll around, people watch, and have dinner at the Leilani Beach bar.  Some of the "beautiful" people who hang out at this mall are indeed fahionably dressed folks, others have an appalling lack of understanding the difference between fashion and  "yikes."  It makes for good entertainment, though.  We had fresh fish and jicima slaw as we watched the sun set.  We topped off dinner with some java chip ice cream.  I looked at the weather report for Minnesota and just savor every moment we are here.

Scotch Mist Sailing Adventure, Lahaina

     We have gone on a number of whale watching boat trips and can see the whales most of the time from our lanai.  Today we went on a sailing trip which also promised that we would see whales.  It's still windy and there were big rollers coming in on our beach.  We are both good on fairly choppy waters so I wasn't worried about sea sickness, just wonderied if it was too windy.

    We went to the Lahaina Harbor and found it to be less windy so we got our sunscreen, camera and sunglasses ready for an afternoon under sail.  The Scotch Mist is a 50' Santa Cruz yacht.   Captain Gene has been taking tourists out for sails since 1988.  We motored out of the harbor and then put up the two sails.  Suddenly it was quiet except for the sound of the water against the hull and the wind in the sails.   There were only about 20 folks on the boat so we found a comfortable spot and started to look for whales.  

    At first we saw whales everywhere except near us.  We enjoyed some cold drinks in the hot sun.  The captain started to play some Mozart, telling us that the whales like the music.  Suddenly one of the crew asked me if I could hear whale sounds, and I COULD!  We could hear the eerie singing of the whales.  The crew turned off the Mozart and we drifted along listening to the whale singing.  This is mating behavior and this is mating season.  It was amazing.  The singing stopped so we started moving again and I settled down to relax when I saw a HUGE whale leap out of the water just yards from the boat.  Anyone who spots a whale is supposed to say where so everyone can see it.  The captain said that i just sat there with my mouth hanging open and shouting but no real words came out.   Ah ah ah ahhhhh.

    Most of the folks only saw the last of the whale and were disappointed, but then another whale swam on the surface just in front of the bow.  Then it hung around flapping its tail for a bit.  It was just great.  We sailed more and saw more whales, although none as close.  We got back to the pier totally tired, hot and thrilled.  

    As we cooled down and ate dinner on our lanai we saw lots of whales.  We noticed one that stayed in the same spot in the relatively shallow water out from our beach.  It was in the same spot for almost an hour.  With binoculars we could see it was two whales, one large and one small.  They kept coming up and spouting and then going under a little ways. The Pacific Whale Foundation website describes this behavior as that of a mother and her young calf who needs to come up every 2 - 6 minutes.  It was so great.

    We finshed the day with a gorgeous sunset and some pineapple gelato.  A day to remember!

Kealia Costal Boardwalk

    Birdwatching was on the agenda today.  I have been collecting new birds in my journal all week, but today we went to a half mile long boardwalk that meanders between the ocean shoreline and a large wetland and pond.  There are 42 species of birds found only on the Hawaiian Islands, 31 of them are on the endangered species list.  There are also many species like the Cattle Egret which were not native to Hawaii, but once introduced to the islands have thrived.  In addition to the birds who live here year round there are also some who make the more than 2000 mile journey from Alaska, California, Japan, Australia and Polynesia.  

     As more and more land is developed for the tourist industry birds are losing their natural habitat.  Hawaii is working with the Federal Government in developing wildlife sanctuaries to protect the remaining species.  Across the highway from the boardwalk is the Kealia National Wildlife Refuge.  A big, new Visitor Center was built there, but wasn't open today.

     I have a bird identification app called IBird on my Ipad.  It lets me search for birds with dozens of identifying items - color, size, habitat, shape of the bill, color of the eyes etc. etc.  It is so much better than a book.  Once I have identified the bird I can record it in a journal on my IPad - where I saw it, the weather, how many.  I keep a list of birds visiting my home bird feeder, another list of birds at the cabin, and a "traveling" list.  I have added a dozen birds on this trip.  Today I added a Hawaiian Stilt, a Hawaiian Coot, a Black-crowned Night Heron and a Pacific Golden Plover.  The Plover flies here from Alaska!  One of the most flourishing of the species is the Maui chicken - they show up everywhere!

    We had fish tacos for lunch at Maui Tacos, yum.  Then a quiet afternoon while I worked on my Hawaiian appliqué quilt.  This evening we joined friends Margo and Jon from the Ullr Ski Club who are also in Hawaii this week.  We strolled around downtown Lahaina and then had an amazing dinner of Macadamia nut crusted Mahimahi and watched the sun set.  All in all a fabulous day!

Iao Valley State Monument

      After another cool night we were happy to feel the weather warming up.  I packed a picnic lunch and we drove deep into a valley in The West Maui Mountains or the West Maui volcano.  The Hawaiians call it Maui Komohana.   This very old volcano makes up the western one-quarter of Maui.  Since the eruption 320,000 years ago, the West Maui Mountains have undergone a lot of stream erosion.

    This erosion has created the Iao Valley Monument- a foliage covered rock which abruptly rises 1200 feet from the valley floor.   In the early days of Hawaii it was used as a lookout to spot invading enemies.  Today a series of walkways take you across a small river, around a nice botanical garden and  finally up 132 stairs to a lookout (not the top of the needle).  I am happy that I wasn't huffing too much more than some of the younger folks when I made it to the top.

     The valley is one of the rainiest places in the U.S., but today the sun was shining.  However the rainforest was very green and just bursting with flowers.  Our tour guide app told us about the history of the area as we drove.  This valley is the site of the battle of Kepaniwai where the forces of Kamehameha I from Hawaii Island conquered the Maui army led by Kalanikupule in 1790.  It was called the "Battle of the Clawed Cliffs."  It is known as one of the most bitter battles fought in Hawaiian history.  Ultimately it led to unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

    There's nothing but steep walkways and a parking lot at the monument so we drove back a short ways to  Kepaniwai Memorial Park.  This park honors the many immigrants who played a role in the history of the Hawaiian Islands. There are several covered picnic shelters and a number of other structures including traditional Hawaiian dwellings and homes of the people who came from Portugal, China, New England, the Philippines, Japan, and China. It was a very pretty place for a picnic.

We came back to the condo and discovered several green turtles playing in the surf just two yards from the sea wall.  We watched them for a while and then took a nice swim.  Getting out of the water was a challenge today with both high tides and high surf.  We both ended up crawling out covered with sand.  Just like the turtles!  I'm not sure I am rid of all the sand yet.  Hahaha. 

Maui Sugar Industry

    We did a lot of baking at my house when I was growing up so C&H Pure Cane Sugar from Hawaii was a staple.  We have seen sugar cane fields in the rich volcanic earth in the valley between the two volcanoes here on Maui.  On our trip to Hana we saw some of the irrigation ditches and tunnels that bring water from the wet side of the island to the valley.  As we went from the airport to our condo on the opposite side of the island we drove past an old sugar processing plant.  There was also a small sign for a "sugar museum."
     Today we visited the Alexander and Baldwin Sugar Museum which is housed in a sugar plantation manager's residence.  This was a pretty home with high ceilings, big rooms, and tall windows.  The thousands of immigrants brought here from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, as well as smaller groups from Norway and Germany lived in multi-roomed buildings like barracks. These many ethnic groups eventually blended into the rich cultural mix that is Hawaii today.

     When the sugar workers went to the fields they brought lunch in a box.  As they shared their favorite foods the Hawaiian "mixed plate" lunch of rice, salad, veggies and shredded meat was born.  It was one thing Jennifer was determined to eat when she and Arik came here on their honeymoon.

    As tourism grew, sugar plantations diminished and there's only one producer left still shipping sugar to California to be packaged as C&H (California and Hawaiian) Sugar. The museum was small and we only spent an hour there but learned a lot about Hawaiian history.

    On our way to the museum we saw a Target store!  So I was finally able to get a cord for my camera to link it to my Ipad and download pictures.  There's a lot of beautiful ones.  I have included on from the top of Haleakala.  

     The weather remains unusually cool and somewhat windy, but the sun is bright and flowers blooming outside my window.  

Stormy weather

     Despite forcasts for rain we have just had a lot of wind today.  A cool front moved in last night and brought grey skies and a strong wind.  We closed the big slider to the lanai for the first time to keep our living room a little warmer.  It was damp and overcast this morning, but soon the skies turned blue and the weather got warm except right by the water.

    Time zones made this Super Bowl Sunday start early.  We watched a bunch of the pregame shows as Terry and Connie packed for their trip home.  In honor of their last day we went to a Hula Show at the Lahaina Cannery Mall.  This is one of the free shows offered around the island.  Several generations of a few Hawaiian families participated in the show.  Our favorites, by far, were three little boys who danced with great flair and athleticism.  It was a fun show.  

    We got back to the condo to watch some of the football game and to enjoy the commercials.   We also stepped out on the lanai and watched a bunch of  kite surfers who were taking advantage of the strong winds.  It is a beautiful and scary sport.  Finally it was time to drive the about 50 minutes across the island to the airport.  

    As we approached the airport we saw a cruise ship in port.  This explained why there were so many busloads of visitors in Lahaina.  Many of the ships anchor off Lahaina where most of the historical stes and shops enjoyed by cruisers are.   This huge boat was in the Kahului port on the commercial side of Maui so everyone had to be bussed across the island.  We said our goodbyes and left Connie and Terry at the airport for their overnight flight home to snowy Minnesota.

    On our way back from the airport Rick and I stopped at a Mediterranean Pizza parlor. We got back to our condo with a pizza in time to catch the last bit of the Super Bowl.  It's going to be a pretty quiet night. Have a safe trip back, Connie and Terry!

Maui Ocean Center

    All week we have seen whales and sea turtles just off our lanai.  I have googled many questions about them: are we seeing just humpback whales or are there Orcas too?  Why do they leap out of the water?  Why are the green sea turtles hanging out on the rocks?  I love being able to look up answers right away.  However we all thought it would be interesting to learn more so today we went to the Maui Ocean Center.

     This aquarium consists of a number of indoor and outdoor exhibits.  It has the worlds largest collection of living Pacific corals.  We saw hundreds of varieties of tropical fish, including my favorite the state fish of Hawaii, the Humuhumunukunukuapua which is also called the rectangular triggerfish or Hawaiian triggerfish.  It is a beautiful yellow, black and white fish, but mostly I love the way the name just rolls off my tongue.

    The green sea turtle exhibit had some baby turtles that were fun to see.  The adult turtles in the exhibit were much smaller than the ones in our front "yard."  I liked watching the jelly fish floating in a tank lit with a blue light, but I am very happy that they have not visited us in our little swimming beach.

The center has a 52' tube that takes you "under the sea" to watch eels, sharks, manta rays, and all sorts of big and small tropical fish.  A sign near the tank explained that "yes, sometimes the littlest fish get eaten, but the fish are fed every day and usually don't bother catching lunch."

    The center was pretty quiet so we could take our time as we walked around.  It is Saturday today so the roads and parks were really busy.  A storm front is coming through and brought winds and waves.  We saw lots of surfers at the beach parks.  Lots of small tents and camping vans in the many narrow parks along the beach.  There are just porta potties set every quarter mile or so and no showers.  It made me itch to think of crawling into bed covered in sand and salt.  Yup, I m old!

    We went back to downtown Lahaina for dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise which is right on the ocean.  Since we went early we got a table upstairs with a great view and enjoy listening to some good live music.  It's our last dinner with Terry and Connie.  They fly home tomorrow.  What's more fun than one Nesbitt man?  Two of them!  The older they get the more they are alike.  It's just uncanny.

Kihei Beach Time

     We drove south along the western shore of Maui to the towns of Wailea and Kihei.  During WWII the Wailea shore was a training area for the Marines in the Pacific Theater.  Ulua beach was named Little Tarawa by the Marines who were training for an amphibious landing on the island of Tarawa. 

     After the war ended tourists began flocking to Maui.  In the 60's the Lahaina Beach hotel opened in the  Kaanapali area.  In the 70's the beginning stages of the Wailea Resort opened on the southern end of the island and tourists discovered the great beaches and calmer water in Maalaea Bay.  Today this resort has over 2000 homes and condos, 6 hotels, three golf courses, and several shopping centers.  The area also has a large residential district for many fulltime Hawaii residents.  

    One of the big issues on Maui is the lack of affordable housing for the many folks who work in the service industries that support the huge tourist business.  We have often wondered while watching shows which highlight people who move to Hawaii to open a small business if these folks are aware of the high cost of living.  Apparently many new residents are gone after less than a year.  Maui has a package of info for folks who are thinking of making the move to help them understand the costs.

     We went to one of the large beach parks which has big shade trees and lots of grass.  We set up at a picnic table and walked the beach.  The sand there is much finer than our little beach.  BUT there were about a hundred times more people.  It was a very busy spot on the sunny Friday morning.  We have noticed that Hawaiians often have large family gatherings in the many beach parks.  This park was no exception.

    We enjoyed our picnic lunch at the beach and then stopped for more food.  Everything on Hawaii is expensive except for the sunshine.  While it's cheaper and more fun to have breakfast on our lanai and lunch at the beach, Minnesota shoppers would never call it cheap.  We have supermarket sticker shock every time we go.  It was great to find a five buck rotisserie chicken for dinner tonight.

    After our usual afternoon siesta Rick and I went back to the tiny, but very quiet, beach and swam with a crowd of five other folks.  I just can't get enough time in the warm water.  Today we watched a couple green turtles tumbling in the surf break.  They kept rolling in the waves long enough that it looked like they were doing it deliberately.  

    A few clouds have rolled in with the sunset- maybe it won't be perfectly sunny tomorrow.  

A Long and Winding Road To Hana

      There are surf warnings all ever Hawaii this week.  Our side of the island is quiet, but the east side has some big waves.  We stopped at an overlook to watch the big boys (and girls) play in the big waves.  It takes such strength and balance to make their rides look easy. Just beyond these overlooks is favorite Maui tourist day trip.

   The road to Hana is one of the most scenic drives in America.  In the early days of Hawaii it was a 5 foot wide trail.  Modern road construction to Hana began in the 1870s.  An unpaved road was built to help with the construction of the Hämäkua Ditch which was part of The East Maui Irrigation System.  This ditch brought water from the rainforests to dry central Maui to support the sugarcane industry. Parts of the ditch are still visible from the current road.  

      The road construction continued in the early 1900s until the full road to Hana was opened on December 18, 1926. Construction of bridges continued through the 1930s and the road was not completely paved until the 1960s.  Many of these old one lane wide bridges are still in use.

     Today the Hana Highway is a 52 mile stretch which connects Kahului with the town of Hana. It takes about 2.5 hours to drive non-stop as the highway is very winding and narrow and passes over 59 bridges, 46 of which are only one lane wide.   There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hāna.  

    This is the rainy side of the island and the road is at times in the dark, tropical forest and at other times clinging to the edge of brilliant blue coves.  It is best to leave early before traffic gets heavy and backs up.  It is much easier to drive when the majority of the cars are going in the same direction.  Some of the two lane road is actually about one and a half.

    The app that Rick found which gave us a tour of Haleakala also accompanied us to Hana.  It was helpful to know when good overlooks were coming up and where the rest stops with bathrooms were.  We followed these directions to Wai'anapanapa State park which had a black sand beach.  Although I have been on this road a couple times I don't think I ever stopped at this pretty spot before.

    We continued on to Hana after lunch and enjoyed the pretty little town on a quiet cove.  The drive is mostly about the experience of the beautiful rainforest and scenic overlooks and not much about the destination.  It is not a road for those who suffer from motion sickness or who hate high bluffs and narrow bridges.

    On the way back the tour guide on the app gave us a short history of the Hawaiian people and some of the political process that was involved in making Hawaii part of the United States.  I am curious to learn more.  We also learned that there are no squirrels in Hawaii just a small variety of mongoose.  We saw breadfruit growing on trees and an avocado that was the size of a large grapefruit.

    We had a glass of wine, a homemade spaghetti dinner and then said "mahalo" for a great day with the nightly conch ceremony.  Another wonderful day in paradise.

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

     Our destination today was the old whaling village of Lahaina.  First, however, Connie and I wanted to go back to an overlook on the bluffs that we visited on Monday in hopes that a woman who makes jewelry from sea shells and stones of Hawaii was there today.  We lucked out and both of us bought pendants which include green sea turtles.  A beautiful and fun souvenir.

    Then we headed to the nearby town of Lahaina. In 1802, King Kamehameha made Lahaina the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He built a brick palace there and other royal buildings.  Lahaina served as the center of the Hawaiian government for over 50 years, until it was relocated to Honolulu for its harbor. 

    Lahaina was a major whaling port and fishing town in the 1800s due to its prime location on whale migration routes, calm ocean conditions and days of sunshine. As many as 400 ships at a time docked in the harbor.  When Kamehameha II gave permission for missionaries to begin settling in the islands, they too were attracted to the weather and soon were at odds with the hard partying sailors. The missionaries created many new island customs, including the first high school, first printing press, new way of dressing and introduction of the written form of the Hawaiian language.

     We went to Lahaina Courthouse Square also called Banyan Tree Park. This park is at the site of the Old Lahaina Fort built in 1831 to protect the town from riotous sailors when Lahaina was used as a port for the North Pacific Whaling fleet.   After the fort was demolished in 1854, a courthouse was built on the site.  We toured the old courthouse which has the Visitors Center, an art gallery, and a brief history of the town. 

     In 1873 Sheriff William Smith planted an India Banyan tree in the courtyard.  The banyan tree has grown to be the largest banyan in Hawaii and one of the largest banyan trees in the United States. Its extensive trunk and root system now covers 2/3 of an acre. It is simply amazing.

    We shopped a bit and found t-shirts for the guys and a quilt store for the ladies.  Then we made the traditional Hawaii souvenir stop at Hilo Hatties.  I bought a pineapple and some Hawaiian honey to make grilled pineapple for dinner.  

     During lunch on the lanai we saw several more sea turtles feeding on seaweed on the rocks just past the sea wall.  After our afternoon naps we went out to join them.  Rick and Terry joined me in the ocean today.  It is a great little beach that is well protected from the waves by a natural rock breakwater.  Now we're all pooped from the waves and the sun.  

Eucalyptus, Nene, and Silver-thorn

    Today we drove from 82* at sea level to 52* at the top of Haleakala.  Along the way we listened to an app that followed our route and gave us bits of history, geography, geology, and mythology.  We learned about whaling, growing sugar cane, Herman Melville's time in Lahaina, the myth of the fire goddess Pele and the creation of the Hawaiian Islands, and a lot about volcanoes and tectonic plates.

    Haleakala Highway is back across the island.   We headed up the winding road of switchbacks.  I remembered a perlious journey down this road when my friend Jo Ellen convinced me that we should take the tour which started at the top at sunrise and then involved riding a bike down most of the 37 miles of narrow and steep road. The National Park Service has prohibited vendors from bringing cyclists to the top for this ride after a few deaths and some bad accidents.  It certainly makes driving easier when you don't have roads full of amatuer cyclists.

    The road took us through up-country Maui with farms, orchards, and beautiful gardens.  We were lucky to have a clear day so that we could look back down and see the ocean on both sides of the island.  The air got cooler and cooler as we approached the park boundary.  While we were stopped to show our Golden Age National Parks Pass which got us all into the park for free, Rick saw the very rare  bird, the Nene, which is the state bird of Hawaii.  It looks like a goose.  

     When we were above most of the vegetation and into the lava fields we saw some beautiful spikey silver leaves on a plant called Silverthorn.  At the top of the drive we got out, climbed the few steps through very thin, cold air at over 10,000 feet to look into the crater.  This volcano hasn't erupted since the 1700's so there was no hot lava, dear Grandsons.

    We drove several thousand feet lower, back down the volcano and ran into a big cloud and light drizzle.  Our stop for lunch was at a campground in the park which was in a grove of Eucalyptus.  We took advantage of a little picnic shelter to get out of the drizzle.  We enjoyed watching the birds and smelling the scented air while we ate  Connie wanted me to mention that the pit toilet restrooms at this picnic grounds were the best smelling public bathrooms she has ever been in!

    While we were still in up-country we stopped at a lavender farm and saw many varities of lavender as well as lots of beautiful tropical plants.  My hands still smell wonderful from the lavender handcream.   The 82* weather was a shock when we finally got to sea level again.  We crashed with some cool drinks and put our feet up when we got "home."  We decided we were too tired to cook and went to the Maui Brew Pub for dinner.  I think its going to be an early night for us.    

Whales and Turtles

     The four hour time difference always leaves me ready to get up at 4 am when I first arrive in Hawaii. Despite a very comfortable bed I was up before the sun today.  Terry, Connie and I sat on the lanai drinking coffee and watched the sun rise.  Soon after we saw our first whale, and then another, and then several more.  In the couple of hours after sunrise we saw dozens of whales in the warm waters between Maui and Molokai.  It was wonderful. 

    We also saw a bunch of green sea turtles "honu."   There is a rock ledge about 40 feet from shore.  It provides a natural barrier from strong wave action.  The turtles come to feed in this area.  They are big guys with strong flippers which end in a sharp claw.  They are a protected animal so we have to stay away if we see one swimming.  

     We drove along the shore for a ways to show Connie and Terry more of the view they missed in the dark last night.  We stopped at several overlooks to watch some surfers and see more whales.  We ate  an early lunch, did more grocery shopping and had a nap.  

    Then the ocean was calling my name.  The shore just in front of the building is rocky.  There is a small swimming pool, grass, palm trees and lounge chairs.  A the end of the grassy area is a walkway to a small sand beach in front of the building next door.  Just perfect for a nice dip in the warm ocean.  

    We had an early "happy" hour and then grilled some pork chops on the fancy gas grills.  Soon it was sunset time and many of the residents head out to the sea wall to blow a conch shell as the sun sets.  A beautiful way to say goodbye to the sun, say, "mahalo" for the wonderful day, and give a salute to the evening.  The perfect way to end our first day on Maui.

Long ride to Maui

    We left Minnesota late morning for a 3.5 hour flight to Phoenix.  Unlike many times we have left from MSP in the winter, there was no de-icing.  We arrived on time in Phoenix and had an hour to stretch our legs and get some food before the long ride to Maui. 

     Our ride over the Pacific was bumpy and required seatbelts a lot of the time.  The plane was old with little to offer in entertainment.  Lots of kids on the plane too.  We flew into the sunset and saw a froth pink clouds like cotton candy as we approached the chain of islands so far away from all other land masses.

    We landed about 30 minutes late which made a long ride even longer.  But a warm breeze blew through the open airport as we waited for luggage - we are in Paradise.  We found our rental car, crammed four suitcases in the trunk and drove across the island to the Safeway market for snacks and breakfast.

   Thanks to Google maps we found our condo without a problem and dragged our luggage up to the third floor.  Before even turning on the lights I threw open the sliding door to the lanai and saw waves glinting in the moonlight just steps from our new home.  

   It was 2 am Minnesota time as we sat on the lanai listening to the waves and feeling the warm breeze.  We headed to the two wonderful kingsize beds to sleep after a really long day.