Bluegrass Clippings: Hawaii

It seems like we've been back from Hawaii for a long time. Well, we have been back for two weeks, but it seems much longer when you factor in five cancelled flights, a destructive ice storm, power outage (times 3) and the camping out at our friends' house for three nights that we faced immediately upon our return. We were blessed to have gotten our power on as soon as we did, but it still kind of strung us out, especially when you add a sick 17-month-old into the mix. Wesley did end up having a double ear infection as a result of his cold, which made him (understandably) a little grumpy at times. He's really been taking it like a champ, just reminding us every now and then about his pain with a cute point toward his head and saying, "eawr." (I'm not sure how to type out ear with the "r" sound being a "w" sound, but you get the point.) More of that experience to come later. We took a few pictures that I'll post sometime.

Hawaii was a fun trip for us. We arrived in Maui late in the afternoon on Friday, and after renting a minivan we headed to the southern end of the island and made it to our fun condo on Wailea Beach. We ate yummy pizza and salad at Mateo's Pizza that evening and then went to the beach for a little while. Lela and I had out suits on under our clothes just in case we couldn't resist getting in, but it was just a little on the chilly side in the evening for me to take the plunge.

The next day was John Mark's birthday! We spent most of this day in the van en route to Haleakala, a volcanic crater that is dormant, but not thought to be forever inactive. It was about a three hour drive on a very windy road going straight up, it seemed. Once we got atop the mountain (10,000 feet above sea level), it was pretty cold and windy, but an interesting view. One sign described the landscape as "lunar." It was cool to see the old lava all around.

When we got back, John Mark, Lela and I went swimming in the ocean for awhile since it was still warm out. No pictures of that, but very fun! We did get to experience a really cool show by a whale while we were on the shore just about to leave. This was our first whale sighting, and a man on the beach even let us borrow his binoculars to watch for a bit. He said that it was the best he had seen all year! Too bad we did not have our camera. That evening we went to a nice restaurant for John Mark's birthday. This picture makes me laugh with Mom's head peeking around. :)

Sunday was another trip of around three hours to Hana which is the very eastern tip of the island. This area is known for its beautiful beaches and crazy road leading to the city. The "Highway to Hana" was the windiest road I have ever experienced by far, but boasted a very amazing view. We traveled through the rain forest for much of the trip and passed some cute little fruit stands tucked away in random spots off the highway. Below is a picture of me with my Mimi by one of the pretty waterfalls along the way.

Every now and then, we got to see some amazing views of the ocean:

Once we arrived in Hana, we ate lunch at a burger and sandwich restaurant then went to the Black Sands Beach. This was an absolutely breathtaking spot. We spent a long time there taking in the strong waves breaking on the shore and getting to watch the occasional mongoose run ahead of us.

This is what Lela did for a lot of the trip:

There was a cool little cave off of the main beach where the water splashed hard against the rock and into the cave. If you look closely, you can see John Mark on his little perch in the cave.

On the way back on the crazy highway, we stopped at one of the fruit stands and Lela bought a coconut which was cracked open for us there, so we got to taste fresh coconut water, which is supposed to be the healthiest thing you can drink thanks to the abundant electrolytes. One of the stand workers said she drank a cup a day to prevent kidney stones. That evening we headed back to the southern part of the island and did some whale watching (which was not all that fruitful), and then had dinner.

Monday was the day that our parents and Mimi let "the kids" have the van, so we headed to Lahaina (west Maui). Lela and I went zip-lining through some gorgeous valleys between mountains while John Mark hung out at a coffee shop. (He didn't want to spend the money to go zip-lining.)

Zip-lining was my favorite part of the trip. We got to do eight lines and the trip included a nice breakfast with some yummy fresh Hawaiian fruit.

Here is Lela doing one of the lines.

This is me looking cool in my helmet. I got called "team Texas-Kentucky" by our guides thanks to my shirt after they discovered my place of residence when we were all becoming acquainted with one another at the beginning of our tour.

There I am!

After that really fun time, the three of us headed to the food court in a mall :) for a quick lunch, and then we were off to go snorkeling. John Mark was also going to sit this one out until we discovered they had a prescription mask that was actually pretty close to his! We didn't have much luck at first (except for Lela finding a $10 bill on the ocean floor), but then we moved to Black Rock where there were lots and lots of really cool fish and ocean life on the rocks. The fish were close enough for us to touch at times, but we refrained of course. Lela bought an underwater camera. Maybe if some of the pictures turned out, they'll be on here later.

We finally peeled ourselves away from the beach knowing that Mom, Dad and Mimi were waiting back at the condo for us so we could all do some more whale watching. That evening we got to see many whales! None were as close as the one we saw off the beach our first day, or one that Lela and I had seen earlier that day as we drove back to our condo from Lahaina (Lela screamed in response to the sight of the HUGE tail coming out of the water that seemed maybe 300 yards away!! Absolutely amazing...), but we watched for over an hour and got to see a pod of at least 5 moving slowly across our view of the ocean. Lela got some cool shots while borrowing a local photographer's telescope lens. Here are a few:

This first one is actually one I took where you can see three dorsal fins breaking the water at once. Click on it so you can see them better!

These people on the boat must have been so excited. You can see one's side fin on the right while his friend is utilizing his blow hole.

Our last night in Maui was nice. After we finally lost view of the whales, we went to this restaurant right on the boat dock called Buzz's Wharf. Everyone got some exotic seafood while Mimi and I shared chicken teriyaki! Ha.

Here's the whole crew: