Maui '09

I love to travel. I really do. Mike and I usually go on one trip alone each year (something big or even just a weekend) and then we have a family vacation of some kind. Our alone trip this year was not so "alone" -- we went with 10 friends to Maui. Oh baby....

We stayed in some condos in Kihei, which were right on the water. The view almost seemed like a fake backdrop. We could even see whales spouting water in the distance (more on them later). We shared a condo with Rob & Meggan, which was perfect considering that Mike & Rob are BFF's. Meggan and I would sit back and laugh at how they would finish each other's sentences and argue like a married couple themselves.

Most of our days went something like this:
* 3:30am -- Wake up; try to convince my body/mind that it wasn't on Utah time anymore.
* 6:00 Give up trying to sleep and go for a walk/run or sit on the balcony and read a book.
* 9:00 -- Head out to a beach for sun, snorkeling and body surfing.
* 10:30 -- Head to another beach for more of the same.
* 12:00 -- Get a shaved ice with ice cream on the bottom and cream poured on top (major addiction!). Try unsuccessfully to get the secret cream recipe from the shaved ice girl. Did, however, take pictures of the ice machine, which Brian might buy on eBay. Score!
* 12:30 -- Make lunch, shower and continually clean sand out of our toes and ears.
* 2:30 -- Head out for more adventures .... shopping, sight-seeing, exploring the island, whale watching, hiking ....
* 7:00 -- Dinner somewhere ... we ate at some amazing restaurants and also cooked in. I am a huge fan of good seafood so I was in absolutely heaven. Mahi mahi, ono, ahi tuna, opakapaka, shrimp, lobster, fish tacos, sushi ... you name it. I became something of a "foodie," as the Knowltons would say. Even these pancakes were killer with papaya, mango, pineapple and bananas ....*10:00 -- Pass out from exhaustion (earlier in the week from jetlag) or stay up and play cards, talk, sit in the hot tub, whatever.

I mentioned the whales. 10,000 humpback whales migrate from Alaska to Hawaii from Dec. 15th-April 15th to have their babies and mate. So there was some amazing whale watching to be had while we were there. We went on a large catamaran to get closer up. The law prohibits anyone from getting closer than 100 feet to the whales, but often the whales would swim even closer to us when the boat was stopped. Can't help that. In fact, a couple of whales surfaced right off the side of the boat. The captain said they were underneath us for quite awhile. It was a very, very cool experience.We snorkeled a few times, which is not something I've done a lot of. I went snorkeling once in Hawaii on a high school trip and was pretty freaked out by the myriad of fish swimming all around me. The snorkeling this time was a little different - not near as many fish, for one - and I really enjoyed it. We saw sea turtles, trumpet fish, angel fish, eels, a small octopus, and lots of others who shall remain nameless since I'm not a fish expert. I didn't get freaked out too much as long as I was close to another snorkeler. Just ask Becca ... she said that every time she turned around, there I was. :)We went hiking through a bamboo forest, which is an other-worldly experience. The bamboo trees shot up about 30 feet over our heads. We hiked up to the 2nd waterfall and some in our group were daring enough to go for a swim. I wasn't dying to hike back out cold and wet so I opted to just watch.All of the guys woke up bright and early (as in like 2:15am) to go deep sea fishing one morning. The first fish they caught happened even before sunrise. They caught 8 yellow-fin tuna and almost had a 300 lb. marlin but he got away. Mike's not a fisherman, by any means, but even he enjoyed the chance to deep sea fish in Hawaii. Needless to say, we had an amazing dinner that night.We shopped plenty of the typical open-stall markets that are everywhere in Hawaii. I loved the shopping in Lahaina the best, though. Everything from inexpensive touristy things to Coach, Kate Spade and Chanel. I really didn't buy that much, but just being able to browse in each store without chasing kids around felt like a real treat.

Other memories: playing Name That Tune in the car with Rob's iPod, good times flying stand-by :), beach crashing at nice resorts, a large drunk woman named Jeff, Clan of the Tortuga, laying out next to Fabio, old men "taking their dogs for a walk," playing football in the waves, pina coladas, seeing Steph's mischievious side, toe rings, fried mushrooms, "Hold on tight, spidermonkey", HI shirts, taking a shower on the beach fully clothed, banana spiders, Iao canyon, an awesome church meeting, collecting free Hilo Hattie necklaces for the kids....

Such a great trip. Coming home on the red-eye and readjusting to the time change was the least pleasant part of the trip, but I can't complain. The kids did great, apparently, thanks to the many helpers I had. It seriously takes a village to let mom and dad go on vacation, so thank you to everyone who helped!

Anyone up for Maui 2011?