Wow! I finally made it to Hawaii! And it definitely met my very high expectations! I had to wait 30 years to go and Keira waited six months! The spoiled little girl! ;-) I just want to start this by saying that since this may be the only time we go to Hawaii (I CERTAINLY HOPE NOT!), and since this blog is the way our family gets to see all of our pictures, and since I can look back on this years to come and remember all about our wonderful vacation, this is going to be ridiculously LONG with waaaaayyyyy too many pictures! So I do apologize. And as if this wasn't enough, it's only one part. I'll post about scuba diving, flying, and our anniversary separately. I also want to warn you that I LOVE pictures with people in them. And since I'm the blogger, you'll get one of us in just about every picture! Sorry Sweetie!
We left Denver around noon and after a seven hour flight we arrived in the beautiful paradise of Maui around 3pm. We picked up our rental car and checked into our lovely hotel in Kihei which is central on the west side of the island. Here's the view from our window, just a short walk to the ocean! I don't have much to say about the first day since someone in our family (Chris) isn't as adaptable as others with the time change and had to go to bed at 7:30pm
We woke up early and headed to the beach to view a beautiful rainbow during a walk along the shore.
Keira enjoyed her first encounter with the ocean water! She enjoys the ocean just as much as her mama, almost! Chris, in a couple of years you're going to be outnumbered!
It was a little chilly and drizzly so we decided to make the 68 mile drive to Hana from Kahului. With over 600 curves, 54 bridges, winding roads, blind turns, constant traffic, distractingly gorgeous views, narrow one-lane roads, cliffs, and wet conditions it can bring you closer to Heaven in more ways than one. The views were absolutely miraculous! (And actually I had thought ALL of the island looked like this, so I was really glad I made it over there early in the trip!) It was a tropical rainforest!
Bamboo
Traveling is a bit different with our little bundle of joy. You don't just pop out at any little thing and jump from one hike to the next, especially when the drive is probably about five hours with minimal stops. And poor Keira wasn't expecting the long drive either, especially since she couldn't enjoy the spectacular views sitting alone staring into the backseat. We did make a couple of stops at waterfalls or other other beautiful sights.
Once we got to Hana, I think we missed the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I guess there was a beautiful hike to amazing waterfalls which we didn't even know about. So that's kind of a bummer. On the way back Chris was in a hurry because there wasn't as much traffic on the road and Keira was cranky and lonely, so I sat in the backseat with her and started feeling a little carsick flying through all of the curves. Although amazing scenery, I think we were all ready to be done. This is just outside of Paia, about 35 miles before Hana.
The next day was gorgeous so we decided to hit the beach!
Keira loved playing in the sand!
Little girls get very dirty in sand. Luckily she was keeping her pacifier in and didn't end up with mouthfuls of sand. Chris built her a little sand castle.
Like father, like daughter.
My sister joined us in Hawaii which was absolutely wonderful!!!! She was there for almost three and a half days. Laura watched Keira for us a lot so we could have some adult-only fun and spend some quality time together like the old days! ;-) Not to be a sales women or anything, but if you ever want to take a nanny on your trip, you should ask my sis! She took EXCELLENT care of Keira!!! They had so much fun together! And she was so good about keeping Keira out of the sun so she wouldn't get sunburned. Keira loved spending quality time with her Auntie Wals!!! And I loved having my bestest girl friend there too! And I loved going shopping with her while Chris spent some relaxing time reading. Keira also got some fabulous Hawaiian souvenirs from her auntie; this cute sun hat that actually stays on, our favorite stuffed animal, a dolphin with a lei, and this beautiful Hawaiian dress. Laura is definitely Keira's favorite aunt! It's definitely nice to travel with family or friends once you have kids. So if anyone is into group vacations, we're game!
Keira's first ocean swim!
More fun in the sand.
Unfortunately I was still recovering from scuba diving and didn't really feel up to surfing. I should've just done it, how often can you say you went surfing in Hawaii! Laura's awesome and took a lesson by herself! She's just a natural athlete and surfed like a pro (at least I thought so) her very first time surfing.
After surfing in Lahaina and before taking Laurie to the airport, we decided to drive around the West Maui Mountains. We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. It was a bit longer than we had expected and the technology that we depend on a little too much didn't get service, and it was starting to get late, AND we were VERY low on gas. (Although he wouldn't admit it, even Chris was nervous!) But nevertheless it was a beautiful drive! So lush and green!
The next day we decided to explore the southwest side of the island. We drove as far as we could and hopped out of the car to look around. We ended up walking and walking and walking, not knowing at all where we were going. There was a trail that was pretty close to the ocean at some parts that took us through some of Haleakala's lava flows from over 500 years ago. It was pretty cool to see. We finally made it to a nice overlook on the south side of the island and turned around a little hot and hungry and unprepared for the rock walk in our flip flops.
Although I was trying to be optimistic, I couldn't help but to think how I wished we would've spent more time walking in the beautiful, tropical rainforests rather than on the lava rocks. :o)
Turnaround point. I think it was only about an hour out and 45 minutes back, but it seemed like longer than that!
Keira decided to cool off in the ocean.
Last days are always a little sad for me and come too quickly. But we had a wonderful day! I was excited to do a little shopping while Keira took a nap and Chris read. We had lunch at our favorite restaurant, Moose McGillycuddy's. Our hotel only had a small fridge so we had to eat out once a day. I think we ended up eating lunch there four times. They had the best fish tacos we've ever had! Our favorite, and only, dish was a fish taco, a BBQ pork slider (like a mini burger), and chips and salsa for $5.95. Not bad for Hawaii considering a gallon of milk was $4.50 and a gallon of gas was $3.83.
We also spent some time relaxing at the beach in front of our hotel, which luckily was our favorite beach on the island. I use the word "relaxing" very loosely since it's not exactly relaxing when you have a cute, squirmy baby girl you want to keep clean, reaching for everything and getting a little bored sitting on a chair looking at the ocean. In fact, vacations in general aren't quite as relaxing as I remember. I didn't read a single page of anything I brought. But it was more than worth it to have our love with us!
DADDY!!!
Life doesn't get better, Chris, Keira, and palm trees!
Waiting for sunset, enjoying every minute on the beach, trying to savor enough to last us until our next trip!
The beautiful sunset and end to our WONDERFUL trip!!!
