Funniest Day of the Trip

Each day on this trip has been fun-filled, but I have to say the day we went to Waikiki was the funniest. Rachel took us to the lagoon. We found the last available palm tree that would offer us a little shade. I don't think we had all the blankets down before Riley was in the water and Hadley was eating sand. After Rachel came back from her 5 mile jaunt with lunch, I decided Kris and I should rent a paddle boat and get a little exercise in. I figure we both could paddle 30 minutes, no sweat. Of course they only had hourly rental. We'll take it. We don't get 10 feet and we both realize something is wrong with the steering mechanism. We can only move in a straight line by peddling backwards. Of course this send us into hysterics. For the first 15 minutes we have tried everything to correct the problem, except for trading our malfunctioning flotilla in. We have been going in circles and I just looked at Kris and said, "45 minutes of fun left". Both of us start laughing until we're crying. Now we back our way towards Riley who is standing on the edge of the water probably thinking, "Please don't come any closer, I don't want people to know were related". No such luck. Kris hops off the boat as gracefully as one can and goes to get Riley. The little angel puts up with our nonsense long enough to go to the waterfall and back. I don't blame her. Kris walks her safely back to shore and now the fun begins. Kris has to reboard with as much finesse as possible. I am only sorry that I don't have any photos of this maneuver. The lagoon is really not that large of a space. We have gotten very close to the beach in order to drop Riley off, backwards mind you, so we pretty much have the attention of the entire beach. Kris is now waste deep in water and must jump onto the paddle boat without capsizing me. She has to do all this with us both laughing so hard we can't catch our breath. Every time she tries we just crack up again. I kept telling her not to worry about everyone watching. The dolphins did it while we were watching, pretend your a dolphin. It was truly the most I laughed in a long time. Kris did it on her third try after she stopped laughing. I'm only sorry I didn't have a fish to give her......and now we have just enough time to return the boat.

Saddle Up

After the spiritual uplifting of the sunrise I am ready to roll. We head down the mountain about 1000 ft. in the van, something about too many accidents on National Park property to start at the very top. Great a few dead people have to ruin it for everyone else......anyway.

So what we are using for bikes are basic heavy steel framed bikes, no gears, just brakes. But when you are only going downhill, what more do you need? I am psyched, downhill is my friend. 38 miles of nothing but speed. NOT!!!! We had to stay behind the tour leader, who keep a nice pace, but a few in the group were not very experienced bikers. They braked the whole way down. I asked if I could just meet them at the bottom, but OH! NO!, I had to stay with the group. Ho Hum. It was still a blast, albeit a safe one. We stopped for breakfast and to peel off some of our layers. Because our group was so small we finished at 9:30am instead of the usual 1:00pm. I changed to an earlier flight back to Oahu. After 3 non-stop days of adventure I was looking forward to getting back on schedule with Rachel's girls. I missed my naps.

Sunrise

My 3rd and final adventure in Maui was a sunrise bike tour down the side of a volcano. The van was to pick me up at 3:00am for the 1.5 hour trek to the volcano. Our group was only 5 people, and once we were all accounted for we went back to the main office for bike instruction and breakfast. After about an hour we got on the road. The sunrise is self explanatory. I won't bore you with all my inner reflections, but every morning at the exact moment of the sunrise, one of the park rangers preforms a sun worshipping chant from an historic Polynesian people. It was hauntingly beautiful.

When my eyes started adjusting to the dark the volcanic rock began to take on a "Lost World" feel. The low lying clouds only added to the eeriness.
TA DA!

Top 10

After our first snorkeling stop the guides passed out gourmet lunches, and took us to one of the top 10 ranked beaches in the world. The beach really was beautiful. I loved that this one palm tree was smack dab in the middle of the beach all by it's lonesome. There were plenty of palms further back, but this little guy stood tall and proud for the whole world to notice. The sand was that fine grain that you find in hour glasses. After lunch and more snorkeling, I decided to explore the rocky coastline.

One of the things I enjoy about traveling solo is I can do my own thing. While most of the others in the group were sunning themselves or snorkling with a buddy, I hit the trail. The hike was not too strenuous, but the sun was at it's hottest. I wet down my shirt before I began and made sure my water was filled. The views, as always, filled me with awe.

After hiking for an hour I headed back for our 3:00 departure. That is "Princess Rock" behind me. "DON'T JUMP".

Once back on dry dock, I headed for the bus stop and realized, once again, I have been in a wet bathing suit all day. If you've ever been on a bus in Maui, you know I fit right in.

I got back to the hotel, showered and had a quick bite, then went to bed. I've got a 2:30am wake up call. The good news, "No Bathing Suit Required".

Bucket List

One of the things on my bucket list is to swim with dolphins. Instead of doing it in guaranteed waters such as Sea World, I opted for this "sure bet"cruise. On the way out to the spot the guide was telling us that there have been no dolphin spotting that morning. One of the passengers on board had been on that cruise 4 times before, and had seen the playful mammals on each trip. My hopes are still high. On our first stop we snorkeled for 45 minutes, it was amazing, but no dolphins. The waters were so clear, and the fish plentiful, my only regret was not having an underwater camera. Now I have snorkeled before in Key West, Costa Rica and Panama, but never with the confidence that I felt on this trip. Normally I jump in and something like a barracuda, or Portuguese Man-o-war the size of a basketball scare me right back out. This time I stayed in the entire 45minutes. Okay, so the guide was cute and maybe I was showing off a bit, but I was truly enjoying myself. So much so, that not seeing any dolphins didn't spoil my day in the least. The photo above was taken at Water Wonderland (or something like that)in Oahu. It's just more fun to read with pictures.

Legends of The Fall

We all board the boat, which is really nothing more than a pimped out, blow up, Zodiac. The ride to the dolphin spot is about 45 minutes away. Everyone (15 of us, including the 2 guides) gets acquainted on the ride out. One of my favorite things about traveling to new destinations is the folk lore attached to the location. As we get close to our drop, we pass a mammoth boulder in the middle of the Pacific. This is called "Princess Rock". As the legend goes a native girl, the chief's daughter, was waiting for her lover, a lowly tribe member, at the rock. While waiting, she was drowned in one of the caves surrounding it by the incoming tide. When her paramour arrived and saw his princess dead in the cave, he carried her to the top of the massive rock and buried her, marking the spot with a white cross (if you look real close you can see it in the photo). He then proceeded to swan dive to his death, thus becoming legend. I am just grateful there is no such rock in the Chesapeake (haha).

Cab or Bus?

This morning I am heading out to Lanai for a day of snorkeling, hiking and beaching it. For this trip I had to find my way to Lahaina, a seaport where my boat was docked. Lahaina was exactly 22 miles from my hotel. When my cab driver dropped me off from the airport, I asked about a trip on Wednesday to Lahaina, he told me the cost is $80.00, I said,"round trip"?, he said, "no, one way". That would have been $160.00 round trip, that was more than I paid for the days adventure. After talking to the desk clerk, she suggested the bus. The bus stop was 2 blocks away, and cost $1.00. Yes that's right from $160.00 to $2.00, and I saw parts of the island the cab would have totally by passed.

How Much Further?

When I go anywhere new, I love getting a lay of the land by touring the area first. Now when you're are in Key West, you have the "Conch Train", in Boston you have the "Duck Tours". Both of these tours run 3 hours tops.

We are going on hour 7 when we stop at the "RedSand" beach.

. Our tour guide lets us know that most tours only make 9 stops, we will be making 18. The elastic in my suit is not happy about this revelation. We have gone through some of the greenest, lushest section of Maui, now we are headed to the other side which is dry and arid. It's was like going from the forest to the desert. Oh!! did I mention we are now on an unpaved road, and of course my bladder is full? Heaven forbid I dehydrate. We all know that after turning the tired corner I am usually good for nothing, except for maybe whining. We are on hour 11 and all I kept thinking was, "when is this going to be over". I know now that I should never book a tour over 4 hours in any type of vehicle. The gods were smiling on me, because I was the first drop off. I could not get my suit off quick enough, jumped in the shower and went to bed to ready myself for my next adventure.

Flora Extraordnaire

With everyone back in the van we head to a nursery. Unfortunately, I must have missed the memo on bringing an extra set of clothing, so you would not have the pleasure of being in a wet suit for the next 6 hours. Who cares? I'm in a wet suit in Maui.

The incredible flora in Maui will take your breathe away, why we had to stop at a nursery when the beauty is all around you was beyond me. Of course once the shopkeeper started to try to sell us 80.00 bouquet to mail home, it became clear. I am all for helping out the local economy, but a bouquet was not what I was in the maket for. Bring on the pearls.

These are just a few of the flowers that Maui had to offer. I must have taken hundreds of flower photos.

Black Sand Beaches

After 4 hours in the van we stopped for our lunch stop at a black sand beach. We had an hour and one half to enjoy this scenic stop. I think a more appropriate name would have been black jagged rock beach. I could not be stopped from going into the brilliant blue water, but the lava

rocks made it a very slow and painful process.

The rocks did not stop at the waters edge, it continued for as far out as I could still stand. Needless to say, I dove in head first as soon as I could to relieve my hurtin' pups. The water was amazing, so clean and pure. After my 20 minute swim I did a little cave exploring in the same area. I'm not normally a cave person, they are too dark and I usually end up slipping on something slimy. Luckily the light at the end of cave was very close to the entrance, so darkness was not a problem, squeezing through was.

Road To Hana

When I first knew I was going to see Rachel with Kris, I planned a 4 day excursion to Maui. I talked to all my friend who had been there and got the scoop on what not to miss. I booked 3 tours ahead of time, so as not to be left out on any of these breathtaking wonders. My 1st tour was called, "The Road to Hana".The tour van picked me up at my hotel at 6:30am, and I probably wouldn't be returning until 7:00pm. It's gonna be a long day. This was basically a tour of the entire Island, but there is one section, 68 miles long, that consists of 620 curves, 59 bridges, 49 of them are one lane. This portion of the road alone takes around 3 hours to complete.Believe me when I tell you this would be a cyclist's hell. We were in a 20 seat van, so the turns were either too close to the side of the mountain or inches from the on coming traffic. May I just say, "thank the Baby Jesus I was not at the wheel". Our guide said most tourist that start the drive end up turning around. Where they find enough space to turn around was another question all together.

We did find some space to pull over, never mind taking your life in your hands to walk to whatever the view was offering, but the outcome was always well worth it. Rainbow trees, Jaws Beach, where the largest waves on the North Shore have been riden by extreme surfers, and sections of the lushiest rain forest on the entire island

Quick Update

For those of you who have been wondering where I've been.....

Back on September 5th, I headed to Florida to help my friend Donna move into her new digs.

Donna got behind the wheel of this 24' Penske with all of her worldly belongings, well at least half of all her worldly belongings. I packed up Harper, one of my bikes and a few summer things and followed closely behind her for the next 2 days and 1036.2 miles. ....but before we get into that whole adventure I've got to take you to Maui.

North Beach and Cholo's

For this posting please go to www.livinglifeprewittstyle.blogspot.com

Thanks Rachel, I could not have said it better myself.

Pearl Harbor

I don't think anyone can come to this memorial and not be touched in some way. I started with a 25 minute short film that was shown before our tour began, it brought tears to my eyes. Kris opted to sit it out and help Rachel with the girls, because it had the exact same effect on her last time she saw it. We loaded a boat to head out to the Arizona Memorial.

Normally on the ride over to the memorial the soldiers on the shuttle boat give you a brief description on what you are about to see, I guess this trip they were a bit tired, because no info was given. That's okay... I actually enjoyed the silence. It is such a somber sight. For those of you who have not been there, This memorial was built over a portion of the actual remains of the USS Arizona and the 1177 men who went down with it. On the far wall of the structure is the shrine room where the names of those killed on the Arizona are engraved....and they thought was just going to be another day of duty. It is amazing to believe that just one day before December 7, 1941 "Battleship Row" held 21 fully functional ships.