Bye Bye Maui

As we retreat from the heat of the day to carefully pack-up our over-full bags (grr, I wish I were a better packer), we close our suitcases and our time in Maui.

Highlights have included:
- Hanging out with our friends for the first week
- Our second snorkel trip to "the fishbowl" where I encountered and swam through a huge school of fish
- Mama's fish house
- Chocolate soufflé at Roy's
- Playing paddle ball, my new fave sport
- Going to the ABC store (I just love that place)
- Drinking Jamba juices
- Walking along the paved ocean-front pathway in Wailea
- Drinking the sangria that we made (I have a secret ingredient which does wonders every time)
- Enjoying the weather which was miraculously fab the whole time
- Playing tennis
- Taking surfing lessons
- Playing in the ocean until my lips feel like I've eaten a million tortilla chips
- Reading on the beach

Some items left to be desired:
- Seeing a turtle while snorkelling
- Hana's waterfalls (carsickness doesn't allow me to go, although maybe Nathan could pull an A-Team on me so I suddenly 'fall into a deep sleep' for the car ride)
- More surfing
- Skimboarding (although I guess I can do that at Spanish Banks since we'll live close by)
- Fresh pineapples and mangoes
- Warm weather (I’d be happy to live in this kind of heat the whole time and just take ski trips!)

Better go to sleep, it's 11:30pm now and our 3am wake up will come alarmingly (no pun intended - ha ha) soon.

The Waves Ate My Shorts

Okay, at least the waves didn't swallow my shorts! Seriously though, the waves at DT Fleming beach (just north of Ka'anapali) ate me alive while boogie-boarding and I literally almost lost my shorts. Since I've only really boogie-boarded on the flowrider, my experience in real waves was much different --more exhilarating, tiring and a little scary. At one point I collided with a pretty big wave and did a few somersaults underwater, got disoriented and then the cord from my boogie-board went across my neck. I guess that's all part of "Maui 101."

Over the past few days here we've lounged, walked hung out with friends and relaxed. One morning I wanted to walk for about an hour and then our stroll turned into a Gilligan-style 3-hour-tour. For some reason I didn't think it would take a long time to reach the end of the Wailea walk from mid-Kihei. Oops. To cool down mid-trek we stopped at the Fairmont and had an overpriced yogurt parfait and iced-americano. Needless to say we got back a little tired and burnt, but better for it.

Cruisin' Maui in the Dodge Stratus

After the Thrifty's car rental agent beside us was freely offering PT Cruiser Convertibles to every person who checked in with her, our agent offered us either a Dodge Stratus or a Magnum. Even though our decision to forego the Magnum may seem odd to some people, our logic took over and we decided that the trusty stratus would be better on gas. Why oh why are we plagued with the logic gene?

We got into Kehei two nights ago and landed at the Maui Vista right across from Charley Young beach. Our 1980’s style 3rd-floor perch has a distant ocean view, simple Hawaiian-style decor and afternoon sun. Because we're facing the west we're lucky enough to see some sunsets.

Last night we missed the sunset at mama's fish house because it was a little to hazy, but we did have a great time celebrating Jeff's b-day in the tropics over mai tais and various fish and steak dishes. Apparently mama’s fish house guarantees that all the fish they serve is caught between 12-17 hours of it landing on your plate, but I can’t confirm this amazing claim. Either way, my Ono done with macadamia nuts, jasmine rice and ratatouille veg was really, really good. Mama's was so busy --even mid-week-- that when we tried to book a party of 6 for this week, the only times they had available were 4:30pm or 8:45pm. We chose 4:30pm.

Right now we're off to Ahihi bay to snorkle with the gang (jeff, karla and ben + nolan, dana and eli). I don't think the little ones will don masks (since they are 3 and 10 months) but I'm sure they'll like seeing their parents wearing silly masks --I know I will. Last time we were at Ahihi, Nathan was upset he didn't see a turtle, yet he did see a small octopus so I didn't feel so bad for him. Maybe he'll see a turtle today?