DAY 1

Day 1 of our trip began comfortably early. I think we woke up about 7:30a, which meant we got to sleep in! Goo was very relaxed, and didn't know he was in for almost 2-weeks of being trapped in the house. He was just enjoying the sun.



My dad dropped us off at the airport. Our flight left at 11:40a. We grabbed breakfast at the airport, which was a sandwich and an Odwalla. Yum!



After the 6 hour and 30 minute flight, I was very ready to move my legs! I was very grateful for the movies, which helped the time go by. They showed Enchanted, Martian Child, and some Chris Rock cable sitcom that I'd never heard of before. It was funny because a lot of the passengers started getting up and walking around to visit with other passengers during the last few hours. I had never been on such a casual flight, or one so long!

Getting off the plane, this was my first glimpse of Maui from the ground.



I could instantly feel the humidity, and my hair started to frizz. Everyone getting off the plane looked red-faced and sweaty. I know now that all our dried-prune bodies were eagerly soaking up the moisture! I was very grateful for the wind, which was blowing pretty hard. Otherwise, I would have melted in my mid-sleeve T-shirt, jeans, hiking boots, with my hair down covering my neck, and feeling very much like a scarf!

We got our Alamo rental car and were off! It was an interesting experience getting the car. They pointed us in the direction of the lot where our size of cars were located. They told us to pick the one we wanted and that the keys would be in the ignition. We picked the white Pontiac with the sunroof. It also had a low tire. It took us a couple days to find a gas station with an air hose.



I was pretty interested in the sugar cane fields at first. They were very beautiful and green. After driving by them many times, I kind of forgot about them. But, they are very pretty.



We dropped by Costco (Kahului) for water and food. I was surprised that the prices on most things were equal to the Costco in Utah. Then headed to Haiku (near Paia) where our rental was located, which could be called the middle of Maui. It's amazing that to visit the farthest points of the island were closer than visiting some family members back home!

There is a lot of road construction on Maui. I love the orange signs that would say that highway such-and-such was going to be under construction "beginning October 7, 2006". Um ... ?

My favorite was the one we saw on our last day that said a certain project was to begin on June 10, 1993, and to contact a certain number with any questions on progress.

"Aloha Spirit" = Don't expect anything quickly.

We did indeed see the bumper sticker that said, "Slow down, you're not on the mainland".



Our place in Haiku was wonderful, and quiet. The roosters woke us up each morning, and we learned not to turn any lights on in the early-early morning hours because they would start crowing early. A 3am rooster wake-up call isn't cool!



I was very excited to get out of my Utah clothes! By the time we got settled, my hair had turned into sweaty, wind-whipped dreads. I looked really awesome (not). I subsequently spend my entire vacation with a braided ponytail.

We had just enough daylight hours left to head to a beach and watch the sun go down. We tried Baldwin Beach, which was very crowded. We ended up driving to South Maui and stopped at Wailea Beach.



As the sun went down, the moon was coming up.



And the clouds were rolling in for an evening shower on Haleakala.



We drove farther down the coast marvelling at the smells (musty warm ocean water and floral breezes), the sounds (chirping frogs and rustling palm trees), and the sights (burning tiki torches at every turn) until it was too dark to see anything. We turned around at "Dumps" and headed back to Haiku, stopping at McDonald's (how creative) for dinner.

He drove the 10-miles to Haiku from Kahului through a nice misty rain.

And then .... Sleep! Our minds and bodies were still in Utah, so it was 3am.