DAY 4

Day 4 . . . Happy Birthday Robert! First things first, we sent off a birthday card and postcards!

We got out of the studio about 8:30a. Here's a cute photo of where we stayed. I grew quite fond of that crunchy volcanic rock path.



This is a view of Haleakala from our place, and our host's back yard ... 2 acres, can you imagine?! Enjoy the clear sky because things are going to get ugly!



This is our rental car.



For the first time during our trip, we got a view of the mountains of West Maui. They are a lot prettier than Haleakala, which looks like a big dirt mound.



And here's a shot of the city ...



We drove down near Wailea, and stopped at "Secret Cove", which during our stay was the location of many weddings. It is very pretty. I can see why they would pick this location, can't you?



We checked out the Fishbowl/Aquarium area. Tons of cars again, even though it was a week day. We stopped at Makena Beach. We swam and snorkeled in Po'olenalena Beach. In our guidebook, "Maui Revealed", this beach is listed as having about five names. After this visit I knew what all five names meant ... "no clothing".

(P.S. Maui Revealed was the best book ever. The only problem is that everyone has it! Seriously - that's why the Fishbowl/Aquarium were never not busy!)

We had lunch at Enrique's in Kihei. It was good, but definitely not "local" food.

After lunch we drove to Lahaina. It was a cruise ship day. It was CRAZY.



We decided we didn't know if we'd be coming back to this area much. As fate would have it, we spent a lot of time in Lahaina, and it ended up being one of our favorite locations. First impressions!



Lahaina ... we did end up eating at Bubba Gump's, but not for a few days.



Church in Lahaina.



This bathroom in Lahaina is the most colorful I've ever seen.



Whenever we would drive by, there were always people washing their clothes or taking a shower out front. I don't think they were tourists coming in from the beach.



The Banyan tree on Front Street in Lahaina.



We drove past Lahaina, stopping at Ka'anapali Beach, Kahekili Beach, and we went shopping at Whaler's Village.

Then we headed over to Napili Beach, where Matt snorkeled and I hung out on the shore.



Can you see him on the right side of the photo?



Okay, confession time. I have major issues with putting my head under water. I can swim, but I hate inhaling water, and it seems to happen to me every time I go into the ocean! I'm not afraid of the water, but I like it when it's more predictable. Po'olenalena Beach was definitely my favorite beach in this aspect. It had big, fun waves, but it was very easy to read. Napili wasn't as predictable, and I hadn't gotten into my snorkeling groove yet.

We then drove up to Honlua Bay to watch the sun go down. Going ...



Going ...



Still going ...



Nearing the end ...



Almost there ...



I'd show you the "gone" picture, but it's pretty dull.

We grabbed a very exotic McDonald's dinner on the way back to Haiku and got in about 11pm.

Some interesting notes from today: Gas in Lahaina was $4.10, my camera dropped into the sand and started to malfunction, Matt lost one of our underwater camera's at Napili (darn that beach!), we got back to our studio and found fresh flowers and fresh-picked oranges on our porch from our host, and I got a slight sunburn (which is saying a lot because I BATHED in sunscreen).