Maui

As some of you might know, about a month ago I went with a great bunch of people to Maui for a few days. It was really great to go. For one thing I had never been there before and for another it's always nice to spend time with friends. I don't do it enough. Especially since I've come back from my last trip to the 'frozen north'. I've always loved just hanging out with friends.

For the most part I knew everyone who went, which is nice. Though I got to meet some pretty fun new people. There was about 17 of us who went. My friend (and ministry pastor) Scott set it up. He did a awesome job. It's always hard to coordinate a large group of people but we also had coming and going throughout the trip. That got a little crazy but he held up well.

I would love to say that I took lots of pictures but my camera died the first day I was there! I was devastated. I love taking pictures. To me that part of the fun of going on trips. But what are you going to do. If it's dead it's dead. And for those of you who might think it was the batteries, it wasn't. Basically the motor for the lens broke. It's actually kinda funny because I tease one of my friends that he broke it. I took a picture of him and that was the last picture I took!

The picture that killed the camera

We arrived in Maui Thursday morning and of course the first thing we did after we got our bags and rental cars was hit Krispy Kreme. They only have one in the whole state and it's on Maui. Actually it's probably a good thing they don't have one near me. I love when they are fresh and hot. After Krispy Kreme we went to a park. I have to say I'm so blessed to be in Hawaii. It truly is one of the most beautiful places on earth. We all walked around the park for a little bit. Snapped a bunch of pictures (this was before the death of my camera) then headed out to the place we were staying. Even the drive out there was nice. Maui still grows and harvests sugar cane. It reminded me of growing up on the Big Island. Whenever I see sugar cane fields I think of old Hawaii back in the plantation days.

The drive to the park

Sugar cane fields with the mountains in the distance

Soon after we had lunch (it's Hawaii, we do alot of eating) we got settled into our rooms then headed out to the beach. YEA!!! Yet another thing I don't get to do often enough. There was some confusion with the different cars alot where each other were but soon that got cleared up and we met up and got wet. I had comes to realize that the official rental car of Maui is the Chevy HHR. There were so many of them everywhere. We thought at one point that we found the other part of our group by their car but we didn't.

After the beach it was of course time to eat again so we got changed and to dinner. One nice about thing about Hawaii is that there is plenty of variety of food choices. Our choice was Vietnamese. I don't remember what I had but I remember that I liked it. Then after dinner it was back to the condo and into the hot tub. Not a bad way to end the night!

The next morning some of us were up early. I won't say bright because the sun hadn't come up yet. The purpose of getting up so early (like 3:00) was to go and watch the sun rise at Haleakala. Haleakala is a old volcano summit and needless to say that because of the higher elevation it was freezing!!!! We were all so cold. But it was totally worth it. The sunrise was amazing. And Scott was nice enough to let me take his camera to take pictures. Speaking of Scott he has a great blog with his reflections of the trip and more pics if you want to check it out.

The sun rising over Haleakala crater

After we were awed and unthawed we of course went for breakfast. We stopped at this little town and ended up there for a while just walking around and enjoying the small town feel. Unfortunately because of a mix up we didn't get to go whale watching. But we had fun anyway. That night we drove to Lahaina and some of us watched a excellent production called 'Ulalena. It's a Hawaiian cultural look at the history of Maui. They used alot of different elements, some were like Cirque De Soleil, some was dance, I really enjoyed it. After a nice stroll down the street checking out the galleries it was back home for another night of little sleep.

The group who went to 'Ulalena

We got little sleep because we had to get up early to meet with Tripp. Tripp's a guy from church, who grew up in Maui, and graciously offered to play tour guide and host for the last two days we were there. He, his sister and her family packed up their trucks a took us to their family property in Hana. Not only did they give us a place to camp out but they cooked for us the whole rest of the time!

So off we went on the road to Hana...I almost feel like I should burst into song like the old Bing Crosby and Bob Hope road movies...we're off on the road to Hana...uh, sorry anyways like I said we were off. If you ever get a chance to go to Maui and drive to Hana you should. The drive is often narrow and windy but the views are incredible. Our tour guide Tripp stopped often to share the sights, which really helped those among us who got motion sickness. One of the places we stopped was a bridge that people jump off of into a pool of water. I have to give all of them who jumped props because that took guts! Even if we did harass a couple who took awhile to do it they did it, so kudos to you.

Tripp jumping off the ledge

We stopped once for some yummy banana bread (told you we like to eat) then a couple other places and eventually we made it to Tripp's family's vacation spot. Because it was just a vacation spot we were camping out. The nice thing was though we had a working bathroom and electricity. Definitely a plus for me. Setting up camp didn't take all that long then it was back to playing tourist. Tripp took us to a cave that was partially under water. The water was incredibly clear and incredibly COLD! It stole your breathe when you jumped in. We swam under a low part in the ceiling and to the back of the cave. The water was so beautiful it almost looked like it glowed.

In the ice water cave

After the cave we warmed up on the beach doing some body surfing. The sand at the beach was like none that I've ever seen before. It looked like salt and pepper. Black and white mixed together. Very cool. When we got back we were able to take a nice hot shower from water from a wood heated hot water tank. Quite ingenious if you ask me. It was so nice I didn't want to get out but there was a line behind me so I couldn't linger. As we were sitting around talking after dinner one of the guys was so nice to share some wonderful information with us. Did you know that roaches can't back up? They can only turn around so if they crawl into your ear they get stuck there. That was more info then I ever wanted to know, especially since I was spending the night in a sleeping bag under the stars! Thanks Chaz, I jumped all night long, every time I heard a bug by my ear!

The next morning I woke up before everyone else and was able to get some devotionals in which was nice. After a nice morning stroll and a great breakfast we were off to a special spot the a friend of Tripp's sister took us to. It's one of those spots that you have to know somebody to go to. It was a beautiful fresh water waterfall right on the beach. And it was yet another place with really cold water. After we swam around under the waterfall and yet more jumping off of high places some of us went back to the homestead. We got in front of the lead car and thought we were just heading back. But it turns out that the lead car with the tour guides hit one more spot. When I asked Scott where they went afterward he totally lied to me! He told me they went to another waterhole but the water was nasty. Like I said totally lied. It turned to be another gorgeous pool and waterfall. The bum.

A bunch of us under the waterfall

The waterhole with the nasty water

Someone in the group had a earlier flight then the rest of the group because of needing to be back for work. So one car (my car) loaded up all the checked luggage and headed back to the airport. We checked in the luggage and drove back where we started the drive to Hana from. Scott and Chaz decided to stay with the car while Alex and I went for pizza. When we got to the pizza place they were having a benefit for a local radio and were broadcasting live from there that day. We sat and listened to the great live music for a while. Later on we met up with the rest of the group and headed for Mexican. I know I know more food. What can I say?

As we were eating dinner I found out that I had missed some action. Apparently one of Tripp's sister's dog took a dislike to Dural and decided to show his dislike. All I have to say is that it's a good thing the dog was on a chain and that Dural is so quick on his feet. The dog just barely missed Dural and Dural had the hole in his shorts to prove it!

Like I said way in the beginning, it was really great. I had so much fun. It will definitely be a very fond memory. Thanks for joining me, I hope you enjoyed it too.