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| View from our Papakea condo-west Maui |
We are back from Maui, Hawaii (as well as from an extended smaller trip to see family
in western Washington). Upon reflection, I feel as if I have been adrift at sea
for the past two weeks and slowly swimming back against the surf.
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Our patio on left; quiet romantic breakfasts
every morning |
After a week back home of regrouping
and letting life take hold again, my feet are finally planted on the shore. This was our first time to Hawaii. For years I have heard
others describe their
adventures and experiences in Hawaii, with eyes glistening and hearts aglow. A
family of four I know has made this trek yearly for as long as I can remember.
They claim to not worry about the expense and simply spend the rest of the year
paying off their credit card debt. Another friend and his wife travel to Maui
yearly to the same condo, where they hole up with visiting family and loads of
books. More recently, two dear friends island hopped and had a marvelous time. Frankly,
we just never could afford it before, and we were hardly the big spenders this
time around either.
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| Vince at seawall |
Maui was lovely of course, but I must confess there is no
comparison to our experience living in Southeast Asia in the 1990s, where we basked
in the rich diverse cultures of Malaysia, Thailand
and Indonesia. Beaches and
sunsets were breathtaking and we had the snorkeling experience of a lifetime on
Tioman Island, complete with komodo dragons fighting on the beach. But what
Hawaii has that no other Pacific tropical region has is the safety of U.S.
borders. As one wanting to visit every country in the world, I find this
comforting in our increasingly unsafe world. No worries, no passports to update
and stress over, no food issues, no language barriers, no money quandaries.......and
no civil wars!
We rented a condo on Maui’s west coast for five days, where
we had an unobstructed view of the ocean and the island of Molokai. I had
forgotten how powerful the surf can be.....AND NOISY. Vince woke up in the
middle of the night to the surf shaking our room and the seawall just twenty feet away, and began surfing the net on his phone for a tsunami warning. It turns out there
had just been a major earthquake in the Philippines, so he was a bit stirred
up. Ha-ha. False alarm....no worries in the end. All in all, it was a gorgeous setting
for early morning breakfasts on the patio, with the sun barely surfacing and few
people about. Given the 3-hour time difference, we woke early on most days.
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| The happy couple |
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Bryce, Brenda, Jennifer and Richard.
The wedding groomsmen and
bridesmaids (bride's daughters) |
The rest of our time was tourist-packed, exploring the
sights, the old town of Lahaina in particular, and
anticipating the wedding on
the second day, our main reason for coming. Vince’s brother and his girlfriend were
married on a beach north of us. The wedding went well without a hitch and
they seem to be off to a happy start. We had to laugh though when we first arrived.
Apparently the beach is a popular wedding location. The parking lot was full when
we arrived and there were brides and grooms and bridal parties walking about, all
waiting their turn. But from the pictures you would never guess anyone else
was around!
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| Vince at Haleakala crater |
More than the beaches, for us the highlight was visiting
Maui’s dormant volcano, Haleakala. Often socked in with fog and clouds at 10,023
feet, we decided to google the mountain's weather beforehand and saw that only one day had possibilities.
We lucked out. The top was clear and sunny that day. The views overlooking the vast crater
and cinder cones were absolutely surreal. We are so glad we went.
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| "I'm sitting on top of the world" |
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Hawaii's state bird, the Nene. Oh, I so much wanted
to see one, but never did. I have this bird in my book! |
We had passed
on the snorkeling, submarine rides, zip lines, and sailboat rides,
concentrating more on local history and scenery. (I think we are more travelers
than tourists).
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| "Drums of the Pacific Luau" |
However, we did go to a traditional luau (a must :) and Maui’s
Ocean Center, a large walk-through aquarium in Maalaea. Also in Maalaea was the
only quilt store in all of Maui, where I found a locally made quilt with a turtle design. We gave this to
Doug and Karen as a wedding gift. Wish I had taken a photo. They loved it!
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| Maui Ocean Center |
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| Surfer on northern coast, along the road to Hana. Surf
looked about 4 feet high. One surfer lost his board and had to be
rescued by another surfer. I'm glad they watch out for each other! |
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Baldwin house. Missionary home in 'old' Lahaina. Lots of history in Lahaina. (We visited this town twice). Home had two feet thick walls, as was customary in England. Turns out it was perfect insulation in the tropical heat.
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A good trip, although it is always nice to be home again. If
only it did not take so long to reacclimate. I have so much to do. I woke up to
snow on the rooftops this morning and an overwhelming drive to finish my last
two chapters...or else. Grrr....BIG GRRR....time to get tough (on me)! I have a ton of
books to read and review, too. But aren’t Mondays great? They inspire fresh
ideas and provide untold energy. Wow....I have the whole week ahead of me. I am eager
to jump in and see what I can do. How about you?
Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl
Sharon M. Himsl
Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing