Maui: Family Vacation in March

In early March, Wade, Tai, and I had the opportunity to share a great week on Maui with my folks (Terry and Linda) in one of their beautiful ocean view units at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort.


While we were there, our adjoining rooms shared the same amazing morning and evening views (and every sunny, overcast, and rainy moment in between).















We spent our days snorkeling, golfing, boogie-boarding, watching whales, dining out, and exploring. We had a great time!














Before heading over to Ka'anapali, Wade, Tai, and I spent two great nights at The Inn At Mama's Fish House. We had a huge, non-ocean-front room that was airy and open.














At my insistance, we took a drive up the Hana Highway - 600+ turns and over 60 bridges in about 40 miles. It was fun? (Well, I thought it was!)

On the way, we stopped at a small village and walked out onto an amazing lava flow...














We went to the Blue Pool which actually does exist (despite the many hand written signs along the way that said it didn't!). We were glad we ignored the signs and kept going!



















We made it all the way to the 7 Sacred Pools... not the highlight of the drive, but kind of fun. Tai and I went sort of "off trail" and found a water chute. Tai was brave and young (read, "reckless") enough to give it a try... Twice. He'd definitely tell you that once was enough. Ouch!
















On the west side of Maui, at Ka'anapali, we relaxed on the beach...














Hung out together and watched the sunset...














And, went "fishing" for Koi...














We also went on a whale watching trip - even though we didn't see many close up, my folks did on an earlier trip. (Photos from both trips are included in the Whale Watch posting.)















Dan's Greenhouse is a little greenhouse (hence the name!) and exotic bird hang-out. The birds are beautiful and amazing! (See more photos in Dan's Greenhouse posting)

Here I am with a female cock-a-too (at least I think that's what she is)















It was a great family week! And, like all good things, we just couldn't get enough of it. We are already scheming ways to return sooner, rather than later!

Read on for a short guided tour of some of our favorite activities...
Aloha!

Maui: Whale Watch

We saw whales from the beach at the resort. They were spectacular and beautiful.

We also had a chance to go on a whale watch on a zodiac pontoon boat. While we were out, we had one close encounter with a mother whale and her calf. The curious calf was actually swimming toward the boat to get a closer look when momma decided he was close enough and nudged him away with her huge head.

Other than that, we didn't get much action. But, it was a beautiful day - wonderful to be out on the water doing anything, let alone watching whales!

My folks, however, had some amazing close encounters which they were able to capture on film. I've posted a few of them here as the "whales we could've watched."
Here's a whale opening its mouth - you can actually see the baleen. A pretty rare shot.






This is a big guy going down for a perfect deep-sea dive.














A pair of whales












Another dive...














And, yes! This huge whale really was this close to their boat!

A baby whale breaches (Wade caught this one from the beach!)

Maui: A Trip to Dan's Greenhouse

Dan's Greenhouse is a great little place in downtown Lahaiha!

There, you'll find beautiful bonsai plants that are packaged for shipment to the mainland (I bought two!) and a beautiful array of very friendly, hand-trained exotic birds.


We all passed this pretty little cockatoo around...

...and when we put her down she got pretty upset!










We had a great time holding different birds and being amazed at how large they were and how much they liked to be held.

Dan's also has a resident pot-belly pig - plus a litter of piglets in the back!

Maui: Golfing At Ka'anapali North

On Monday, all five of us spent most of the day on the Ka'anapali North Course. It's a beautiful golf course that sports amazing ocean views from many of the fairways.

Mom's got the best back swing of us all!

Tai doesn't golf, but he does drive my cart.

Tai, mom, and I goof around with Wade's new camera while the guys tee off.

Wade likes it when encourage him and give him pointers on his game. (NOT!)

Still friends at the end of a tough round...














After golf, we headed to Mala, a great little ocean-side tavern at the north end of Lahaina Town. It's a perfect place to relax after a long day of golf (if that's what you call what we did!).

Maui: Boogie Boarding At Honolua Bay

The family that boogie boards together stays together. Or something like that...

On the day before we left, Wade, Tai, Terry, and I spent a wonderful afternoon at Honolua Bay - a favorite spot of locals and tourists for snorkeling and boogie boarding.



On this particular day, however, we had the beach and some great waves all to ourselves.

Tai and I took a bunch of waves together.















...and then went back for more...







...over...











...and over...








...and over again.




Dad turned out to be an old pro!
And, Tai did not need to be reminded that there aren't many teenagers who can say they've boogie boarded with their grandpa.




It was a great day!

Maui: Haleakala Sky Line Tours (aka "Zip Line Fun!")

The Sky Line Tours zip line (http://www.skylinehawaii.com/) is a great way to spend a couple of hours on a sunny (or rainy) afternoon. Groups of 10 -15 thrill-seeking tourists gather and put their lives in the hands of a couple of wise-cracking guides in an effort to "cheat death" as only a fool-hardy group of casual strangers can...

You have to book pretty far in advance, so the Saturday afternoon we chose (way back in January) turned out to be a bit drizzly (which was a big improvement over the series of drenching downpours that we'd had during the morning). In fact, the weather was so crappy that morning, we called to see if we could reschedule for another day. That's when we discovered that they were booked "until April 15th..."
So, on that rainy afternoon, all five of us (Tai, Wade, Terry, Linda, and me) met at the zip line shack for an afternoon of adventure.

After gearing up, we were ready to go. Thank God they didn't have any mirrors, so we had no idea just how dorky we looked! (The guys, however, were quite aware of the positive visual effect that the harness had on their manhood...)

So, one by one, we all took the leap off of a series of progressively higher, longer, and more daunting zip line "trails." Although it's perfectly safe, it's still a thrill to throw yourself off of a platform that's 50 - 100 feet off the ground, and then fly hundreds of yards across 150 foot high gullies at 35+ mph. (It bears noting, however, that the guides are not allowed to tell patrons that the zip lines are "safe"...)

Photos of us zipping through the air don't do the experience justice. As I've said, we were going fast, were pretty high above the ground on a lot of them - and, of course, we had to steer.

At 63, my dad is a trooper! He lept off each platform with gusto and without hesitation - proving that even "old guys" can do it! (Little did we know at the time, but he was a bit "weak in the knees" on a few of the more challenging leaps.)




Here's Wade taking the plunge. Don't let the look of pain (or is that sheer terror?!) on his face fool you! He loved it and had a great time.

Wade, Tai and Dani on the "other side" of one of the zip line trails.

Tai posing with one of the guides. Like I said, they were absolutely hilarious! But, even though they were cracking jokes most of the time, they definitely put "safety first."

Here's the last dive of the day - over 1000 feet across a huge ravine. On this one, you actually get up to speeds of over 35 mph... and even more if "gravity" is on your side (if you know what I mean)!

We each took the plunge... (I think dad went first so that he could get pictures of each of us coming down...

First mom....

Then Tai....

Wade went, too (but you already saw a shot of him on an earlier zip line)

and then me...

We all survived!

And, Tai's opinion of the whole day? Well, his face speaks for us all!