OK - more than 3 months back on the mainland, and still mentally marooned on Hawaii. Been venturing back and forth between Maui and Kauai, mostly - sometimes venturing over to Oahu, but not very often. Can't shake it. Everywhere I turn - Suzy's "Bachelorette" show tonight is filmed on Maui, Ford made us watch part of "Six Days, Seven Nights" (filmed on Kauai) last weekend (yes, Ford - we watched it right when we came back, then flipping through channels he saw Harrison Ford (in a millisecond pause clicking through) and said "Dad, can we watch that movie from Hawaii?). I'll keep this blog live until I can physically return to the islands.

Hawaii - the most remote island group in the world.

Michener's Hawaii, I just finished reading last week and wish it would go on forever. I'll be blogging about that in the future. That book has nearly wrecked my dream of penning a novel of my own - a dense masterpiece of fiction, layered in true history, un-equaled by anything I've previously read - any writing of my own would seem childish in comparison, regardless of what I set out to do. It does make me want to keep reading, however - all about Hawaii and the storied history that Michener sometimes directly depicts, and sometimes only mildly suggests.

Some of my favorite parts of our trip (in no particular order), in retrospect:

1. Feast at Lele Luau on Maui - spectacular, awesome, fun with the family (the picture of Paige below I love - she was dressed up and very clean after a great beach day...). It was highly recommended, and fully delivered. The service was great, the entertainment was highly engaged and engaging - and the weather was spectacular. Plus, the setting in Lahaina, overlooking the harbor, has special meaning to me now after reading Hawaii (more on that in a future blog).

2. The town of Lahaina on Maui - shave ice, restaurants, shops, spectacles of people. Historical connections, including the banyan tree, provide something for everyone.

3. Waterfall hikes on the road to Hana

4. Hot beach day in Poipu (the picture of Ford to the right is on this beach, he is pushing the barrier sitting "underneath" a rope line setup to protect a sleeping monk seal in the background - he kept inching closer and closer....)

5. Helicopter over Kauai

6. Moana Surfrider hotel

7. Snorkeling, sandcastle-building, and beaches everywhere. I could spend the rest of my life doing things with the kids like what Alex is doing below:

8. the beach at Hanelei (spelling? took me a while to even remember the name... aaaaaaahhhh - I need to go back before it all disappears in a fog).

Alright - got to get back to Minnesota - Suzy's telling me it's time for bed. I think I'm going to talk to her about Maui in summer '10 before we fall asleep.

Falls video

Day 11: Maui - Wailea and the Road (not quite all the way) to Hana

So, this day was fraught with indecision - but it turned out well anyway.  Knowing it was our last real day on Maui, we kind of lingered, enjoying our oceanfront room  and the grounds of the Ka'anapoli Shores resort (OK - I'm going to drop the apostrophes from here on out - trusting that only family is really reading this - and I'll be forgiven if anyone even notices.  I kind of like the native authenticity of properly spelling and apostrophe'ing everything, but trying to get everything right is driving me nuts).

Based on my need to hit all of the beaches I thought we should hit, we went north to Oneloa Beach just on the other side of Kapalua.  It seemed like a great beach - but the wind and waves would have killed us.  Seriously.  No one was at the beach and we were starting to worry that our last day might not be a beach day.  Suzy suggested we head south - which kind of threw my agenda out the window - but she was right, and we did so.

It takes a bit over an hour to get from Kapalua to Wailea, but it was worth it - we parked at the public lot and hit Wailea beach for a few hours - we snorkeled and saw our third sea turtle (Paige's first - and the biggest at that!), and had our lunch before deciding, early afternoon (which all the guidebooks say is a no-no), to dip our toes in the water of the road to Hana.

We were very glad we did, although by my calculations we maybe made it about halfway before turning back.  If the second half is as much fun as the first half, we'll finish it next time.  People had given us mixed opinions about this - but if you like fantastic, unseen-elsewhere scenery mixed with LOTS of diverse hiking options (most with hidden waterfalls as destinations, it seemed to us) - the road to Hana is supercool.

Thanks again to "Maui Revealed", I targeted our first stop at 1-6/10 mile past the 5 mile marker - no signage, only a tight dirt turnout shoved up against a bamboo forest.  Suzy was a bit reluctant to hop the wire fence where there was a break in the bamboo, but the kids scrambled right over so we had to follow. 

 We made our way down the hill along a sliding, slippery mud path through the bamboo, down to a stream (I want to call it a river, but really shouldn't).

It took us awhile to figure out how to cross - because at the time I didn't realize that it was private land that we didn't have permission specifically granted to, so I figured there had to be an easy way - finally I submerged to waist-high water and helped everyone else swim/walk across the flowing (rushing?) water. 

From there, it was navigating the trail through the bamboo and rocky pathways, to two fantastic waterfalls, one of which had a great swimming pool below that Alex and Paige enjoyed.  There apparently are two more falls beyond, but we were satisfied with the ones that we saw (and, though the rest of us may qualify, I had a hard time considering Ford an "Advanced" hiker).

The payoff:

We headed back to the car and kept driving.  We hit a few more shorter trails, but the first one was probably the highlight of the entire vacation for the kids.  One of the trails identified in the Maui Revealed book had a very strict "No Trespassing" sign covering it and the very smelly, rotting remains of some sort of animal (by the looks of the jawbone, I'd identify it as a cross between an antelope and a wolf - but I'm not sure if those exist in the middle of the Pacific.  Guess I'm not sure they exist anywhere, but that's what it looked like.  I can still imagine the horrible smell.) - so we didn't take that trail.

The rest of the road to Hana, including our return, consisted of banana bread (two stops at the same shack), and watching surfers between driving along the beautifully winding road.  Again, supercool and we will return some day.

We ate at BJ's Pizza in Lahaina that night, and were glad we did.  BJ's is situated justlike Cheeseburger in Paradise is - on the top floor of a two story building along Front Street (the main drag along the coast in Lahaina), completely open to the outdoors and oceanfront.  Great atmosphere and feel, and we were glad we did it.  Great end to a great last full day on Maui.

Day 10: Maui - Lahaina Town & Ka'anapali Beach

Just got back from a very tame day - weather was a bit cloudy (that's as close as I'll get to a complaint about Hawaii weather - and we didn't even mind).  Because we changed rooms at the condo, we now have a complete oceanfront suite that is all glass on the ocean-side - so we lingered this morning with breakfast, day planning, and just "vacationing" around the room and the complex.  Suzy got her toe nails touched up (I think that's what she did - I don't understand that stuff and maybe she got all her nails done, I don't know - I'm not even sure what touching up nails means), then we headed into Lahaina for Maui Tacos, shopping, and Banyan Tree Park (which is really cool).

We re-acquainted ourselves with Shave Ice - and found the best place for it in Maui - Annie's Shave Ice.  Awesome.  Inside, Suzy again recognized someone from Wayzata - and then I realized I knew the guy - they go to Woodridge and he was on the building committee with me.  Spent 20 minutes or so catching up with them, who are here for the week with their 4 kids.

We then shopped around Lahaina before heading to Ka'anapali Beach for a very relaxed afternoon with the kids playing on a quiet beach (quiet probably because of the clouds and a bit of wind).  Frozen pizza gourmet at the unit tonight - I'll probably get the keyboard greasy because I got a cable for my camera that will allow me to add photos to this blog!  (and I'm eager to share).

Day 8: Maui - Kahekili Beach

Eating lunch in the condo after a few hours at Kahekili Beach just south of our place.  Greatest swimming beach ever, even with wind - clear as the best-maintained swimming pool, for as far as you can see.  Both Lana'i and Moloka'i framing the backdrop - I joked to Alex that I was going to swim to Lana'i and he wasn't sure if I was kidding or not.  I wasn't either!

Paige got her hair braided this morning and now looks like a beautiful little island girl.  If I can get a cord for my camera I'll upload a picture later today.

A couple of suggestions while I'm thinking about it - I decided this trip that I was going to highlight, scribble, and write notes all over our Frommer's guidebook - and I'm glad I did.  Very rarely do people re-use these because they're updated annually, and there really isn't any reason to keep it pristine - it's actually become a good log/record of our trip, and the highlighting and tabbing is very helpful at keeping us focused.  This is a practice I've never done before but would recommend to anyone who plans/thinks like me (and maybe that is just me, come to think of it).  The other suggestion is that if anyone is ever coming to Hawaii and staying for a week or so on a particular island, I would STRONGLY recommend the "..(island name).. Revealed" book for that island, published by Wizard Publications, Inc.  Matter-of-fact, un-paid, unbiased call-it-like-it-is reviews and descriptions are awesome.  Great for understanding the whole island and focusing your time appropriately.

So, I should get off - kids are getting restless even though the music of Iz is wafting through our unit and the wind is blowing outside - we think we're going to do more beach (possibly Oneloa) and then hit the town of Lahaina just south of here.

Alright, back on - Alex wanted to chill with his PSP/DS, Ford, Paige, and Suzy wanted to pool, and I thought I'd blog a bit - so I'm working backwards on logging our trip.  I really want to get the pictures added so we may need to look for a camera cord this afternoon.  This record of our trip may last forever!  [Kids if you're reading this in the distant future - we had a great time - and if one of you is now rich, please buy me a place on Kaua'i - even if it has a headstone.  Better yet, if I'm dead (let's assume it's the way distant future), just scatter my ashes at Mahaulepu Beach.]

Day 7: Maui - Napili Beach

I'm starting with Day 7 because it is most recent - hoping I can go back and insert earlier posts....

Yesterday we spent "adjusting": Kaua'i and Maui are different - I'm more Kaua'i than Maui, Suzy definitely liked our place in Kaua'i better, and the kids just needed a slow day.  The morning by the pool, wrapped up by lunch at the "Beach Club" poolside restaurant, and the afternoon at Napili Beach.

So, at lunch, Alex says "Paige, isn't that Ben from our bus?", to which Paige casually replied "yea."  Sure enough, there was another family with kids in Plymouth Creek Elementary staying at Ka'anapli Shores resort in Maui!  Small world connection - they live less than a mile from us in Minnesota.

Before hitting the beach we finally hit Snorkel Bob's for some rentals - 

had a great young sales guy named Nick help gear us up, and he recommended Napili Beach right behind the store for our initial Maui efforts (Alex and I snorkeled in Kaua'i but without fins, and Paige was without any gear at all).  The surf was too strong for Paige, but Alex and I headed out to the reefs (can that word be plural, Mom?) and saw a fair assortment of fish.  Nothing like what we'd seen in Kaua'i (and in case I don't make time to "catch up" on blogging from Kaua'i - snorkeling at Poipu in Kaua'i was awesome - hundreds of fish, wide varieties, and a sea turtle), but OK nonetheless.

Here is a link to a webcam from Napili beach, we parked ourselves between the V of the palm trees you can see (this link is not from the condo we stayed at):  

Napili Beach webcam

Paige and Alex loved the surf at this beach (Ford did, too, we just had to keep him under control or he may have been carried off to Moloka'i).  The beach is uniquely steep, so when the waves break in close, you can float "up" the hill, and then ride back "down" the hill for 20 feet or so, continuously.  Very cool, we had to wrench them away at the end of the day.

When we finally did peel them from the oceanside, we looked briefly (unsuccessfully) for a nearby shave ice stand (which is OK - our shave ice every day habit, with a few days x2, was looking early on to cost us something on the order of $300 or more.... but it is so good....) before heading back to the condo for an evening of cincinnati chili and the Nickelodeon "Kid's Choice Awards" show.

Day 6: Kaua'i -> Maui

Sad day because we're leaving Kaua'i and our wonderful place.

Flight between islands was kind of a throwback, and rather pleasant.  Plane lands from somewhere else, we walk out onto the runway and climb into the plane, and plane takes off again.  Pretty cool - and the hour long flight was great.  I wish someone had reminded me that the Kaua'i-to-Maui flight flies directly over all of the islands except the Big One, because out of the left side of the plane we had a great aerial view of this and I didn't realize it until we were halfway past Honolulu.  Awesome views!

We got to Maui and had to catch our breath at all of the traffic and commercialization (relative to Kaua'i).  Questioned our decision to short-change the Kaua'i time for most of the day... but eventually got over it.  Interestingly, we knew that we might feel this way when we go to Oahu after nearly two weeks of Kaua'i and Maui, but feeling that way in Maui surprised us.  We eventually got over it.

Day 5: Kaua'i - "Snorkel" cruise Na Pali coastline

This map represents our trip.  The heavy green is the catamaran route, out and back - the faint yellow is the helicopter route around the island.  The small green is our car route to the various destinations - not too many street options on this island and one of the things I love about it is that you can map everywhere you drove in a week, without GPS, in about 5 minutes.  Awesome to get to know this island!

OK - so this day we set out to El'ele (for

give any mis-apostropheization) to take Captain Andy's Sailing Adventure out to the Na Pali Coast.  I'm wearing the free t-shirt right now!

One thing of interest - tourism impact of the current economy is not visible to us - things appear to be as busy as they likely usually are or aren't (there certainly are rooms available at the Coco Palms resort - see below).  In trying to negotiate the price of our cruise down, I was able to score this free t-shirt but no significant discount - and our cruise was full and the other days/times availability was limited to 1-6 spots on a 49 passenger cruise.  Someone on the cruise asked one of the hands if they noticed a drop in business - they said "no, but maybe it's because everyone traveling now booked before it got really bad so it is probably yet to come."

The cruise was cool - Captain Andy's does a good job.  They leave from the same port as HoloHolo and several others, and when you get there - contrary to the way you feel when you're "shopping" the various brochures and websites - you get the sense that they're all pretty much the same except for the age / features of their boat.  I'd do Captain Andy's again, the crew was great.

We set out into the windy bay and the captain (I think his nametag said Captain Rock) warned us that it may not be a good day for snorkeling due to wind, waves, and sharky waters (his term - which kept us from whining about no snorkeling pretty well).  We set out on a course for the Na Pali coast - and once we got there it was as beautiful as expected.  We saw dozens of dolphins along the way, and a few whales but no dramatic whale jumps.

Even without snorkeling, the trip was worth every penny to Paige for the excitement of the return.  The waves and wind that Rock (who was actually a good ol' boy from Alabama in case you formed a different image from the moniker) warned us about weren't completely apparent on the ride out - but showed themselves on the way back.

On the front of the catamaran are two bays called "trampolines" with stretch tramp-canvas across the open sections over the water to allow for bouncy seating.  Of course, Paige wanted to sit up here, so Ford and Alex did as well.  I wasn't going to let Paige and Ford do it by themselves, so I decided to ride up there as well.  It was wild - waves rushing over the boat, hitting us from the front and back (yes, there was a space between the canvas and the boat that allowed some major waves to catch us off guard from behind).  Ford made it halfway back up there, Alex maybe 2/3 - but Paige made me stay with her the entire way (and I still have canvas burns in uncomfortable places to show for it).

It was WILD - at one point, I thought we were washed off for sure - and combined with the other 2 crazy girls that were up front with us, we all ended up in a pile in the boat-side corner of the trampoline area after a wave overcame us.  I begged Paige to go into the protected area of the boat.  When we returned, I got compliments on my parenting (?) from many other passengers, and one kindly older woman noted "I'm afraid you have a daughter who lives for adventure" - I guess Paige's screams and cackles of delight were audible inside the boat, over my moans and wails of terror.

We took the rest of the day a bit easier (and I had to because of aforementioned sores), visiting and touring Kauai Coffee and a few shops on the way back.

At "Coconuts Plaza", we learned all about Israel Kamakawiwo'ole ("IZ") - the best-known Hawaiian vocalist this side of Don Ho from a woman named Trisha at a Hawaiian Music Store called "Hawaiian Music Store" today, and bought a few of his CD's - pretty great stuff.  She was also hawking movie DVD's that had connections with Hawaii (and Kaua'i in particular - given that it seems to be the most popular with the Hollywood crowd).  We almost bought Elvis' Blue Hawaii but thought we'd save the $20 and watch it at home - most was filmed at Coco Palms resort, which is now closed, but still sits in a state of disrepair nearby our condo, and is an amazing thing to look at and wonder about right now because it is a massive abandoned complex, fronts the highway but is partially obscured by overgrowth and large palm trees, and it makes you wonder what kind of crazy things happen there right now - very scary, but kind of magnetic at the same time.  Suzy would not let me climb the aged and rickety fence.

Day 4: Kaua'i - Poipu Beach

Great snorkeling

Day 3: Kaua'i - Lihu'e and Beyond

THE DAY WE FOUND MAHAULEPU, BOTH FROM LAND AND FROM AIR.....

This was a very active day - we had an appointment with a helicopter at 12:15, which worked out very well because it was kind of a windy, gray-weather day.  We started (or tried to start) at Lydgate park south of Kapa'a, which has a few protected swimming areas and a large play structure.  It was too windy to be very much fun - so we asked a lifeguard where we might go to avoid the island and he suggested Mahaulepu Beach on the southside.  We didn't have tons of time between leaving Lydgate and needing to be at the helicopter - so we raced to Mahaulepu after viewing Spouting Horn in Poipu (Mahaulepu access required some very bumpy dirt roads through sugar cane fields) to picnic for an early lunch.

Mahaulepu is a very special place.  Not in the dreamy, sun-soaked, tropical island-feel way - but in a hidden, quiet, ultra-natural exploratory way.  The over-cast day may have provided an even more "secretive" feel to the beach - I would love to go back on a sunny day and see how feels compared to the time we were there.  We were sorry to rush, but we ate our lunch in a little protected cove within the umbrella of a tree and walked along the beach (which has a very soft, deep, large-grained sand) a bit before racing back to our car to head to the airfield.

The helicopter ride was worth every cent we paid (and a family of 5 adds up - Ford almost fell asleep - and there was no way I was wasting his fare on a nap so I woke him up).  We circled the whole island, as depicted on a map I posted on another day's blog.  

Excellent way to see the entire island, and many fantastic sites.  Riding early in the trip is good because you can get a good sense for the entire place; riding late in the trip wouldn't be bad either because it is fun to see places you've been, from above.  I guess I'd recommend taking it in the middle of your Kaua'i stay, just like we did.  I definitely feel that Kaua'i seems to be the best island for the helicopter because of the diversity of the island and your ability to see it all in one 50 minute flight.

After the flight, we hit Kalapaki Beach which is in front of the Kauai Marriott.  The kids loved the surf here (although Alex took a serious beating from one close-breaking wave - a good body-surfing lesson to learn without injury).  Though the weather wasn't great, we hung out here into the evening, grabbing dinner at Duke's Canoe Club which was very fun.

Day 2: Kaua'i - Hanalei and northern coastline

Frolicking on the beach at Hanalei Bay.

We had an excellent first full day.  Without any real plan, we just headed north on Kauai - and stumbled upon beach after beach and cool place after cool place.  Writing this a week later, I still think the beach at Hanalei Bay has been my favorite - a video of the kids frolicking is attached.

On this day, Ford started calling the chickens that randomly inhabit this island (they are everywhere) his "friends" and started chasing them maniacally (spellcheck says that spelling is right, though it doesn't quite look right) at first sight - something he did the entire time we were on Kauai.  The first chicken he saw on Maui (there are a few - but only a few) elicited a "My Friend!" proclamation from Ford.

Our drive ended up at Tunnels Beach, getting shave ice from a truck, chasing chic

kens in the park, and watching people at the beach, before turning back to Hanalei for a bite to eat.  We selected "Bubba Burgers" for lunch, followed by shave ice from "Shave Ice Paradise", times two (the kids and I went back for seconds when Suzy ducked into a nearby shop - I'll admit I felt a bit sick after 3 shave ices (+kid leftovers) in about 3 hours.

Randomly as I'm typing tonight I'm thinking of a few things I want to do:

Read Michener's Hawaii

Watch South Pacific

Return to Hawaii ASAP

Vacation with the kids as long as they'll play along

As I'm editing a few weeks later I'm thinking that I want to go back to Kauai as soon as possible.  The view from our condo sliding door:

Day 1: Air Travel to Kaua'i

FIRST VIEW OF THE ISLANDS THROUGH THE AIRPLANE WINDOW!!!



OFF TO HAWAII!  We left at 7:45 am on Sunday morning, and took a 3.5 hr flight to Phoenix, followed by a 7 hr flight to Kaua'i to arrive in Hawaii at a little after 2 in the afternoon.  The kids were great! (see the picture of them waiting for our flight in Minneapolis).

Both flights were great fun - kids were excellent - though I had movies loaded on computers, PSPs, iPods, and a traditional (?) DVD player, we didn't watch a single one.  Alex and I will never forget the girl (Destiny) sitting next to him on the flight to Lihue who "borrowed" his DS for a short minute while he was asleep.

The open-air concourses at the airport felt great and we were on our way!

Once outside, we rented the first of 3 mini-vans (one for each island) and began our journey through Hawaii.  Kapa'a is just a short distance from Lihue Airport, so we arrived at our condo within an hour of our landing.  We got our bearings, and hung out around the condo that evening.

We relaxed and had dinner at the condo beach hut restaurant, which had a great, relaxed vibe.