Vacation: Day 4-5

Friday morning, the 17th was our actual ten year anniversary. The reason we came to Maui in the first place. Prior to our arrival the hotel e-mailed and asked if we were celebrating anything special and what they might do to make our stay perfect. Brandon told them it was our anniversary and nothing sounded more perfect than a sitter service. As the day rolled around, we realized the hotel wasn’t going to do anything about either. Why did they ask?

So, instead we drove through upcountry Maui to Haleakala Crater National Park. Part of the reason we love this particular island so much is the varied climates and landscape. There are parts of the island that remind me of Arizona and there are parts that are canopied by rain forest. Upcountry Maui, looks a little like the forest and hills of southern Illinois, in places at least. Except you constantly smell eucalyptus and there are trees whose smooth barks produce a rainbow reflection. The air is cool and crisp. It feels like Fall, but everything is still bright green.

In order to get to Haleakala Crater, you drive through upcountry and it’s a drive I always enjoy. I’m going to make a great octogenarian.

Haleakala is the crater of the volcano that created Maui. At least I think it is. Anyway, it’s cold--relative to the rest of Maui, looks like Mars and while pretty, isn’t really my cup of tea. Brandon, on the other hand, LOVES it.

He would stay there all day taking pictures and hiking the gawd-awful barren trails. On our first trip to Maui, we biked down it. It was a 30 mile ride and Brandon roped me into doing it by promising I wouldn’t have to peddle more than three times. To my surprise, he was right.

There is a NASA observatory and some sensitive weather equipment on Haleakala as well. You can see more stars clearly from there than any other place on earth. Supposedly. I always thought the view from the trampoline in my backyard on Willow Drive, was pretty spectacular.

It is fun to be above the clouds and not be in a plane. Meredith got a huge kick out of “touching” clouds as we drove down the crater with the windows open. On a clear day, you can see a good chunk of the island. It really is pretty. Just not my kind of pretty. Although, if I could borrow a space suit, I could take some really, really fun pictures for Alex’s scrapbook.

On the was back down we stopped to eat at Kahula Lodge. We stumbled onto the place by accident the year Brandon and I biked down Haleakala. We were hungry. They were open. We wound up eating wood-grilled pizza outside over-looking beautiful gardens and a couple of Maui’s prettiest bays. On our next trip to the island, with our friends Megan and Joel, we ate there again. Only this time, there was no outdoor seating and no pizza. This time, however there was both outdoor seating and wood grilled pizza. Yum!

When we got back to our hotel and realized there was no sitter waiting in our room, we decided to take the kids to dinner with us. I’m glad we did. They were very excited to toast us. Over and over again. It was really sweet. After ten years, I don’t know what Brandon and I would have talked about without them there anyway!

Saturday morning, we got up early and headed to board a boat for an all day snorkeling trip. When we pulled into the parking lot, the guy took our names, stuck his head into our car to do a quick count and said, “Good news guys! You’re four of the eight passengers heading out with us today.” It was great. The boat is built to haul 88 people.

What would a memory be without me mentioning food? We love this particular sailing company, partially because of their service and amenities. Including the food. When you board the boat they give you warm cinnamon rolls, Kona coffee, and fresh pineapple. This year, the cinnamon rolls weren’t quite as warm or gooey and I blame that on the fact that we sailed with an all-male crew. Regardless, it’s still a great way to start a morning.

The kids were lying on the trampoline as soon as we left the dock. I joined them not long after because I don’t find anything more relaxing than lying in a salty breeze listening to the water splash underneath.

When we stopped to snorkel, I noticed it was really, really choppy. Brandon, Alex, and I were the only ones who had ever snorkeled. I felt bad for the beginners learning in those waves. Meredith was a snorkeling fool. I was trying to hold onto her and keep an eye on Alex and it wasn’t easy. The girl would not come up for air! She was giddily informing me of everything she saw through a high-pitched squeal via her snorkel. It was really fun to watch and something I’ll never forget doing with her. A final gush of salt water convinced her we were done.

After lunch, we climbed onto a raft with a NASCAR engine and went for a wild ride near the shoreline. It was crazy fun. We bounced five feet in the air every time we hit a wave. Alex laughed so hard I thought he would get sick. The captain was this Asian man named Yoshi. He spoke in an almost cartoonish Asian accent and grinned from ear to ear all the time. Loved him! Anyway, Yoshi cuts the engine and excitedly yells, “TURTLE, TURTLE, TURTLE!!! Off the front starboard side!” We all start looking for the turtle. Yoshi then yells, “Oh, oh oh! NEVAMIND! DON’T ROOK! DON’T ROOK!” Yoshi’s “turtle” was a fawn who lost his footing on the sea cliff above. Oops.

After that, we took a van tour of the island of Lani`i. Everyone else was nearly lulled to sleep, but I found it kind of interesting. The island used to be Dole’s pineapple plantation and there are only 3,000 people who live there. It’s a private island owned by some guy out of southern California. You have to get on a list to build a house and when it’s your turn, the owner’s construction company builds it to their specifications for you. If you are about to have a baby, you ferry it over to Maui, because there’s no hospital in which to deliver. The people are exceedingly excited over a rumor on the “coconut wireless,” that they might put in a grocery store! It was a little Cuba-esque, but they all have new cars. The cars come in on a ferry every Wednesday. I asked!
After the tour, we boarded the big boat and tried to sail back to Maui. There wasn’t a lot of wind. So, the sail was up for pictures and then they turned the engines over at the request of annoying black guy from LA. I only tell you he was black because as the kids and I were sitting with the captain learning about the ship, he trotted back and said, “Dude! You’re killing me! Are we going to sail all the way back to Maui?! Dude! There’s absolutely NO AIR! The heat is KILLING ME!” For the record, it was 82 degrees. The captain looks at him and laughs, gestures towards me and says, “Buddy, if Freckles can handle it, I think you’ll survive!” I loved that I was the hardy one in the heat. If you could call it heat!

The minute the LA couple was off the boat, they were desperate to make sure their faces weren’t shiny from sunscreen and their hair was smoothed back. I tromped through with three beach bags and my salty hair blowing in the breeze and said something to the effect of “don’t bother trying, it’s part of the glory.” The made a snarky comment under their breath and started dying laughing. I’m not sure what they said, but I KNOW they were blown away by my natural beauty! Ha! Ha!