Maui and Lana'i

As I had mentioned, Joe and I had a tough time deciding what to do for our 10th anniversary. But, for some reason, shortly after we booked the train trip, we decided that we should take a return trip to Hawaii. It has been 7 years since we visited the islands, a place that we dearly love. So, here is our travel journal for the 2013 version of Maui, with the added bonus of a few days on Lana'i.

10/25/2013 - "Just the beginning..."

So, today we set off for our 4th and final trip of 2013. We decided a couple of months ago that we would return to Maui. Maui is the first place that Joe and I ever went together and it was AWFUL!!! Well, as awful as Maui can be. We stayed in a crappy hotel because we were poor (at least I was) and it rained almost every day. And, I don't mean a little Hawaiian afternoon shower. I mean RAIN. Pouring. Down. Rain. Still, I do have some happy memories of that trip - breakfast at the little cafe next door to the hotel and the helicopter ride on our last day. I also remember sitting in our car eating lunch in a monsoon in Hana, and being pelted by palm fronds on the way back to the hotel from the shopping center next door (we had gone over to eat dinner, but one restaurant was closed for a private party and the electricity was off in most of the others, so we ended up having a slice of pizza in the food court at the mall). Oh, and who could forget the newlyweds in the room next door having violent sex, including screams of "F me, F me!!!"

We decided a re-do was in order.

Our first leg was DFW to LAX. It's kind of nice to break up a trip to Hawaii by going through LAX, but I must admit that we chose this route because the direct from DFW on Saturday was pretty full (oh, yes, this is a NON-REV trip). LAX had seats and there are 30 seats open on the OGG flight in the morning. So, we're settled into our hotel - the Holiday Inn Express at LAX. Nothing fancy, but fine for 1 night. LAX is not in the best part of town and even though the staff here is incredibly nice, we opted out of dinner at the Sizzler next door. Crackers on the plane, followed up by crackers in the room with a side of almonds. Call it dinner.

One more thing - when Joe and I were getting ready to spend our honeymoon on Kauai, someone I was working with told me that I absolutely had to get the guidebook - "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook." I did and we loved that book. The book is written by someone who reviews places anonymously. He actually spends his entire life searching for new and exciting places to tell tourists about. He/She/They wrote Kauai first, but now they have a book for all 4 of the major islands. At any rate, I will inevitably often refer to the "guidebook" or the less politically correct "Maui Bible" throughout our trip. It is, actually, "Maui Revealed."

10/26/2013 - "We definitely upgraded!"

We got up at 5:30 and made our way to LAX for a 9:15 departure to Maui. We weren't too worried about the flight as there are 30 open seats. However, I still managed some slight anxiety when I woke up - what if they cancel the flight? But, we made it just fine. We even checked our bags!!! That is confidence.

There was only 1 open seat left in first, so we opted to sit in coach together. We were assigned seats E and F, but when I got on the plane, for some reason, I went to A and B. A couple was seated in C and D - across the aisle from each other. At some point before takeoff, I realized I had sat in the wrong seats. But, as it turned out, whoever was assigned to A and B didn't show up, so the husband and wife sat on the D,E,F side and Joe and I sat on the A,B,C side. It worked out nicely! The flight from LA is a little over 5 hours. I played some Candy Crush, read a little, and watched "The Lone Ranger" which was the feature film. We landed in Maui about noon. Perfect!

Our first stop was lunch. We headed to Pizza in Paradise close to the airport. We wanted something decent and quick and it was recommended in the guidebook. A quick stop by Wal-Mart for water (which we wouldn't have needed to buy) and suntan lotion and we headed for our resort - The Four Seasons Resort, Maui at Wailea. We don't often splurge for such luxury, but we are going to Lana'i and they only have 3 hotels, 2 of which are Four Seasons. So, we thought, what the heck! My friend, Laura, made the reservations for us and because we booked with a preferred agent, we got all kinds of extras - free breakfast, $100 food credit, and a $500 resort credit for staying 5 nights. She even got us an upgrade. We were eligible for another upgrade when we arrived, but that wasn't available. No matter - our room was perfect!

We had barely gotten to our room when someone knocked on the door. We thought it might be the bellman bringing my camera to me. When he brought us to our room with our bags, I realized I had forgotten my camera in the car, but when you stay at a place like the Four Seasons, no problem!!! He just took our valet number and sent for my camera. At any rate, the knock wasn't my camera - it was actually champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and a chocolate fondue. O.M.G!!! Yum!!! Since Joe and I are considering this as part of our 10th anniversary celebration, Laura had a welcome gift sent to us. Complete with a framed picture of us. So sweet!

We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Serenity Pool. The Serenity Pool is adults only and it is another slice of heaven. The staff arranges your chairs and umbrella to your satisfaction and keeps you supplied with ice water. The pool was so wonderful, too!! We spent a couple of hours relaxing and even had some nachos and drinks, poolside. The staff brought by little Jell-O cups with fruit in them. Then, later, they came by with aloe lotion, in case we needed it. We also noticed they provide sunscreen - 8 SPF, 30 SPF, or 50 SPF. Oh, I shouldn't forget the cool towels! Ice cold and incredibly refreshing. Our afternoon at the pool was a great way to spend our first day in paradise.

We're up early tomorrow for sunrise at Haleakala and a bike ride down the mountain, so by about 8:00 PM, we were out. And, just for the record, the shower and the bed are both heavenly as well.

10/27/2013 - "Sunrise and a Bike Ride"

I'm pretty sure this is a first. Joe and I set our alarm for 1:30 AM!!! Holy cow! We had about an hour drive to Haiku to the bike company and check in for the sunrise tour at 3:00 AM. So, we dressed, called for our car and set off. Too bad, we could have slept 15 more minutes - we actually arrived at 2:45. Waivers were signed, insurance paid for, and then we were outfitted. The drive up the mountain took another 45 minutes or so, so we arrived about 5:00 AM - 1 hour and 15 minutes before the sun. Our driver was Cory and he was a hoot. He is originally from Waukegan. He gave us lots of history along with our directions. And he told lots of jokes and tried his hardest to keep us awake and alert so we wouldn't get lost on the way down the mountain.

Sunrise at Haleakala is a pretty big thing. It's usually freezing cold up there, but it's supposed to be a life changing experience (so to speak). It was cold to us, although the park ranger insisted that it was much warmer than usual and no wind was blowing, so we were super, super lucky. There were a million stars out - it was beautiful (and worth the trip) just looking at them. As we waited, we realized that there was a level of clouds/vog hanging on the horizon below us and I was disappointed. But, I shouldn't have been. Actually, the clouds make the sunrise more spectacular than when it is clear (at least that's what we heard and read). It was fantastic. The colors were amazing and it was a beautiful site to see "Mr Toasty Ball" rise above the clouds and say good morning to us (and thanks, for your effort). I probably wouldn't say it was life-changing, but it was really awesome.

Our bike tour was self-guided, which appealed to me because I didn't want to be responsible for holding anyone up. In the old days, they took you to the summit of Haleakala for the sunrise and you began your bike ride from there - always in groups. But, in 2007, the National Park Service decided that they didn't want the liability / responsibility that comes with the organized bike tours. So, now they take you down to about 6,000 feet (summit is 10,000) and that's where you bike from - just outside the park boundaries. It was really fun! This is one of those things I have wanted to do for years - like hiking the Grand Canyon - because my friend, Carole Quarles, did it. At first we had thought we wouldn't do it because I didn't think it would be as much fun since you couldn't go from the summit. Also, the guidebook didn't rave about it. In the end, I was afraid I would regret NOT doing it, so there you have it. Joe LOVED it!!! I was a little nervous at first (which Cory noticed), but once I got the hang of it and got used to the bike, I loved it, too. We stopped a couple of times for photo ops and we stopped for breakfast. We were back at the shop in about 2 1/2 hours. That last bit of the trip is on county roads and the last 4 miles, in particular, the road really sucked. I was going so fast, which was great, but the road was so rough, I couldn't focus, so I had to slow down. That made the hills really hard - and I ended up walking my bike up 3 of the hills (mostly the ride is downhill and you don't even have to pedal, but the closer you get to Haiku, there are a few places where you have to go uphill).

I should probably say that at one point, Joe got WAY ahead of me. I had assured him I was fine, but he was going faster than I felt comfortable and my right hand kept falling asleep, so I would stop to get the feeling back. I kept thinking that I would see him again - that he would wait for me. But, I kept going and kept going and kept going and no Joe. I was starting to worry that I had gotten myself lost, but finally I came to the first fork in the road and there he was. He had realized I wasn't behind him, so he had stopped. And he waited, and he waited, and finally he started riding back up the hill to find me. Oops!!! I must have been even slower than I thought. At any rate, he didn't leave me, so all's well that ends well.

We didn't have any plans after our bike ride and we were done much earlier than we thought we would be, so we decided to drive to Hana. We have driven the Hana Highway twice and someday I would like to come back and do it justice (aka - follow the trails, etc., in the guidebook). That wasn't our intent today - we were actually more interested in the part PAST Hana. After a detour to the Holy Rosary Church to pay tribute to Father Damien, the priest that took care of the people in the leper colony on Molokai, we made our way to Hana. It took us about an hour and a half - maybe an hour and 45 minutes to get there.

When we reached Hana, it was time for lunch. The guidebook/Maui Bible didn't give the restaurants in Hana much love, but we decided to try the Hana Ranch Restaurant. We thought it was pretty good!  I had a Kahlua Pork sandwich and Joe had a hamburger. We topped it off with a Macadamia Nut Pie with ice cream, which reminded me of pecan pie.

Next, we decided to check out the Red Sand Beach. We weren't dressed for swimming, but it's not a great swimming beach - it's more a beach to admire. It was a bit of a hike there - up and down some cliffs with insecure footing (Joe says "pebbly"). But, it was really interesting - something totally different from anything we had seen before. Unfortunately, the hike was somewhat overshadowed by our inability to do it without huffing and puffing and feeling like we were downright DYING! I can't help but wonder how in the hell we ever hiked the Grand Canyon!

We left the Red Sand Beach - and Hana - behind to drive around the Southeast side of the island. Joe had done this before and was intrigued because the guidebook indicated that the drive wasn't as bad as it used to be. Uh, WRONG (sort of)!!! More of it is paved, I suppose, and Joe says the huge rocks that used to be a problem are gone, but the road is still basically horrible. It was an adventure, to say the least.

We stopped on the other side of Kipahulu, part of the Haleakala National Park, and visited the grave of Charles Lindbergh. I actually heard a young couple behind us on the bus up to Haleakala - he asked, "Do you know who Charles Lindbergh is?" and she replied that she did not. He told her that he was famous because his son was kidnapped. Okay.... Not exactly, I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. Anyway, we had stopped at his grave on our first trip to Maui, but yes, it was raining. So, we stopped again. It's such a lovely, peaceful spot. He is buried close to a friend that showed him Maui, and his friend's 5 monkeys. Yes, monkeys.

From Lindbergh's grave, we began our journey around Southeast Maui. We only made one stop along the way - at a church in the tiny town of Kaupo. The church (and cemetery) sits on this remote piece of land - a really beautiful setting. And, it's St. Joseph's, so we kind of felt obligated. We actually passed it, but decided to go ahead and go back since we didn't think we would ever drive that road again. The road up to the church is dirt and at one point, I could have sworn we punctured a tire, but fortunately, we didn't. I felt pretty bad about asking Joe to go at that point. All in the name of marking things off the Maui Bible list.

Past Kaupo, the road gets worse. Its starts out partially gravel, partially paved, but not horrible. Past Kaupo, it's paved, but suffers from the worst patchwork job in the world. It's so bad!!! I can't even describe it. And, it goes on and on and on!!! We were so relieved to get back on the REAL road (state highway). I am glad we drove it, because it satisfied my curiosity. But, as I told Joe, I think I'm done with that.

10/28/2013 - "Does Maui Hate Us???"

So, after our incredibly long day, we decided that Monday would be our relax day. After reading a bit, we went down for breakfast. Our free breakfast was up to $90 and that covered the buffet, so we had that. It was incredible! Tons of food and we would find they change things every day. After stuffing ourselves, we read a bit more on our patio before heading down to the beach. The 4S staff set up chairs and an umbrella for us, right on Wailea Beach - one of the best beaches in Hawaii (all beaches in Hawaii are public). We were probably down there an hour or two and then the wind whipped up and dark, stormy clouds gathered behind the hotel. I promptly decided that Maui hates us. If it didn't it wouldn't have such crappy weather every time we set foot there! After a while, the staff had to take our umbrella down because of the wind and we never got to go in the water because we decided it was too rough after the wind picked up. But, as it turned out, it never rained (although we did get a little sand-blasted). We walked the entire length of the beach before it was time for us to go upstairs and get ready for dinner. I finished my book and we spent probably at least 3 hours at the beach. Not an altogether bad outing, in spite of the dicey weather.

Dinner tonight was at Mama's Fish House. My friend, Michelle Simon, told me she had the best meal of her entire life there and so I have always wanted to go. It was a bit of a drive and the best I could do for reservations was 4:30 in the afternoon. But, that was okay since we had a big (somewhat late) breakfast and decided to skip lunch. We started out with drinks and a shrimp appetizer. I ended up having lobster (not very Hawaiian) and Joe had the Mahi Mahi stuffed with lobster and crab. We ended with dessert - Joe had a chocolate pie with caramel crust and a side of ice cream. I had the chocolate mousse (called Polynesian Black Pearl). The meal was wonderful - don't get me wrong. The food was delicious! The service, not bad, but the price was over the top! $250!!! Great meal, but we aren't foodies, so I have a hard time justifying that. I don't regret going because it was something I've wanted to do for a long time and the food was excellent. Would I ever go again? Highly unlikely.

Before dinner, we went past Mama's to the Ho'okipa Lookout. It is at this beach where the surfers and windsurfers catch the big waves. We stopped here when we drove to Hana in 2001, but as you might guess - it was raining. This time the sun was bright and the waves were still big. It was interesting to watch - even if just for a few minutes.

By the end of the day, I had changed my tune about Maui. Although it looked threatening at times, it never rained on us. I thought it would be raining at Mama's, but the sun was bright on that side of the island. Windy, yes, but I can live with that. Indeed, I decided Maui doesn't hate us at all. In fact, it LOVES us. I knows how much we love Hawaii and it knows that we'll never give up until we have fulfilled our Maui Bible to-do list. So, it gives us reasons to come back - in search of new adventures and in search of better weather!

10/29/2013 - "Snorkeling and the rain finds us after all"

We were up a bit early again today (missing our free breakfast - again). Not as early as Sunday, but the alarm went off at 5:40 AM. This time our destination was a snorkel tour. When I booked this, I wanted to go on the Four Winds, which was the recommended tour, but it is in dry dock, so the nice girl on the phone talked me in to booking on their other boat - the Maui Magic. Without the benefit of the Bible at hand, I didn't know any better. But, when I referred to the guidebook later, I read that this boat didn't really rate as well. I talked to Joe about it and we discussed canceling and rebooking on another boat, but in the end Joe said, "Don't worry about it" and I interpreted that as the decision to stick with Maui Magic. The big complaint about the boat was the inability to get out of the sun and the fact that the boat felt crowded. Both points I agree with 100%. However, the crew - Captain Charlene, Bob, and Taylor were awesome and it was a good experience.

We headed out for a little tour along the shore - past our hotel and further south. On the way, we saw some bottle nose dolphins, but they were a little shy. Later, we came across a huge pod of spinner dolphins. They were really fun and playful and that made our decision to go on Maui Magic A-OK (the other boats don't do the sightseeing part).

After "playing" with the dolphins, we headed to Molokini. They were renting wet suit tops for $5 and I was tempted to get one, but in the end, I opted against it. I was glad. The water wasn't that cold at all. When we first arrived at Molokini, it was a little cloudy, but it cleared up a bit and the water was wonderful. We saw lots of fish, but admit that we are kind of spoiled for snorkeling after the Galapagos and Maldives. Still, it was fun. From Molokini, the boat heads to the Coral Gardens. Not a lot of fish there, but we did see a small octopus. He was pretty cool. They say that sometimes they see turtles there, but we didn't. After our second snorkel, they had hamburgers and hot dogs on board. They also had an open bar. I did have a wine spritzer, but I think Joe and I have reached the point in our lives where an open bar is somewhat lost on us.

We debated and debated what to do next. We thought we might go to another beach, but our towels were pretty wet after our snorkeling. In the end, we decided to spend the afternoon at the Fountain Pool at the hotel. The "bad" thing about staying at such a beautiful resort turns out to be that you don't want to leave it. We set up close to the pool (it's not nearly as crowded as the Serenity Pool) and had a wonderful guy keeping us supplied in ice water. We had another round of nachos and drinks, too. This time, they came around with popsicles and cool towels. It was indescribable. The pool was perfect and we had a great time even though an afternoon at the Fountain Pool was not on our Maui to-do list!

Our last event of the evening was the Old Lahaina Luau. This is supposed to be the most authentic luau in all of the Hawaiian Islands. It was here that the rain did find us. We had walked around, eaten dinner and were just about to have dessert when the rain came. At first, we just covered our heads with our napkins and waited for it to pass. Then they brought around ponchos. About the time we got the ponchos on, it stopped and we took them off. Then it started again. Ha! We put the ponchos back on. Two pretty good showers - about 10 minutes each, but then it was over. After it passed, they started the show. It featured various types of the hula and the story of the islands. No flame throwers, because that's not Hawaiian, but the show was okay. I, personally, like the flame throwers. Ha! But, just for the record, it was probably the best luau food we've ever had.

10/30/2013 - "Another new road - over the top"

Because we are who we are, we got a bit of a later start than we meant to. Today - we were heading to west Maui to drive past Kapalua and over the top of the island. We partook in our buffet breakfast, packed a bag and made it out by 10:30. My one - most important - destination was the Olivine Pools.

We made a couple of stops along the way - Slaughterhouse Beach and Honolua Bay. These are both touted as good snorkeling spots, but we opted out of the snorkeling in order to make it to the Olivine Pools. There are 2 or 3 hikes that I wanted to do, but we bypassed those as well. Our last stop before the Olivine Pools was Nakalele Blowhole. We had seen a blowhole in Kauai when we were there on our honeymoon and this one was similar. The only thing - we weren't as close to it because it sits down along the coast and hiking down to it was one of the hikes we had to bypass.

Honolua Bay

Slaughterhouse Beach

Nakalele Blowhole

That brings us to Olivine Pools. When we pulled in, I didn't realize that you had to hike down as far as you do, but I was determined. It wasn't a great trail, but since the Maui Bible had announced its existence, enough people have gone down there to see a "somewhat" trail. The pool is not huge, but it is deeper than you think - probably at least 10 or 12 feet. I was a little nervous to jump in (no idea why), but it was awesome!!! I just loved it! It felt like such a "real" Hawaiian adventure to be in the refreshing pool. It was too bad there wasn't a pool at the top of the trail to jump in to once you made the hike back up!

Looking down on the Olivine Pools

IN the Olivine Pools!

Just past the Olivine Pools, the state highway ends. The road narrows (one-lane in most places), but it's a good road around the top of Maui. It winds around many curves and hugs the mountain side, but has some beautiful views of the ocean. I quite enjoyed our little drive. We even stopped at Julia's for the best banana bread on the island (according to the guidebook) and it was, indeed, tasty! They even serve it warm. It was so moist and it just melts in your mouth. Yum!!! Joe and I had no idea that banana bread is such a big deal in Hawaii. I don't know if that's only Maui or all the islands. We've been here 5 times now and this is the first I remember of it. But, I like me some banana bread, so I was more than happy to test out a few samples.

So....the reason we were in such a rush was because we had tickets to Warren and Annabelle's Magic Show in Lahaina that night. Part of me was full of regret for booking it and rushing our day, but it was said to be the best show in Maui (yes, according to the guidebook). Part of me wondered why I would go to a magic show in Hawaii - there's nothing really Hawaiian about it - but, it was booked, so we hauled ass back to the hotel to clean up and be in Lahaina by 5:00. Oh my goodness!!! I am sooooo, sooooo glad we didn't cancel this. It was a magic show, indeed, but the magician was one of the funniest guys we have ever seen (if not THE funniest). It's a total 4 hour experience. First, you go in and have "heavy" appetizers and drinks. Then Annabelle, the resident ghost, plays piano songs by request. That is the first 2 hours of the evening. The actual show is the final 2 hours. We laughed and laughed and laughed for 2 solid hours. The guy is a genius - he really is. He was hilarious. I have a feeling we will be laughing for a long time. It was so worth it. And, the hikes along the top of Maui will be there next time, right? Plus, it gives us an excuse to go back to the Olivine Pools.

10/31/2013 - "Making our way to Lana'i and the Lodge at Koele"

Today, we checked out of our lovely hotel on Wailea Beach and made our way to Lana'i by ferry out of Lahaina. Our first order of business was to return the rental car, which Joe arranged for us to do in Lahaina. It took a few minutes for me to figure out why the people at Hertz were dressed up, but it's because it's Halloween! After we returned the car, a van took us to the dock to catch our boat.

We had a bit of time, so I went to try to find some postcards. They pretty much all sucked, but I managed to pick out a couple. I took a few pictures of the banyan tree and then we waited for our ferry. The ride across was fairly uneventful. The back of the ferry was mostly full, so we sat inside, but it was air conditioned, so that was fine.

In Lana'i, a shuttle that runs between the two Four Seasons Resorts, the dock, and the town picked us up. They delivered us to our next stop, The Lodge at Koele. I LOVED the Lodge. It is up on the mountain and the temperatures are cool up there. I loved the room, which had a patio and a little reading bench (that's what I call them - I think it's really a window box or something like that). If I lived there, I would spend tons of time sitting there. The whole resort just had a very cozy feeling to it. After dropping off our stuff, we took a tour of the grounds. There was a swimming pool, although we would find it too cold to swim during our visit in the evenings we were there. There is also an Orchid House and we walked through there.

By now, we were getting hungry (we did not have lunch), so we decided to walk into town. It wasn't far and it was a pleasant walk. We walked through Dole Park and found a little place called Pele's to eat. It wasn't serving food just yet when we arrived, but we had a drink and waited for the kitchen to open.

Joe has already decided that he LOVES Lana'i. It is really quiet and relaxing. It is Hawaii without the crowds, but a different Hawaii then being on the beach, too. I already think I could come back, too.

11/01/2013 - "Exploring the mountain and the beach"

This morning we got up and the first thing on our agenda was a UTV ride. After breakfast, we headed over to the stables and found that we were the only people on the tour, which is perfectly fine with us.

These types of adventures are when the 12 year-old boy really comes out in Joe. He had the best time - plowing through puddles and going as fast as he could in his UTV. He was following the leader, but he was not a bit shy about getting us dirty. The tour took us along the Munro Trail, which is along the top of the only mountain on Lana'i. It was really pretty up there. A bit misty and foggy in places, but we were able to get a few pictures down each side of Lana'i down to the sea.

After our tour, we were filthy. We returned to our room to change, but the maid was cleaning. We sat on the veranda and Joe went and got us washcloths to wipe off our faces from the men's room. Filthy!!! Our shirts were completely mud splattered and even though we knew we would never get those mud stains out, we decided it was worth it.

Once we were able to get back in our room, we changed into our bathing suits and headed (via the shuttle) to the sister property at Manele Bay. We were not allowed access to the pool, but instead, spent the afternoon at the beach. The beach is actually on Hulopo'e Beach and it was really beautiful. The water was calm and perfect. It was a wonderful, relaxing afternoon.

For dinner, we headed back to the lodge for dinner at The Dining Room. I didn't realize when I made the reservations, but that night featured a tasting menu. And it was EXPENSIVE!!! A so, not us, dinner. But, we stuck it out and I even had wine tasting with mine. After all the fuss I made about how expense Mama's Fish House was, this blew it out of the water. We ate it all - believe me! The whole time we were there, only one other couple joined us. Two other couples came in at different times, but left when they saw the menu. I don't see us doing that again, but it was a unique experience for us to say the least.

11/02/2013 - "Jeep Rental Day"

Another big thing to do in Lana'i is to rent a Jeep to go exploring, so that is how we decided to spend our last full day. We took the shuttle in to town and rented a nice, red Jeep. They asked if we wanted a hard top, but I said NO, we want a soft top and we want the top down. Hahaha!!! You will get why that is funny at the end of this day's post.

Our first destination took us down a fully paved road to the Harbor to see that side of the island. Not much going on, but we were able to check out the west coast of the island. From there, we headed back to Manele Bay to have a look at Sweetheart Rock. Legend has it that a warrior hid his lovely maiden in a sea cave while he went out to gather supplies. When he returned, he found that she had drowned in the surge waves. He took her body to the top of what is now known as Sweetheart Rock, buried her, and then leapt to his death. It's a sad story, but a pretty area to visit.

From there, it was time to use our 4WD. Our next stop was Polihua Beach. I had read some really great things about this little adventure and it passed the Garden of the Gods, which is a main tourist attraction. The map from the rental car company said the road close to the beach was "bumpy" and let me say that was an understatement. I have a whole new respect for my 12-year-old acting husband. I would have never been able to drive that road - 4WD or not. When we got to Polihua Beach, it was completely deserted. We walked out to the water, which was pretty rough, as was the sand. On the way out, we stopped at the Garden of the Gods, but we didn't find it that interesting, for the record.

Our final destination was Shipwreck Beach. The road is partially paved to the beach, but then you have to drive through some sand. In places the sand was pretty deep and, per the suggestion of the rental car company, we did not drive all the way to the beach, but stopped at the designated spot and walked in. We saw the shipwreck and then found a little place where we, again, we all alone. Here, we did a little swimming. The water was nice and we even saw a couple of turtles while we were there. There were some rocks up by the shore and Joe almost busted it on the rocks. Scared me to death! And, that's the bad thing about having an area to yourself.

We returned the Jeep and headed back to the room. Here's where I might change my mind the next time and go for a hard-top Jeep. Again, we were filthy. In fact, part of the reason we took the swim at Shipwreck Beach - to try to wash off. But even after our swim, we still weren't quite there. It took a good, hot, thorough shower to get us clean. All except our ears. We both cleaned red dirt out of our ears for a week!!!

We headed back to town for dinner. This time we stopped at the Blue Ginger Cafe. It was good, but I preferred Pele's. When we got back to the Lodge we played pool and shuffleboard in the rec room. I lost both games, but I tried to take it like a man.

11/03/2013 - "Making our way home"

As I say at the end of every vacation - all good things must come to an end. After breakfast, we packed up our stuff and got ready to head to the airport. We spent some time on the veranda reading while we waited for our shuttle and Joe made friends with one of the cats.

When we arrived at the airport, we found that our flight was delayed. It seemed like forever, but we still managed to get to Honolulu in plenty of time for our connection. We had a bit of trouble at the ticket counter in Honolulu, as there was no one working the coach class passenger line. I finally got in the first class line and was promptly scolded by the agent. We had wanted to make sure we got on the list as through passengers because we thought we had a chance at first. We didn't get it, but we did make it home and I didn't get written up for making the agent mad, so I guess that's a plus.

Until next time, Hawaii!!!