malvina

October 20, 2004 - 8:49 a.m.
Maui, Part 2

For your reading enjoyment, a continuation of the Maui entry.

Day 3-Wednesday 8/25
On the third day, we rose early again, this time intentionally, so that we could embark on the Road to Hana. Hana is actually a tiny little town that people don't stop in because it's not the actual destination. I think they just call the journey Road to Hana because it's the only town along the way to the national park that's further up the road. We grabbed some breakfast on the way in a little Mexican (I think it was Mexican anyway) restaurant, which was yummy, but had, quite possibly, the tiniest bathroom stalls in the entire universe. We also picked up some sandwiches and sodas, as there would be nowhere else to do so.
Then we hit the road. That's mostly what the day consisted of--driving. There were normal roads, narrow roads, and tiny, scary roads. There are some fabulous sights along the way though, since the drive takes you through a tropical rain forest. There were a bunch of really neat waterfalls, so we acted touristy and stopped to take pictures.
Several hours after the start of our trek, we came to an area that had a black sand beach and picnic tables and such, so we figured this would be a good time to take a break and chow down. There were a bunch of cats (including a snooty one who was very particular about what she ate...only garbage, thank you very much. Take your fancy lunch meat that you're offering and eat it yourself, I prefer the trash) and some ferret-looking things. We never quite figured out what they were. I took a picture or two, but it's hard to see the little rodent.
We meandered about for a bit (it rained for about five minutes while we were exploring), then piled into the car. We made a quick stop during which Sam, Becky, and I got shaved ice. It was quite gigantic, let me tell you.
We continued driving, stopping occasionally for pictures, as well as banana bread and pineapple. During the many hours of driving, we kept ourselves entertained by playing Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral. Now there is a game I'm not good at. Even when I thought I was picking more obscure things, people guessed them in no time at all.
Finally, we reached the Seven Sacred Pools, which is what we had been aiming for. They were purdy!! I'm not sure about everyone else, but I was a little bummed that I didn't have my swimsuit. Since we couldn't frolic about in the water, we pranced about on the rocks and amused ourselves by watching psychotic little children who were cliff diving.
Since everyone was tired and we had dinner reservations, we didn't stay very long. A large portion of the drive back was spent discussing old school Nickolodeon (sp?). After a short while, I just listened because 1)I did not watch tons of television as a child, and 2)the shaved ice that had been the size of my head was coming back to haunt me, and boy howdy! I needed to PEE!! Overshare? Yes, of course. But since my mind was preoccupied with my bladder for a couple of hours, I felt the need to share.
When we reached the Chevron station where we were supposed to turn in the cooler that we rented for lunch, I did my pee dance all the way to the bathroom and pranced gleefully back to the car. That's the fun part of having no shame--you can do those things in public places and not care a whole lot.
After some more driving, we got to the sushi place (the one we couldn't go to on the second day). This proved to be a less than ideal choice. I, not being too picky about service or too informed about sushi, did not much care. I was content and willing to enjoy myself. Among the family, however, some things were said that caused some tension and awkwardness.
We left soon after that and headed to the grocery store for provisions for the next morning. The rest of the evening, however, was spent with people scattered about the condo and not talking a whole lot.

Day 4-Thursday 8/26
All but Gene and Kathy slept in on the fourth day. (And by slept in, I mean maybe until nine.) Gene and Kathy scampered off to a timeshare meeting in order to get discount luau and dinner cruise tickets. The rest of us (Sam, Becky, Bev, and me) lounged about and made some breakfast. People were getting along again, so that was nice. Gene and Kathy appeared back at the condo earlier than expected, in great spirits. They had told the timeshare people to take their discount tickets and shove them where the sun don't shine, and went and purchased tickets elsewhere. After washing the breakfast dishes and digesting for a while, we went to the pool. It was really neat because it was right next to the ocean, so you could look out and enjoy the view and occasionally, waves would come up into the pool. There were little crabs catching rays at the pool too, but they didn't really like people a whole lot. In fact, I think I drove one to suicide. I was approaching it, and it was running away, doing that sideways run that crabs do. I had expected it to do that. What I wasn't expecting was the crab hurling itself off the paved area around the pool and to the rocks below. RIP, little crab.
When we were all watered and sunned out, we went back to the condo, where I took my second shower in about four hours.
We went to Lahaina for some shopping and lunch. Mostly, we wandered around, splitting into smaller groups. I got some dresses for Kayla and Amanda, and over lunch at BJ's Chicago Pizza, everyone helped me ponder what to get for Kyle.
After eating, we parted ways for the day. Sam and I chose to hang out in Lahaina and have some alone time while everyone else went to a luau. Since Mary (Sam's mom) does hula, we've been to a few luaus before. We just walked around, enjoying the sights and did the rest of our shopping. I found some magical things that I got for Kyle and myself. They're shirts that just have outlines of pictures, and when they're exposed to the sun, the whole picture fills color. I also got some magical nail polish, and for my troubles, received a free magical tote bag. Sam found himself some pirate gear.
It started to get late, so off we went to the Lahaina Fish Company for dinner. I changed, having purchased magical clothing, and hit my head with the stall door in the bathroom. Oh, shut up, it wasn't my fault!
Again, dinner was very enjoyable, and I partook in a tropical drink. The restaurant, like so many others, was of the open variety, and we admired the ocean just outside. We then noticed that we were supposed to meet the others very soon, and gobbled the rest of our food down.
That night, the second to last night of the trip, I finally finished my postcards.

Day 5-Friday 8/27
Day five was pretty laid back. The original plan had entailed driving up to the volcano, but that was vetoed because no one really felt like another long road trip. Instead, we popped into Lahaina for breakfast and just did some minor exploring around the island, including making an appearance at the Big Beach. Yes, that is the name. We also made a stop at Buzz's Wharf on the way, only so Gene could purchase a shirt and take a picture with the sign. (Ongoing joke.) It was kind of silly going into a restaurant just to purchase their t-shirt. It was fun though.
Somewhere along the way, we stopped for lunch. We turned generic and ate at Panda Express, which is always a winner. On the way back, we stopped at a vendor on the side of the road to get some sugar cane to gnaw on. While, being sugar, it was delightfully sweet, the fibrous texture was a bit odd to deal with.
We hung out at the condo for a bit that afternoon, watching some TV and catching a few z's.
That night was the last big event of the trip...the dinner cruise. It. Was. Amazing!!! The boat moved smoothly and the weather, naturally, was perfect. They served some mai tais which were was on the strong side, and the live singer sounded like he had partaken of a few. It was kind of funny listening to him talk.
Before dinner, I decided to just stand at the rail and enjoy the ride. Sam soon joined me, followed by Gene, and then most of the boat. We were having ourselves a dolphin sighting. (There's a strong chance Sam had been the first to notice them from a distance.) This was incredible! There were tons of them, and they would jump out of the water and get really close to the boat. The water was clear enough where we could even see them swimming when they were submerged. And there were babies!!! Cute little baby dolphins!!! And the best part? We took pictures and they actually came out okay, so I have the baby dolphins in my scrapbook now.
After we ate (the captain had a hard time convincing everyone to go back to their tables after the dolphin experience), I went to the lower level and requested a song, and that was that. We came off the boat and headed back for our last night in Maui.

Day 6-Saturday 8/28
Our last morning was spent mostly getting everything together. I did some laundry before packing so that I wouldn't have to lug dirty clothes around. While Gene and Sam made breakfast (I made toast), I packed my suitcase, as well as Sam's. Our flight was pretty early, so other than cleaning up, there wasn't much time for anything else.
After gathering our stuff, we piled into the van one last time and headed for the airport. We returned the van, and not a moment too soon, as I discovered too icky bugs in the little light above my head and spent much of the drive cowering and keeping track of them.
At the airport, I nearly lost my watch and charm bracelet when I forgot to get them from my bin after walking through the metal detector. Bev got her carry-on luggage searched because of her nail file or something. Ok, I appreciate that they're trying to make flying as safe as possible, but some of the new rules are just ridiculous. I mean, come on, what could Bev have done, manicure someone to death? Aside from that though, things went smoothly. Our flight was even on time. Once on the plane, we did have to do some negotiating to switch seats, but everything worked out. Sam and I worked on some crosswords and watched the movie, which was Shrek 2.
When we landed, they told us the wrong carousel number for our luggage, which was weird. It worked out in our favor though, because we were among the first people at the correct carousel and weren't all squished.
We went out to our shuttle when we had everything and headed home, playing Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral again. When we got back to the house, we had a snack and I started on some laundry. After some television watching and email checking, we collapsed into bed, painfully aware that we had just one day to recover before resuming real life.

then - now