The Forced March from the Mountains to the Ocean

Greetings everyone, I am recovering from a seven mile hike we took yesterday. We started by taking the bus from Kapalua resort to the trail head in the mountains on an old pineapple plantation.

                                       

We all started out looking nice and refreshed and ready to go. Oh will that change over the course of the hike

Here we are trouncing through the wild jungle and stumbling across prehistoric trees larger than life

We found the dreaded snake tree, the beauty of the flowers and to survive we had to eat wild pineapples!

            

We made it back to civilization   in time to make it to happy hour at the pool bar and ….

watched the mighty whales from the security of the beach pool bar sipping our mai tais.

After replenishing the much needed fluids I found the strength to snap this photo before the darkness of night settled in around us as we retired back to our huts .

Driving & Hiking

Yesterday we decided to drive north from Ka’anapali. Our first stop was at the overlook at Honolua Bay which looks like a good snorkeling spot. We’ll have to try it some time; the only downside is climbing down the rocky path to get to the bay.

    

A little farther on, we pulled over at another observation point where we saw one of many local artists’ wares for sale. We walked down to the shoreline where Bill picked up a coconut shell, held it up to his shoulder and said “Two heads are better than one!” I couldn’t pass up that photo op!

    

After driving about a little farther, we saw this sign:

                                        

What the sign didn’t indicate is how narrow  the curvy road would be! It became a one-and-a-half lane road (at best!). At one point, we met a Jeep coming in the opposite direction, so Bill pulled all the way over to within an inch of the rock wall. The Jeep was touching our fender at one point, trying to pass. I was SO glad that I wasn’t driving; I think I would have been paralyzed! Bill & the other driver inched along, and somehow we made it without any scratches on either vehicle! We were rewarded with awesome views.

   

We saw a sign for the Ohai Trail and decided to take the short 1.2 mile hike. From a bench along the trail, we were able to watch whales swimming by. What a nice way to spend an afternoon in Maui!

    

Maui for a Whale of a Time

Oh yes we are off to Maui.  We had to take a break from being retired and are on a two week vacation.

                

We are staying in our timeshare in Maui on Kaanapali Beach. This is one of our favorite times of year to come to Maui.  The ocean is filled with whales that have migrated here from Alaska to give birth and mate before they head back to Alaska this summer.  We can see plenty of whales right from the beach but to get up close and personal you have to go on a whale watching boat (which we are scheduled to do on Monday).

         

We have been doing some hiking with Verne and Peggy.

      

Trying some of the local 5 star cuisine                     &       spending some time at the museum.

      

We have tried to capture some of the local sights along the Kaanapali resort area.