Day 3: Road to Hana

Going to bed early means waking up early too. We hit the road about 7am and headed for Hana. We scouted out a few places to stop along the road and headed off on our journey.

We first stopped at Twin Falls and immediately realized that we may spend the rest of the day wondering where the bathrooms were. There were very few on the road. Anywho, the girls and I got in and swam in the pool and enjoyed the view of the waterfall. It's supposed to be a twin fall but one of the twins was apparently not on duty.

We continued down the road and stopped at a few other spots with falls or lush green views. We drive right through the bamboo forest. We didn't realize they were bamboo but on further inspection we realized that the bamboo creates this gentle green canopy. It was gorgeous.

We found Aunt Sandy's banana bread stand thanks to our niece Rachelle. And we enjoyed the black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park. We found a very cool cave that everyone climbed into to snap some photos. It's always so beautiful to see different places. We love exploring. Everyone loved the stop and a bite to eat.

Then we found something called Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach. That. Was. Amazing. We ventured off on a little hike while grandma and papa relaxed in the car. It seemed like we were hiking in the forest with red pine needles on the ground and trees overhead. Then we climbed around the corner and spotted a cove and beach. Only accessible via this path, there weren't a ton of people but clearly others had found this place via Yelp. It was worth the hike. The girls and I swam and contemplated reinacting certain Little Mermaid scenes. We didn't want another trip to the ER so we opted not to do that.

We also caught a little slice of Hamoa  beach which looks like a tiny slice of heaven here

We made it down to Haleakala National Park and ventured out to see the 7 Sacred Pools. We saw 2. The other 5 were only accessible with a 2 hour hike and it was already 3pm so we opted to skip that. We still saw some beautiful scenery.

We pondered how to get back home and the girls were definitely voting against going back up that curvy road. So.... we opted to take a left out of the park and head down the road to make the full loop around Hana. While we were nervous at first, there were multiple tour buses on the road with us so we figured that it couldn't be that bad. We began to notice the vast difference of landscape on this side of the island. It's much more dry and a lot less green. We saw some cool churches and some cool windmills. It was a quicker drive and we were back to the airport in an hour and a half.

So we ate very little so far, but we were all ready for a big dinner. We headed to a Lahaina favorite. Cheeseburger in Paradise. Live music, stiff drinks, and delicious food. We all left happy, full, and tired. We all agreed that tomorrow we needed to just hang out at the condo and rest. Today was a workout!

Day 2: Lazying Around the North Shore

Can't say we did a ton today. Some people took naps. We are. Played cards. Went to the ER. Snorkeled. Oh yeah, we visited the ER in Lahaina. It's kind of a thing we do on vacation. We've seen in inside of the Big Island ER, the San Diego ER, Santa Cruz, SF...we like insurance!

So we started the day at THE Gazebo. It's really surprising that there isn't more of these on the island. It's seriously an amazing breakfast spot. They are famous for their macadamia nut pancakes. Here's a few pictures from breakfast. If you ever get the chance, come early. Opens at 7:30am and we got there at 6:45 to wait in line. We got in about 7:45am. While we waited we compared pedicures. We took a shoefie- runners know what I mean.

We also played some cards while we waited. We bring the party with us.

Food. Yummmmm.....how did I NOT get a photo of the fried rice? So weird. Anyways, we had it again as leftovers for dinner with slow baked ribs. It's safe to say we plan our vacations around food. Doesn't everyone?

Yeah the birds just come right up to the table. Katie fed a few. It's a small place so we chose to sit at different tables in order to eat faster. Priorities people. Food over family. Wait, that's not how it goes. Oh well.

So we got up at like 5am since we are still on west coast time. And while some of us were napping by 10am...But there were others who went snorkeling at a new spot. Honolua Bay! Wow. The view was pretty amazing - this is the pano shot. We snorkleed in the bay below here.

So we snorkled. Most agreed that Napili has better fish and more schools to see but it was cool checking out a new place. We also saw a few interesting signs along our walk to the beach...

Did you read that? Graves.  Yeah, so we headed back to the condo for mango margaritas and some light snacks. It was around this time that Emily started complaining more and more of her ear hurting. We called he advice nurse, talked to Kaiser Hawaii, found an Urgent Care, got looked at, diagnosed with swimmer's ear, and prescribed antibiotic ear drops all before 6pm. 

Cards were played all afternoon while we lounged and leasiely passed the time. This is how memories are made people. This is why we vacation with other people. It's more fun when there's more people! 

 

And now we are sitting around watching Shrek the Musical on Netflix. Have you not seen it? It's amazing. Live theater is a love of everyone in our family. Truth be told wthe hour drive from the airport to the condo was spent listening to the Hamilton soundtrack. Jess was also singing the Phantom soundtrack in the shower today. It runs deep people. Deep. 

These three girls. They have my heart. Wouldn't trade these days for anything. 

Day 1: Flying, Costco, and Turtles

Forgot to set the alarm last night. Yup. When grandma and grandpa showed up at 4:50am they knocked and knocked but we didn't answer until the dogs started barking up a storm. "Someone is at the door" I exclaimed. "No, there's something in the backyard," said the other voice in my bedroom. Uh, what time is it we both thought simultaneously. "Oh (insert explicative)!" So we got on the road about 20 minutes late but we got on the road nonetheless.

SFO was a drive but we didn't think there would be much traffic at 5am. So, that was maybe not eh correct assumption. Flight was at 9am. We got to the car lot at 7:30 and got to the actual gate at 8am. Boarding was at 8:20. Can't say that I am usually late, as I am almost always early, but wow did we cut it a bit close today. Off we went!

5 hours later we landed, after some unsettling turbulence. I think the captain mentioned that Maui has some wind that causes this turbulence. Can't say I appreciated that. Didn't appreciate it one bit in fact. Nearly got sick. But alas we got to Thrify and found a super roomy Kia Sedona for our trip to Costco.

Since we stay in condos we cook a lot of our own food. Ribs, shrimp, mango margaritas...you want to vacation with us huh? So we stocked up on a Costco groceries, grabbed the traditional hotdog lunch and headed to our place in Napili.

Ah, Napili. We love this northern side of the island. There's a wonderful Bay that has amazing snorkeling. The kids can drop in pretty easily and even us adults go in and see a plethora of fish and a ton of turtles. Today the girls were the only ones who dropped in - see line above about margaritas...

Messy hair - don't care

M

And now the girls are continuing their nightly beauty routine which includes a very comical face mask. Had to get a picture of that.

Auntie T will be coming in later tonight and tomorrow's we have planned a trip to The Gazebo! Food pictures to come very soon! Just a heads up - WE ARE 3 HOURS BEHIND the west coast 😉