It was a great vacation for the fam bam, with no troubles to worry about and just good bonding time. Here are pictures and some videos from our trip.
I dont know why Bella is looking out of the window.. we didnt have a good view of the outside from the last row on the plane.
See, this was our view.... the airplane engine
I like this bathroom sign in the airport...
Our first immediate stop out of the airport was to go to "Krispy Kreme" donuts!!! Yum stuffs
there's over 100 steps to the main lookout (133 steps to be exact, i think)
a little long exposure of the stream in Iao Valley
After Iao Valley, we had a quick lunch at my mom's... then went to the Maui Tropical Plantation, which is kind of like a Dole Cannery. We had some good free fun there checking out the plants and feeding the ducks some old bread.
they also keep some monkeys in a cage.. this one was very boring to watch, but I took a picture anyway.
Bella and Sam feeding the ducks. The ducks arent scared of you at all, and they will come right up to you and eat out of your hand.
This duck looked crazy... he's kind of like a turkey/ goose/ duck thing. I liked his mo-hawk.
Here's a quick video of me feeding a duck... I mess with the ducky a little at the end.
Just spending time doing nothing, and enjoying the day.
We took the "Tropical express" which was a small tour guided train ride around the plantation..
We saw some cool plantation along the train ride. Our tour guide lady was pretty funny too.
It might be hard to notice, but look at the valley in the middle of this picture (between the two big mountain ranges.) The valley peaks are suppose to look like King Kamehameha with his big helmet looking up at the clouds... see it?
Here's a picture of the peaks, but I turned it sideways so maybe you can see the portrait of King Kamehameha here.
After chilling out at the Plantation, we drove down to Wailea so me and Sam could have our nice Anniversary dinner. We ended up at "The Shops at Wailea"
We went to 'Ruth's Chris Steakhouse' for our dinner. Sam loooooves steak, and she's never been there before so we hit it up for some nice treats.
I had the grilled Swordfish with Crab cake.... DELICIOUS!!!
Sammy had the 6 oz. steak with bleu cheese topping and Mash potatoes.... BROKE DA' MOUTH
This is what I could see of the sunset from Wailea... First day on Maui was now over.
The next day we slept in, but when we got up and ready the first thing we did was to drive over to Paia town... it's kind of like a Haleiwa.
I remember when I was a kid, my Favorite thing about Paia was this Bead store. Bella liked it too.
After Paia, we checked out Ho'okipa beach, a pretty popular surfing and windsurfing spot. (no waves this day though).
Some windsurfers were out though.
... and i have no idea what this girl was doing on the rocks by herself. I think she was just sitting in the middle of nowhere so people would take pictures of her, so I did.
After Ho'okipa, we decided... "what the heck?!.. let's drive to Hana!!" If you've never done it, the road to Hana is an adventure!! It is about a 3 hour drive, but only like 28 miles! It is a very windey road, with one lane bridges and bumpy pavement... but the views a long the way are amazing!!
This road sign pretty much sums up the whole road to Hana... constant turning and traveling at about 10mph the whole way.
This is amazing!!! This is the biggest bamboo field I have ever seen! There are tons of bamboo a long the way.. We took a quick stop off of the road to walk into one of these fields of bamboo to take some photos.
It's some beautiful stuff!!! I could spend hours in here trying to figure out a good place to take a picture. We spent a few minutes in here, then continued our journey. When you get to one of these bamboo fields, the only thing I recommend is that you cover your entire body with gallons of mosquito repellent!! it's a frenzy in there.
Some other little stops on the way to Hana, this was from a small hike.
"I found it!!"
More nice views a long the road to Hana..
These folks found themselves a secluded beach... bamboo on the shore with black sand and warm water. what a great place to camp out.
Rest Stop, sign says... "water not suitable for drinking" ... I got nervous washing my face with it.
Here's another quick stop a long the way. I can thank that one dude for ruining my waterfall picture.
This is a picture of me taking a picture of some waterfalls. (I dont pay attention to all signs)
Here's a video of me taking some more pictures.. this time a different waterfall.
This is the photo I was taking in that video.. I liked it.
Believe it or not, my mom is in this picture!... she's hiding in the bushes, can you see her?
Told you.. she was gathering some flowers or something.. ha.
More sights a long the way!! This is another reason the drive takes so long, you have to stop a long the way and be a tourist...
This is the Hana Harbor.. this is pretty close to the end of 'the road to Hana'
It is a "Black Sand Beach".. pretty awesomeness.
This is another Secret Beach in Hana. This one you have to hike to.
Around the corner is the "Red Sand Beach"... a very secluded beach, also very popular with nudist. You can see three people swimming in the water here (no, they werent nude)
"Red Sand"
So the official destination of the road to Hana are the "Seven Sacred Pools".. A beautiful site to see, Waterfalls flowing into different pools then flowing out to the ocean.
This is my favorite photo from the whole Maui trip. One of the last pools before the ocean.
The next morning was crazy!! me and sam woke up at 3:00 am to drive up to Haleakala National Park to see the sunrise.
Haleakala clouds / multiple exposures of the horizon.
Elevation 10,000 feet / 15 minutes before official sunrise.
A long exposure of all the visitors waiting for the sunrise.
Here she comes...
Here's a view of the Crater.
The sun making a break for it!
This is pretty much exactly the same spot where I asked Sam to marry me 5 years ago.
The observatory...
A "SilverSword" plant... this plant only grows up on Haleakala!!
Self-portrait at 10,000 feet.
I think this is God's fluffy blanket.
From Haleakala, you can see the mountain peaks of The Big Island. In this picture you can see Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Some portraits of Sam above the clouds..
How often will you see this sign anywhere in Hawaii??
One of the cool things to do on Haleakala, is to ride your bike all the way down to the bottom of the mountain, all 10,000 feet down. I'll try this one day, check your brakes!!
Molikini (banana island), and Molokai
Some sights to see on the way down from Haleakala, now you can see stuff because the sun is out.
"The Horse and I"
Some Maui sugarcane getting burned off in the distance.
The Maui Sugar Mill
This smokestack could look like a rocketship or a missile if you look at it like this.
The last thing we did before we got on the plane to Oahu was go to 'Maui Mall'.
you know the only reason to go to Maui Mall is for the Guri Guri!!!!
This parrot was hanging out in the pet store.. he see's you.
So before I go, i'll let you see my mom's house. I've spent a lot of time at this house growing up in the summers as a kid.
Here's the view from the back balcony..
The stream in the backyard..
Uncle Felix and 'springley' the dog.
Bella gets some high fives from the dog.
My mom's house has a bunch of awesome doggies!!
'Springley' liked to spend the mornings with us in bed.
Seriously, this is how the dog woke me up in the morning.
These rooms are the new additions my mom is making to the back of the house. 2 stories, all new stuff.
My mom did this bathroom tile design herself.
She shaped the tile, carved it, and grouted it... im so proud of her!!
.So now, we have our plane tickets back to Oahu... what a perfect mini-vacation it was!!
And, me and sam like to fight over the armrest on the airplane ride home. And all though I would win any physical fight with her, I thought it would be nice to give the armrest to her (since it was our anniversary.) =)
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So before I go, this dead rat wants to say "Hi".
Bye
