Week 166 - A Little R & R - 10-18-2009

Aloha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Okay, so why do Pete and Ellen who have been on vacation for 3 years need a vacation? Hey! We have been exploring, not vacationing. Did people ask Lewis and Clark why they needed rest after following the Missouri River to the Northwest? We don't think so!

Anyway, in 2001, far before the crazy idea of a motorhome, we purchased an every other year time share at the Maui Ocean Club in Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii. So every two years we need to go, like it or not. This year, we tried to sell the week with no success. And Emily and Chad were glad we failed. We flew in from Portland and they from LAX and met at the Kahalui, Maui airport.

This is the breathtaking view from our ocean view room. The huge pool area covers 1/2 acre.

1) The island view is also gorgeous. 2) The pool at night.

The closest town to our time share is Lahaina. This banyan tree is enormous, only about 1/3 of it fits into this photo.

This series of photos were taken from the Maui Ocean Club facing the west.

Maui has great snorkeling areas, but none better than Molokini. Molokini is the tip of an extinct volcano whose top ridge just pokes out of the water.

Another volcano on Maui is Haleakala. It reaches a height of 10,023 above sea level, but the base of this mountain is over 19,000 feet below the water, making it taller from base to peak than Mount Everest. As noted by the sign board, the rainfall on Maui varies from 400 to 10 inches in only 15 miles! Haleakala's last eruption was about 500 years ago but remains a potentially active volcano.

1) We left the beach at 85 degrees and reached the Haleakala peak at about 50 degrees. We had hoped to get sunset photos and were worried when cloud cover came over us as we drove up the mountain. But we rose above the clouds to get some great photos. 2) We noted the "endangered species" sign, but wondered which of these three formations was endangered and from what?

While we waited for the sunset and being dressed in beach attire, to keep warm we climbed into the back of our PT Cruiser to play some cards.

Above the clouds at Haleakala.

This photo was worth the 66 mile trip from Kaanapali. The last 22 miles are a series of 15 mph switchbacks.

1)The Long Board restaurant has cute little boards as tables and chairs. 2) This weird looking group are part of the Cirque Polynesia acrobatic team that was just plain amazing. They fly through the air, balance on stacks of round cylinders, jump from one unicycle to another and do handstands on their teeth. Amazing? No, just another day at the office.

The parrots were at the Westin Hotel next door to Maui Ocean Club. And coincidentally so were Bob and Barbara, Ellen's cousins from Arizona.

Every beach activity you can imagine is here: parasailing, surfing, dinner cruises, snorkel trips, jet skis and watercraft, paddle surfing, wind surfing and of course tanning.

The Marriott pool area.

Lanai, the island south of Maui, where Bill and Melinda Gates were married. Bill did not want helicopters flying overhead taking photos, so he rented every nearby charter helicopter on their special day. Additionally they rented the 250 hotel rooms on the island to protect their privacy. Must be nice!

What a great time to relax. At the end, we waited for our flight back to Portland as we watch Em and Chad's plane return them to LA.

Aloha and Mahalo (thanks) for traveling with us,

Love, Pete and Ellen

Photos from Oct 2009