Maui

This trip would have never happened for me had I not gone to Lake Powell in September with all those people that I didn't know and ended up loving and becoming good friends with. I especially became good friends with the Hawman sister's. Ashley, Vicki and Mindi had convinced me to go to their home town, Joseph City Arizona. When I was there, DeAnna was just about to move to Maui to go nanny for a family. She needed some change in her life and Maui was where she decided to go. Can't argue with that. Well, in March... Ashley decided that she wanted to surprise DeAnna with a visit at the same time Mindi was moving there. Ashley really wanted me to come. I promised Tara we would go on a cruise after losing weight. I lost the weight I was supposed to (although I am nowhere near done) but everyone bailed on the cruise. So Tara decided she would come with me to Hawaii... which I was very happy about. What was even better was 3 weeks before our trip we found a flight for $460 round trip out of Vegas. And even better than that, Mindi had a friend that had a nice condo right on the beach (one of those places that are $2,000 for a week) and she let us use it for free. That was the what made the final decision to go. So on May 7th my trip began...

Tara and I drove down to Vegas Monday night. Jammed in the car and crashed at my good friend Lolly's house. Next morning Lolly took us to the airport and we were off to San Francisco and the off to Maui. When we got to Maui Ashley & DeAnna were waiting there for us. We all hung out around the airport until Mindi flew in a few hours later. We then drove to Lahaina to the condo that we would be staying at to get some sleep. We were so tired even though we had just gained 4 hours from Utah time. This was the view from our condo. Condo came with a pool, hot tub, BBQ's, Volleyball court, a gym and even mini golf!

Our first full day in Maui, Wednesday May 9th, we drove to the Harbor to get on a boat that would take us to Molokini island for some legit snorkeling and for me, scuba diving. Unfortunately it was too windy and they wouldn't take us to Molokini. That was a big downer in the trip. However, scuba was still awesome for me. I wrote about my scuba experience here. Everyone still had fun.

Later that night we checked out the night life and shops and got some amazing shaved ice with ice cream at the bottom. I was looking forward to this because I remembered how good it was when I was in Oahu in December 2000. It did not disappoint. Don't worry, we went back for more the next night.

Thursday we spend the day at the beach. We spent the morning boogie boarding at one beach and snorkeling on another beach. It was awesome. I got super sunburnt though... second day in a row. I swear I was using sunblock everyday. Ooppss. Later that night we ended up going to this cool Hawaiin show called Ulalena. Best part of this show is that DeAnna's friend got us tickets for free! Awesome. Since we didn't get the chance to go to a Luau, it was nice to have some Hawaiian culture as part of our trip.

Friday was spent with the Sea Turtles. Besides Scuba Diving, this was my favorite thing. We pretty much had this cove to ourselves and there were SO many sea turtles there and we just spent the morning swimming with the, and taking pictures of them and snorkeled around. Went home, had some lunch and then went back for more that afternoon because we loved it so much.

Later that night we went to Black Rock. Every night at sunset a guy climbs Black Rock, lights the torches and then dives off the rock. It is pretty awesome.

Saturday we got up SUPER early so that we could drive to the other side of the island to the road to Hana. On the drive there we saw these awesome surf boards and had to stop.

Three hours later we got to the road to Hana and it was time to hike. First it was the 2.5 mile hike through the bamboo forrest. At the end, there was a BEAUTIFUL waterfall.

Then we came back and went to the Seven Sacred Pools. Absolutely beautiful and nice to swim in after the hike.

Sunday I just went to church and chilled and watched the sunset. We had been going going going everyday, so it was a nice break. I LOVED the sunset. Couldn't get enough.

Monday was my last day. Went by so fast. Last thing DeAnna took us all to before Tara and I had to go was the blow hole! It was really cool. I loved the little heart in the rocks.

Then it was to the airport to wait for several hours. Then a red eye flight to San Francisco then to Vegas. Lolly picked us up. I chatted with her for an hour and then it was a 5 hour drive back to Provo by that early evening. I was SUPER tired. The time difference, not really sleeping on the plane then having to make that drive. It was long... but it was worth it. I had so much fun on the trip. Thank you to the Hawman sister's for making it possible for me to go and inviting me to come along. Love them. Hawaii is always good idea. Hope it is not as long as last time (11 1/2 years) before I go again. Next time Kaui! Aloha!!