I want to warn you before you start that this is an extremely long post! I highly recommend taking a notepad with you on your next trip. That way you can write down all of the funny things that happen along the way! Here we go.......
Before We Even Left:
So as most of you know, Holly and I just went on a little excursion to Hawaii. We had an absolute blast, and we did lots of documenting along the way. Right before the trip was Katie’s wedding. I literally flew home from Tulsa on Sunday only to repack and leave for Hawaii from DFW at 6am.
Originally, I was going to fly straight from Tulsa. At my success rate, let’s be glad that I didn’t do that. On the flight to Tulsa I left my Hawaii book on the plane. I then left my camera battery plugged into the wall, so for half of the wedding weekend I had a camera with no battery. Finally, I left my house party dress for the wedding at a friend’s house and had to go back and get it. Let’s just say I am glad I had time to regroup as karma was not on my side.
Day 1:
So the day started out innocent enough. My dear cousin/best friend/roomie Casey took Holly and I to the airport at 5am. We checked in, paid the stupid $25 fee for our baggage, and made it through security (where I forgot to take my shoes off and got yelled at by the security man). Strike 1
So we get on the plane and Holly and I both pull out our respective Hawaii books. We like to do lots of good research when we travel so we always buy travel books to read before we get there so we don’t look too touristy (I guess the big camera always gives us away though). Since I had lost my Hawaii book I took the liberty of rebuying the same book. I was real excited because for the second purchase of the same book I had a 40% coupon. Therefore, the $20 book only cost me $30, and low and behold Holly pulled out her book and we had bought the exact same one! A tip for future travelers: there is both a Fodor’s and a Fomar’s brand of travel books. I told Holly I had bought Fodor’s and she said thought that I said Fomar’s. So between the two of us we had spent $50 on a $20 book. Strike 2.
We stop at LAX for an hour and a half lay-over. I drop my phone on the floor. Now I have done this a million times. As much as people say the iPhone is sensitive mine seems to be indestructible. Until today. I pick it up and the screen looks like some kind of Matrix code. Strike 3.
So there I am with no phone (which we were planning on using as our navigation system in the rental car) and no new music (I quit uploading music to my ipod a while ago since the iPhone has so much space). I am completely bummed. Luckily, we actually have really good pancakes and French toast at Chili’s Too. Holly and I had a discussion and we decided that we don’t think regular Chili’s has breakfast, so we were a little leary. But as of 8:30 AM, the French toast and pancakes were the best thing that had happened to us. Not a good sign.
At 9:30 AM we board the plane in LAX for Hawaii. The flight was only five hours; just enough time to do some good reading and some good people watching. Now, if you know Holly and I you know that we love to do good people watching. There are very good and specific places to do people watching and they include airplanes/airports, shopping malls, and sporting/musical events. Now on a plane to Hawaii the good people watching also includes a Hawaiian shirt count. As of takoff time we had counted 10 Hawaiian shirts. We are now two for two for good things happening. The karma is coming back in our direction. The rest of the flight was uneventful. Luckily, we didn’t have a third seat passenger so we got to spread out. There was also couples sitting to the front, side, and behind us. We were in the middle of honeymooners and anniversary couples. Not too surprising. What was so weird was that the honeymooners to the left of us were not as into each other as the anniversary couple in the front of us. Must be that whole retirement thing.
We land in Hawaii at around noon, 5 pm Dallas time. I don’t know if it was magic on the plane or what, but I somehow got my phone to work. Holly suggested that I hit it really hard against something before I turn it on. She should work for Apple because slamming the phone against my leg and then seeing the little Apple icon made me feel like I hit a home run. I was so excited that my phone wasn’t ruined so I could spend that couple of hundred dollars on bad touristy items or really good Mai Tai’s. Moving on….Now the Maui airport was Hawaiian shirt overload. So much that I lost count. We were at 20 or 25 when I got distracted by this…..
Yes, this is a fish purse. I am not sure if it is meant for children or adults, but this man was extremely proud to be wearing it. And I was extremely proud that he was standing in front of me at baggage claim.
We then go to get our rent-a-car. Now, I do apologize, but the rent-a-car will be a big player in the rest of the Hawaiian adventure story. Since we were in Hawaii, we thought it would be smart to get a Jeep Wrangler so we could take the top off. Seeing as how neither of us has ever driven a Jeep before, we thought that a soft top would be an easier, more accessible choice than a hard top…..note to self….I now know that this is completely untrue. So, low and behold we drive off in a silver soft top that has low tire pressure (not to my knowledge of course). Later on in the trip we named her Big Bertha, so I will go ahead and start calling her that.
Now I have to give Holly kudos for the hotel situation. Since it is off-season in Hawaii, none of the hotels were completely booked and most were running price specials, which was great. We got a special for an “ocean-view” room. We show up to our room and it is more of a pond view with the ocean in the background. Not what you want to see when you get to Hawaii. So Miss Holly called the front desk, complained, and voila! we were assigned another room with an absolutely breathtaking view! Apparently the original room was considered an “ocean-view” even though you could only see a very small bit of ocean and a whole lot of pond. Tip to travelers: don’t be afraid to complain! The people that work at the hotel do not care; you have to look out for yourself! Don’t be afraid to be assertive. Thank you Holly!
We then went to the beach and watched the most amazing sunset. The sand was great, the water was clear, and the sky had just the right amount of clouds in it. It was perfect. See below:
After sunset (which was only 6:30PM, but Holly and I were still on Dallas time), we had a great dinner at our hotel restaurant, Capishe. We then went to bed at 9PM. I am going to blame it on the time change, however, we were in bed by 10 o r 10:30 every night the whole trip. It was glorious.
Day 2:
Day 2 was fully devoted to a snorkeling trip aboard the Trilogy to Molokini crater. I had several people recommend this snorkeling and diving company and they definitely held up to their name. We had to be at the harbor at 7:45AM for our 8AM departure. We get on board the Trilogy II and again notice a bunch of couples. Some anniversary, some honeymooners, there is also a family, a father/son, and a group of five older women who were on a girls trip. PS – I think that girls trips are as great of an idea at 60 as they are at 25. These ladies looked like they were having fun.
Now aboard the Trilogy our crew consisted of Brett, who was our captain (O Captain, My Captain). Then there was Shane, who was maybe 17 years old and in charge of all the food. And then there was Dan. Oh Dan. Dan was one of those guys that you just can’t stop staring at. He introduced himself to me and shook my hand. He then came back a minute later and held out his hand again. Now Holly heard him ask me if I had trash and hold out his hand, but I somehow missed that part. I simply turned around and saw his hand and tried to shake it again. He looked at me like we had just done the handshake song and dance and said, “Do you want to keep your trash?” Holly said it was the most awkward she has ever seen me be. Which is pretty sad because I consider myself awkward a lot of the time. Anyway, I did give Dan my trash, which consisted of gum that might have gotten stuck on his hand. The next trash round consisted of Dan holding a bucket. Strike 4.
The crew was great. They learned everyone’s names (although I would like to think that Holly and I got extra special treatment from Dan), served us breakfast, and lunch, and were really informative about how to dive and snorkel and what kind of things to look for in the water.
The trip started out with the travel to the crater, the first snorkel spot. Now there is really only one other passenger aboard the boat to talk about. She was a 40 year old Colorado woman who was really earthy and had no shame at all. Before we even left the harbor she had her swim cover off and was catching some rays. And when I say catching some rays I mean laying out on the middle of the boat in her bikini while everyone else still had their cover-ups on. I suppose there is nothing wrong with her behavior; I just can’t believe she made herself at home so quickly. Anyway, after about an hour of sailing we made it to Molokini. We then got a lesson on snorkeling. Now both Holly and I had been snorkeling before, but when you get to listen to Dan explain to you how to snorkel you are going to listen again. I also had Dan assist me with my goggles to “make sure they were on good and tight”.
I hadn’t been snorkeling in a while and forgot how great it is. The water was so clear. We saw angel fish, eels, and various forms of other fish that I didn’t care to look up. Below is a pic of Holly and I right before we started.
I just couldn't bring myself to post pics of us with the goggles on! But I will show you our flippers!
The second snorkeling spot was in a harbor on the south side of the island. Here we saw the same kind of fish, but we also got to see sea turtles! There was quite a skill to see the sea turtle. Apparently they are kind of sneaky and hide out in the underwater caves. Holly and I knew that our best shot at seeing a turtle would be one place…wherever the Colorado woman was. Sure enough, while following her around we both got to see a turtle. Mission accomplished!
On the sail back to the harbor we got to see two things. Dan’s backside as he put up the sail (which thankfully lasted several minutes) and get ready for it…..Dolphins! And I don’t just mean one or two dolphins….I mean like 20 dolphins. They followed our boat for several minutes and played around jumping and doing tricks in the water. There were two baby dolphins as well. It was really fun to watch them. We even got a video on Holly’s camera. It was pretty priceless.
After we got done with snorkeling we decided that it would be fun to take the top off of Big Bertha on the way home. Big Mistake!!!! We got the top halfway off and it got stuck! We couldn’t for the life of us get it all the way off, and what was worse….we couldn’t get it back on. We had Colorado woman's husband offer to help us, and he couldn’t get it either! So we decided to try the drive back with the top half on and half off….again, big mistake! We had to pull over and called Alamo Rent-a-Car. While on the phone with them, Holly somehow all of a sudden got the top completely off. We were so excited just to have the top of the jeep in a full position, regardless of it was off or on. Luckily, it was beautiful outside, so enjoyed the ride home. We decided to take our changes on if it was going to rain later in the week or not….see Day 4 for further details on that decision!
After that fiasco, we made it back to the Hotel Wailea for some R&R. We finished out Day 2 with free Mai Tais at our hotel pool and cheap Mexican food. It was a great way to end the day.
Day 3:
Day 3 began with complimentary Yoga at our hotel. I have to applaud Holly for this one. She was a trooper. I wanted to check it out because I thought it would be fun. It was outside by the pool while the sun was rising. It was fun, but it was a little crowded and we were with some really good Yoga people; I think there was a convention in town or something. However, we made it through and felt a little bit better about ourselves when it was over.
We then began our eventful beach day. Now we were both really excited about this day. Our hotel advertised “free shuttle, chairs, and towels” at the nearby Wailea beach (our hotel is a small boutique hotel located across the street from the beach). So we were so excited to get to the beach. The free shuttle was great, but we show up at the beach and our “area” is definitely the reject chairs and umbrellas. We have kind of crappy chairs and short plain white towels. We definitely had the B team set-up. We also were informed when we got there at 10am that they would be picking the chairs up at 3pm, regardless of if we were in them or not. After this statement, we knew it was going to be a good day.
The beach day consisted of some really good people watching which helped distract from our slightly uncomfortable chairs. We spotted some people from our hotel, including a cute Canadian couple we made friends with and a foreign Nanny with a child she was baby-sitting. And we counted several men in European bathing suits. It was a little to much to bare.
The good thing with people watching on the beach is that you normally have sunglasses on and you have an easy prop (such as a book) to make it look like you aren’t watching other people. The key to this: make sure to turn the pages of your book. Holly informed me that she thought she had gotten busted checking someone out because she forgot to turn her pages. I told her that she was not an amateur and shouldn’t be making obvious mistakes like that.
We had lunch at a café at Grand Wailea, which was a hotel a step above ours. Now don’t get me wrong, there was nothing bad about our hotel. However it was next to some REALLY nice hotels. And they are all open air lobbies…meaning there are no doors, you can just walk in and out of all of them. We spent the afternoon walking from hotel to hotel, simply acting like we belonged there. If a hotel worker asked if we were doing ok or needed anything we simply said “We are doing great!” and “No, we don’t need anything.” Let’s just say that if I had the opportunity to stay at the Four Seasons or Grand Wailea I would probably never leave the hotel. I would just lay by the pool and get massages all day while sipping drinks and looking at the ocean.
After our hotel hopping, we caught the shuttle back to our normal hotel room and got ready for dinner. Before we had left for Maui I had asked several people where to go eat dinner. They all had several options, but the only one that all of the people said that was the same was a little place called Mama’s Fish House. I went into dinner a little leery simply because I don’t like fish. But, how can you go to a place in Hawaii with "Fish House" in the name and not try it? So I took our waitress’s advice and ordered the Uno Swordfish. I am so glad I did. It was to die for. I mean I had a religious experience with my food. Had we not been at such a nice place I would have probably picked the plate up and licked it. But sadly, we were at a very nice establishment so I refrained. Instead Holly and I ordered a very decadent dessert. It was some kind of chocolate pie thing that I also could have also licked the remains off of the plate. Again though, I refrained. Kudos to me.
We got home and went to bed at our normal time during the vacay….approximately 10:30 pm. I mean I never go to bed that early at home, but it was glorious!
Day 4:
Now day four was several things: amazing, fun, carefree, frustrating, and tiring all rolled into one. I can tell you the one thing that caused the frustration….her name is Big Bertha.
The day started out innocent enough. Holly and I got up and had the free continental breakfast at our hotel (which was fabulous by the way) and then we headed out to the Airport for our helicopter ride. On the way to the airport we had a little setback, it started to rain and was getting cloudier by the second. Now when you are wanting to ride in a helicopter to see Maui from the skies, the last thing you want to do is have to worry about cloud coverage.
As we pull into the heliport we get stopped by a lady we will call Thelma. We weren’t really sure what her real name was, but she was the parking attendant working at the heliport, and she looked like a Thelma. She informed us that it “might rain”. Oh really? Thanks, we hadn’t noticed. It is also important to note that we still had the top down on Big Bertha because we hadn’t figured out how to get it back on. We devised a plan though where we had it halfway on and covered the dashboard with towels. That should work, right?
We got all checked into the Blue Hawaiian, and then they inform us that they were postponing our ride until the afternoon because of the rain. We look outside to see that not only is it raining, it is a torrential downpour. We inform a rather heavy set Hawaiian man that we might need assistance with our car. He goes out in the rain and gets the top on Bertha in less than five seconds right as Holly sees a rooster walk by her foot. Yes I said rooster...I can’t make this up. Now that we had the top back on we were determined not to take it off again.
While we were waiting for our raincheck helicopter ride we drove over to Lahaina, which is a little town on the west side of the mountain. Of course we got over there and didn’t want to leave. There was a great little boutique called Karina’s that had the most amazing jewelry. Holly and I both bought presents for ourselves there; we always tend to do that when we need to be buying for others.
We made it back to Blue Hawaiian just as the sun was kind of coming out. We get inside and are a little sad to learn that we don’t get to pick our seats on the ride. So of course I thought that meant that they would give the good seats to one of the honeymooners. Oh but wait, luck was on our side here! We got the only two front seats in the helicopter, right by the Pilot, David. The story gets better from there. We get in and are told that our trip will be filmed on a DVD for purchase for later if we wanted a copy of our flight. Of course I am excited about that. Little did Holly and I know that the camera filmed both the inside and the outside. We later bought the DVD where you can see me nudge Holly’s arm and say “We got the good seats!” Let’s just say I hope that none of the other people on our flight bought the DVD. Here is a picture of us right before take-off. I mean we actually kind of look like the pilots or something. Scary thought!
The helicopter ride was one of the coolest things ever. We had to wear the dorky headsets, but the Pilot was playing Dave Matthews and Coldplay which fit the mood perfectly. We flew all over the west side of the island, in and out of the mountains. Our pilot informed us that this is where they filmed parts of Jurassic Park, which I thought was so cool! However, he could totally be lying and I wouldn’t know, after all in the end we were just tourists with cameras on this ride. Here are a few pics:
After the quickest 30 minutes of my life, we landed the helicopter and got back to reality. As we paid Thelma (for the second time that day) we drove out of the heliport and saw a sign that said Haleakala - 30 miles. From our vast Fodor’s research we both knew that Haleakala was the only volcano on the island. Since it was only 30 miles we decided to go for it. The 30 miles turned into a two and a half hour jaunt. We went from zero to 10,000 feet over these 30 miles and the temperature went from about 85 to 45 degrees. By the time we got to the top after a stop at the “gift shop” (which consisted of two coffee mugs and a couple of key chains and was also closed for inventory) we were completely surrounded by clouds and couldn’t see more than ½ a mile in front of us. Now on a clear day you are supposed to be able to see all the way onto the other Hawaiian islands. Not so much on this day. But, we can say that we have been on the top of a Hawaiian volcano. One of my bucket list items – check.
The drive down the volcano was actually really enjoyable. The sun was setting on the ocean and the clouds began to lift. We stopped and did a little self-portrait on the way down. Lucky for us the self-timer worked and the camera fit on the hood of the car perfectly. See below.
The sunset on the way down from the volcano. It made the whole drive worth it.
We make it back into civilization right around sunset and stop to watch it. This is when Big Bertha bit the dust. We get out of the car and the tire is almost completely flat. I of course begin to freak out. With the sun setting it will be dark soon and we will be two girls stranded on the side of the highway. Holly though (as usual) never lost her cool. We called Alamo rent-a-car and somehow made it back to the airport without the tire blowing. Thank the Lord! At this point in time we got to lay Big Bertha to rest and trade her in for a four door hard top Jeep that we nicknamed Great White. Great White was much better to us than Big Bertha. The top was easy to get on and off and there was now low tire pressure issues. Crisis avoided.
We finished the night off with a simple dinner and early bedtime. Big Bertha and Haleakala sure took it out of us!
Day 5:
Our adventures on Day 5 totally redeemed any issues Big Bertha had given us on Day 4. Day 5 was our last full day on the island. We were taking the red-eye that night but had the whole day with Great White to explore any unchartered territory. So exciting!
So we packed all of our bags and headed to the Northeast part of the island. There were two things on the agenda for the day: shopping and the Road to Hana. Hana is a town on the island that is only accessible by driving along a highway that loops in and out along the coastline for approximately 35 miles. There are apparently over 600 twists and turns and the 35 mile drive can take anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on how many times you stop to take scenic pictures. Apparently it is “the thing to do” before you leave the island to say that you have seen everything.
Before you get to where the highway begins you drive through a little village called Paia. Paia is the most amazing place. We had driven through it on our way to dinner one night and knew we had to come back. It is a small little village with tons of little shops, and had a very eclectic Austin or Denver kind of feel. So we thought we would stop for just a bit before we moved on our drive.
Each shop we went into was so great and unique, you didn’t feel like you were seeing the same thing twice anywhere. The cutest shop name was “Alice in Hululand”, just had to share that one. The most impressive thing was the jewelry. All of the jewelry we saw in Paia was mostly made from local artists with jewels and stones found on the island. Holly and I both found some good stuff for ourselves, and we even managed to buy a few gifts for our family members (can’t forget them!).
While we were shopping we got a call from the hotel. Apparently there was a reason why we were able to both zip our suitcases so easily on the way out. We had forgotten all of our clothes that were hanging in the closet! So, we were going to have to make the drive back to Wailea to pick them up before our 9pm flight. We both felt pretty stupid.
After a great lunch of pizza (where we kind of got eyed by our lesbian waitress), we decided to start the road to Hana. Holly took the first leg while I took control of the travel book. There are over 15 scheduled stops along the drive that the travel book recommends, we were going to try out two of them.
The first stop was at mile 2 and was supposed to be a great waterfall spot. Unfortunately the travel book didn’t explain that the great waterfalls were over 2 miles from the highway. Holly and I were both wearing some pretty flashy gold flip flops and hiked over rocks and ledges to make it to this waterfall. Luckily, once we got there we got a good tourist picture in front of the waterfall, and it really was beautiful. See below.
After we walked back to the car (another 20 minutes) we knew that if we were going to continue at this pace that we would never make it to Hana and back. So we decided we would just pull over when we saw a good scenic spot along the way. Then the real drive began. The road to Hana is a little stressful. It is a two lane highway that twists and turns to the point where going 20 miles per hour seems fast. Most of the tourists go slow, but the occasional local comes barreling around the corner at 40 mph. Kind of scary; at some parts the highway goes to just one lane. That’s right, one lane for both directions. In this situation you are supposed to “stay alert” and “watch for other cars”. Yeah okay. See below for all of the turns of the road.
When we reached the halfway mark we decided we had seen enough. The rest of the drive was in the woods so we weren’t really all that interested. I drove the second leg of the trip on the way back. On our way back we found a great little secret spot: a black sand beach where we both took stones as a keepsake.
We ended the drive feeling very empowered and special that we had made the decision to tackle the drive to Hana (well technically half the drive to Hana). Only when I got back to Dallas did Casey tell me that she had read about the road to Hana in her book “1,000 Places to Not See Before You Die”. Apparently her book thinks the scenery isn’t worth the craziness of the drive. Oh well; I can still check it off of my bucket list.
After we got back to civilization (with the help of Great White) we made it back to the hotel and to the airport in time to grab some dinner before our flight left. I must commend the Maui airport. The lady let my bag go free of the extra charge because it weighed 51.5 pounds instead of 50 pounds or under. A disclaimer here: I offered to put some of Holly’s things in my bag because she always breaks the 50 pound rule. Little did I know that that would push me over the edge. Not only did the lady not charge me, she lifted my back and did everything herself.
I then spent the best $8.00 of my life. Since we were taking the red-eye we knew we would need to sleep on the plane. But, neither of us brought pillows and were just going to lean on each other. Instead, we bought the cutest little pillows. Holly’s had flowers on it and mine had hula girls. And they were so much better than the bad ones you pay $10 for from the stewardess.
The flight wasn’t too bad. Got a little bit of sleep on my $8 pillow. We landed in Los Angeles and had to switch planes to fly the rest of the way to Dallas. We then landed in Dallas around 11am and Casey picked us up. We then went home and Holly got ready to go to the OU/Texas game. Yes my friends, after a week away and an overnight flight Holly was going to go and sit through a 4 hour football game. This action didn’t surprise me at all. The girl loves OU football. We won too, which was awesome. But, I think Holly was a little tired that night.
All in all it was a fantastic trip. I love Holly as a traveling buddy. She is so extremely calm and never loses her cool (unlike me). However, she tells me that we complement each other well because I am always ready for disaster.
For those of you that are still reading, sorry this post was so long! I highly recommend taking a notebook with you and documenting the things that happen. It will help you remember all of the funny things that occur along the way!
Have a great one you guys! And go Rangers!!!!
Until next time, Ciao for Now!
