Vacation in Paradise ... Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

Day 5 was another awesomely beautiful day. The only thing we had planned was to spend the day by the pool. We had a great set up. There were several of us in a row and our chairs were facing the ocean. The best thing was, the spinner dolphins were back in the bay and we watched them all day. They looked like they were having the best time jumping, spinning, splashing. It looked like they were on vacation also! I don't have a picture yet for this blog post; but I will be getting some of the pictures soon (I hope) from a friend that didn't leave their camera battery at home!

Day 6 - how sad. Our last day of relaxation. We made the best of it, once again by the pool. Unfortunately, no dolphins on day 6.That evening was the going away Luau. It was a lot of fun. There were traditional Luau foods: smoked pork, poi, kimchee, fish, etc. I did not try the poi. I know, I was in Hawaii and should try their traditional food. However, it looked like purple paste and I just couldn't do it. The pork and short ribs were very good.

Day 7 - the saddest of them all. We have to leave. It was a day of hurry up and wait. We had to be ready to go by 10:00 for the shuttle to the airport. Then we had to wait for an hour for the plane to leave. When we got to Honolulu, we waited for three hours in the airport for our flight to the mainland. Once we boarded, a sensor wouldn't show that the door was sealed - another 2 1/2 hours sitting on the plane. We missed our connecting flight (by this time it was Day 8), and were put on another flight. That flight was an hour late and then we ended up in the very back of the plane where it was very loud! 

Somehow, all that relaxation just disappeared on Day 7 and 8 waiting for flights. Do you think it was worth it? I believe it was. Lots of fond memories, good friends, awesome scenery. Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat!

Vacation in Paradise ... Day 3 and Day 4

Day 3 was a very restful day. We spent the day beside the pool, enjoying the sun, food, and friends. I love spending time just relaxing! 

Day 4 we went on a catamaran along with some people who were going diving or snorkeling. As we were pulling out of the harbor, a pod of dolphins were off to the side. They immediately came over to the boat and started swimming all around the boat. It was awesome! Those dolphins (spinner dolphins) were right at the front of the boat. One of my friends got some pictures of them and I am waiting on copies. I can't wait!  I did go into the ocean from the boat for a little bit. The water was cold at first (it is the Pacific Ocean after all!), but was not freezing like it has been in the past. The water was so clear, that I could look down and see fish. 

Image from: Large, Molly. spinner_dolphins.jpg. January 18, 2009. Pics4Learning. 4 May 2011

Vacation in Paradise ...

... Day 1

What can I say about the first day of vacation? It was long! We had about a 14 hour flight (including connecting flight) and went through a lot of time zones. When we finally arrived at Lanai'i, we were exhausted. We got our room, put our luggage down and fell asleep.

... Day 2

We had decided to take the ferry to Maui that day, so I started looking for my camera. Found the camera, couldn't find the battery. Guess what ... I left the battery at home. ARRGHHH!!  

Anyway, it was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. The ferry put into the city of Lahaina. We walked around the town for a while, then we wondered if there was a Harley Davidson store in town (my husband owns 2 Harley's, so we are always looking out for the stores). Of course there was a HD store in town! We went and looked around, bought shirts, and talked to the manager about the cost of renting an HD for the day on Maui. It was a fairly reasonable price, so if we ever get back to Maui, we will probably rent a motorcycle for the day. That would be a great way to spend time in Maui and see the sights. Then we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch. It was so good and they put us right by the window overlooking the ocean. 

After a late lunch, we were walking back to the ferry and went to sit under the Banyon Tree. This tree was amazing! One tree covered a whole acre. The original tree was planted in the 1800's, and the people of Lahaina cared for this tree for all these years. The main tree has tree limbs from which roots hang down and plant themselves. They then grow into trees themselves shooting out more roots. One tree had created more than 16 other trees within this one acre. The thing that amazed me the most was that they were all connected to each other.

On the way back in the ferry, we saw a humpback whale and her calf. They weren't very close, but we got to see them breach. I was so excited! As it turns out, that was the only whale sighting I had the whole time we were in Hawaii. It was pretty late in the season for humpbacks; most of them had already started migrating back to their feeding grounds. 

 Stay tuned for more of my vacation!

Ocean image from Eastridge, Julie. blueocean.jpg. July, 2007. Pics4Learning. 4 May 2011

Banyon tree image from Gilmer, Lori. img_0488.jpg. March 2007. Pics4Learning. 4 May 2011