Hawai'i Photos

We took a quick trip over to Maui last week for some fun in the sun with Bob, Cherie, and Alex. Here are a couple pictures from our trip.

Beach

Chris and I arrived a day early and spent most of the morning sitting on the beach and taking a quick snorkeling trip around Black Rock.

Sand between the toes.

Hotel

Bob, Cherie and Alex flew into Maui on Saturday after a brief jaunt in Honolulu. They were very kind to invite us and Alex very generously gave up a room (and a real bed) while she slept on the living room couch.

We crowned Cherie "Queen of the Smokin' Deal" since she managed to snag the penthouse suite at the Kaanapali Beach Club!!! It had incredible views! (and, if you happen to drop a can of sunscreen off the balcony, the beach chairs are thankfully not placed directly next to building)

Greg and Megan weren't able to make the trip due to school and work commitments and their presence was sorely missed. Cherie kept doing head counts and going "wait! we're missing people!!".

I guess this is what it's like to be an osprey looking down at your prey (in this case, some nice fat koi)

Random Photos

Can you believe that they have a Croc store?!

Nice grill ornament.

Hiking Maui's North Shore

Our first full day in Maui we headed north of the resort for a little hiking adventure along the coast.

The hike was full of rock climbing and bush whacking.

We discovered lots of tidepools...

And an angry eel.

We ate a picnic lunch and had a lovely time until Sonja discovered a GIANT black spider climbing up her leg.

Hiking on Haleakala
Haleakala was spectacular, windy, and frigid. We did a nice 5 mile hike down to one of the cinder cones in the valley. Haleakala is such a nice example of a shield volcano but at 10,000 feet it's a steep climb out of the valley. Alex put us all to shame and practically ran up the mountain, despite a lingering cold!

Mountain Climber Alex.

Not too bad for a self-portrait, eh? It's my long monkey arms.

My favorite parts of Haleakala are actually further down on the slopes among the fields and eucalyptus trees. It's be nice to have a farm there.

Hikers Bob and Cherie. It was dusty so we had to walk in small groups to avoid bringing lots of dirt into our lungs.

Awww. What cute siblings!

Snorkeling Trip
We headed out to the base of Haleakala for a snorkeling trip. The path headed through a dry forest before ending up on some seriously tricky lava beds. We were a bit worried as it was quite windy and the water entry was difficult but once in the water it was fairly easy to navigate and there were lots of colorful fish.