May 28, 2005

Our Maui Vacation

Two days after my last final, Aaron and I headed for Hawaii for some R&R and to visit my Aunt Leyla and Uncle Frank. It was an excellent trip and we got some great pics.

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View from Kalepolepo Park, Kihei, Maui

We spent most days chillin' on the beach - me in the sun and Aaron in the shade - and most nights dining or just hanging out with Frank and Leyla at their condo in Kihei. I got an awesome tan, probably on par with the one I got in Acapulco, but somehow more reddish than brown this time. Kihei is nice because it's right on the beach, on the "dry side" of the island, is relatively quiet and uncheesy for a place frequented by vacationers and has some good places to eat. Other than visiting Lahaina, which used to be the capital of Hawaiian kingdom, the only really touristy things we did were, in one day, attempting to see the Haleakala crater and taking the Hana Highway to the Seven Sacred Pools (O'heo Gulch) in Kipahulu. Interestingly, the Seven Pools are also part of the Haleakala National Park, so we didn't have to pay the $10 entry fee again (your entry ticket is good for 7 days).

maui map.jpg

The Hana Highway is about 40 miles and known for being narrow and having more nerve-wreckingly sharp turns than most people would care to experience. In many places (mostly bridges) it narrows down to one lane and the last 4 miles are so are one-lane and have many blind corners that even Aaron was a little nervous. Although he didn't seem to be nervous about my driving our huge rental Buick on the Hana Highway, which kinda makes me proud he has faith in my driving skills. After I got used to the turns and yielding to oncoming traffic on the narrow parts, I really enjoyed driving on the Hana Highway, even if I didn't get to see as much of the amazing coastal views and lush jungle surroundings as my passenger. Some people say the drive isn't worth it, and that may be true, but the Seven Pools were as beautiful as I remember them being so I thought it was worth it. On the way back, we stopped at the Hana Maui Hotel so Aaron could get a drink to steel his nerves for the ride back and I could get a soda. It's a very nice looking, quiet, laid back hotel that seems to be the ideal place for a real "get away" vacation. Also, Aaron's mai tai was incredibly good and potent... not that I could have any.

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The Hana Highway is on the "wet side" of Maui

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It's a long drive, but preferable to the short-yet-unpaved southern route

As for the Haleakala Crater, I'd suggest going up in the afternoon, after all the clouds and fog up there have had a chance to burn off. We went in the morning because it seemed to be clearest then, but by the time you drive all the way up the windy road to 10,000 feet the clouds may have settled in. Perhaps that's why they make the ticket good for 7 days, so you can try again if you get up there and it's too foggy to see anything. At that height, when the weather is bad, it's like being inside a rain cloud, so it's very cold and crappy and you can't see a damned thing. Now I've been up there twice and still haven't seen a thing. Lame.

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Aaron at Haleakala

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Comments

The iPod, at ~5 ounces, is worth 1/5th of its weight in gold. Would you expect someone to turn in a bar of gold to the lost and found? How about an immortality elixir?

Posted by: dr v at May 29, 2005 02:38 AM

I'm so jealous. Hawaii seems highly preferably to central New York )c:. My condolences about the tragic loss of your ipod. Just get a generic mp3 player. They're just as good and aren't as obscenely overpriced.

Posted by: Susan at May 31, 2005 08:10 AM
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