Maui ~ Paradise

This is the view from our hotel. SO much to do!!!

Aloha! As many times as we heard it, we just couldn't say it back. It felt too different! ha

We found this cool Sushi place! It had Sushi on a conveyor belt and you could just grab what you wanted! Yum!!!

The plates had different colors on them and when you were finished, they would just add the prices from the color of plates you had on your table! I've been seeing these type of Sushi places more and more since then, on TV!

We drove the famous Hana Hwy and this was our first stop. We trekked through a tiny bamboo trail in search of four waterfall. Adventurous!! We never did find the waterfalls. :(

Look at all this lava rock. Wow! Beautiful!

We came across this moss type "carpet". It was sooooo thick and luxurious! ha!

The grounds at our hotel were spectacular!!

We Y Maui!!

Hana Hwy is known for lush greenery and beautiful waterfalls. Dan had the famous "Blue book" that told us where all the good stops along Hana Hwy were. So he drove (very carefully)down a one lane (at times) very windy road and I looked at the book and told him when to stop. Nothing like a little team work! ha

Anyway, we hiked to this wonderful spot and had it all to ourselves! Dan took a swim while I cheered him on from the shore! ha It was like a dream!!

This is a black sand beach! Look at all that beauty!! Amazing!

This tree was another amazing sight in Maui! This is Banyan Tree Park. What is amazing about this tree is it covers the park and it is all one tree. Every trunk is connected to the branches of the tree next to it. Only one word for this tree - AMAZING!

The hotel pool. Its another day in paradise here...

Hang loose!

Time for a photo session! :)

Walkin' on water!

(below) This is the famous Hana Highway!! It really was soooo beautiful on this drive. On the way back through, I was able to look at the sights, instead of the "blue book"! So even though this drive was nerve wracking because it was sooo narrow and curvy, it was worth driving both times!

(below) this was another fun stop: Nakalele Blowhole. The waves of the ocean would crash against these rocks and ...

shoot up through this hole! What a sight!!

On nights the hotel wasn't hosting the Luau, they would set up this outdoor movie screen and show movies! We watched a bit of National Treasure II!!!

Sadly, our wonderful vacation had to come to an end. We were very sad; but thankful for the chance to see some of Hawaii!

We flew straight from Honolulu to Dallas. 7 hours straight! We scheduled our flight home to be at night and it was very peaceful and didn't seem to take that long. It was also fun to fly in one of these huge airplanes!! They showed "Hotel for Dogs" so at least we were "entertained".

The boys were coming home from lake Brownwood with their grandparents and Aunt so we had time to rest alittle before they came home!

Thanks for stopping and sharing the memories of Hawaii with us! Y

Hawaii continued...

Here are some MORE Hawaii pictures! I am working backwards, sorry about that! I hope you enjoy them!

Here is Dan snorkeling at Molokini. I was out there with him too. It was so beautiful and peaceful! After lunch, Dan went out by himself and saw a 3 ft. white tipped SHARK! I am glad I was on the boat! Yikes!! We also saw an octopus together. I thought I would be scared, but really wasn't! :)
Riding to Molokini! Who needs make up for snorkeling?? ;)

The first night at Maui, we went to a Lu'au. It was at our hotel on the grounds. Here is a picture of them taking the pig to be prepared for us to eat! Yum! It really was sooooo good. Our favorite thing on the menu!! Y

(I had to throw in this shot of three islands from the air! So Beautiful!!)

Okay, Back to the Lu'au ~ What would a Lu'au be without the dancing hula girls??

Next to a Teki Idol at the Lu'au!

(below) Here's a shot of Molokini and an island(Maui). It's right in the middle of the ocean! It's a great snorkeling spot and we are going there!! yay!

Here is an air shot of Molokini from the air! Can you see all the boats inside the curve! We are headed there tomorrow!! Can't wait~

This is flying from the Big Island to Maui. I believe this is Honolulu. (below)

Dan and I at the most Southern Point in the USA!! God is good!

(below) A statue of King Kamehameha! Here is a palm tree on Coconut Beach showing how high Tsunami's have hit! That's pretty high! Can you spot the highest marker? Kinda hard to see.
(below) Here is a picture of our hotel and connecting island (called Coconut Beach) from the airplane. This is flying into the Big Island.
With some of the pictures, it helps to click on them to enlarge them. :)

The Highest Point in Hawaii ~ Mauna Kea Volcano - 13,796 ft

It was scary driving to the top of the mountain. At times we were driving next to cliffs. Oh My! Seems like Dan can always find the scariest roads to take me on!!!!!! Eeks!!

ON THE TOP OF HAWAII!!!!
Dan at the top!!!
Me and Dan at the TOP!!!!

I MADE IT!!! Forgive me for being a little excited, but this is one highpoint I never thought I would be on the top of! GOD IS GOOD!!!!

Here you can see the trail we walked to the highpoint. Even though it was about 1/4 mile hike it was still a little rough! With lots of elevation, wind and cold, I was pretty tired!!
Here is the trail to the top!!!

(above) here's another view of the trail to the top.

(below) Here we are with the road behind us ~ above the clouds!!! It was spectacular!

There were big observatories up there!

There were still large patches of snow in some areas surrounding the highpoint! Brrrr....

I am soooooo thankful for my adventurous hubby!!

Hawaii ~ The Big Island 6/6/09 / 6/8/09

Welcome to Hawaii! Dan and decided to celebrate being married for 15 years by taking a trip together alone to Hawaii. Hawaii is somewhere I have always dreamed of visiting, but never thought I'd actually get to go to. I am so thankful to the Lord for allowing us to take this dream vacation to celebrate our marriage and the beauty of Hawaii!!!

First Day
We flew into Honolulu, had a three hour layover there and then flew to the Big Island of Hawaii. Here are some pics from the plane of Honolulu.




It was really beautiful flying over the Hawaiian Islands. You could see them from beginning to end.

We didn't spend any time in Honolulu except the airport. It was really beautiful. The airport was half open and there were glamorous shops there. Like a big shopping mall.

The airport at the Big Island in Hilo - was almost all open air. (Guess we didn't get any pics!) It was like nothing we had ever seen before. It was raining when we got there. The rain was like a light mist.

We were going to the volcano, Mauna Kea, and you need a four wheel drive vehicle, so we rented this sporty Jeep! Fun!

This is our hotel on the big Island. It is really beautiful, but it was really old.

Here is the view from our hotel. Stunning! It was rainy and cloudy alot while we were there. It doesn't stop anybody from being at the ocean though!!

This park was full of kids and families, playing Frisbee, cooking out and swimming!!!

There is a five hour time difference in Hawaii. When we arrived in Hilo, our final stop, it was 5pm local time but 10pm TX time! We were bushed!! Needless to say, our first stop in Hawaii was the bed!

I will post our trip day by day...Next up, the highest point of Hawaii!!! Maunu Kea Volcano!!