Maui bound...
 

Last year the wife surprised me for my 50th by taking me to Kauai (Poipu). http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/591529-greetings-poipu-kauai.html This year we're going to Maui. (love Maui! Been there before) Not a present, just a timely thing. Way...... way low budget trip this time.
Stay tuned....

Snorkel your brains out. Lots of great options on Maui.

Went to Maui for our 30th wedding anniversary and had a fantastic time. Lot's to see our week went very quick. One surprise was finding the food product Spam on so many menu's, even McDonalds had a spam offering.

Sit at the bar upstairs in CheeseBurger in Paradise.....Can watch the ocean on one side and see which shop your wife goes into from your bar stool....Down past Hana, go to Charles Lindberg grave....Took me 3 trips to find it...Drive your rental car on the dirt roads at both ends of the Island; where the rental car company tells you not to go...Did it one time on a Harley loaned to me by a friend that lives there.

I'm planning on doing that...to complete the loop of the island. Will be spending 2 weeks on various islands in March.

Visit the aquarium its well done.

Arrived in one piece. Typical landing here. Turbulence. Lots of "Oooooss and Ahhhhhs" for the roller coaster approach.
The weather upon landing was 82 degrees, overcast, and windy.
We hit the Costco after picking up our rental wreck. (Subaru Forester) Actually its not a bad car. The best we've ever had! Our first trip here we had a Sebring convertable that I am sure they dropped wheels first off a ten story building. (suspension was absolute mush)
The plane ride wrecked me. My a$$ fell asleep about half way here. (still paying for that) I have almost plowed through one of Patterson's books "Toys". I'll finish it tonight.
Our place we're staying is "okay". The 70's are calling and they want their interior decorator back. But hey!, its a place to crash for the night and the price was right. $165.00 per night!
No pictures yet.

For good eats, go to the Halle Malle General Store, upslope on Haleakulah.
Aloha!

You're going to Maui? Wowie! :D

We did the road to Hana the day before we were to fly home. I called the rental car folks and arranged to trade our Chevy Malibu for a 4 door Jeep with removable roof. Total cost was a one day $25 upgrade. Totally worth it. Kids in the back and open roof - the drive was amazing. I also rented a GPS from a shop near the aquarium that had the R2H route programmed with lots of interesting talking points and Hawaiian theme music. Totally worth the extra $$ and was also treated to some unique out of the way beaches. As already mentioned - keep driving around the island past Hana. Plan a lunch and a couple hours at Wai'anapanapa State Park. Lots of great walking trails, blow holes, black sand beach (no lifeguards and dangerous swimming). Highway 330 to 31 - about 10 miles or more of chop board dirt road that gets tiring but incredible views. Narrow one lane road but some amazing scenery. Love the micro climate change from dense jungle to dry desert. Plan an entire day for this trip - you won't be disappointed.

A little story about this: Let me start by saying that it's considered bad luck in Hawaii to remove lava rock from any of the volcanoes. I totally ignored this and picked up a few pieces while hiking up on Haleakala. The next day, I was driving my rental on some dirt roads south of Wailea and sure enough, I get a flat. I put on the spare and brought the tire to a gas station later that day to be repaired. After working on it for a few minutes, the guy comes out and says, "There's nothing wrong with this tire but I did find out what caused the flat". He then shows me a tiny chunk of lava rock that was caught inside the the plastic valve cap. This little rock pushed down the valve and let the air out of the tire. How this rock got in there and why only then did it decide to deflate the tire, I'll never know. The next day I returned my souvenirs to the volcano and have been a believer in that lava rock = bad luck story ever since.

If you get a chance, cruise down to Wailea and check out the big resort hotels there...the Grand Wailea, the Kia Lani & the Four Seasons. They're quite spectacular and just walking around the grounds or stopping in one of the bars for a drink is a real treat. There's also a nice crescent-shaped beach just south of Wailea called "Big Beach". No development there...just a beach (at least that was the case last time I checked).

Was there about 8-9 years ago. I remember having a couple very good meals in Lahaina at Aloha Mixed Plate. Cheap and delicious. Also right on the beach. Fantastic views

da kitchen in kihei... big portions good food

oops hit send tooo soon. whale watching ride.. cheap and fun activity to do.

Best price for best food is at the Dunes at Maui Lani golf course restaurant. Caution, it get real busy at lunch with the locals.

Café O’Lei at The Dunes Restaurant | The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course

We're having fun for sure. Got to sleep in this morning. (rare for me) We just got back from snorkeling at Charlie Young's Beach. One of our favorite spots. We have spotted several whales breaching. Must be the season.
Love all the great suggestions and ideas people. We have done the Road to Hana before. We actually drove all the way around the island. That was back in 2001. Not a good experience. Both the wife and daughter got car sick and I was the bad guy.
A few pics from the trip so far. More to come.
My daughter and I.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329177682.jpg
My wife Leslie.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329177738.jpg
Our blast from the past kitchen.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329177822.jpg
Supporting the local economy.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329177880.jpg
My snorkeling buddies.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329178207.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329177947.jpg
Can't forget my daughters travelin bunny "Allie".

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329178027.jpg

Go island hopping, see some lava flows.... no not the drink, no wait what am I saying

Nice! I just got back myself.

$165/night is a deal. What part of the island is that?

fwiw, for the first time we skipped the rental car (well, for the first week) and stayed local and used the Maui bus to get around. That was actually pretty cool (literally and figuratively) --the bus drivers crank the AC. I was also surprised to see so many main-landers on the buses. Anyway, the bus use forces a slow down ...quicker to get to island time. And it saves $600 /week - the all-day bus pass is $2. ...and no time wasted on parking ... putting the top up... worrying about break-ins.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329180245.jpg


Okay, now, more vacationing and less of this! ;)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329180635.jpg

turn your back on the surf and become a human dredge...great fun.

Wow, looks like you are having a good time :)