Monday September 29, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

We started Monday pretty much like every other day here.  Except, I had to get up and close the windows. They are doing construction on the three buildings behind ours and this morning they started a diesel powered lift.  It didn't start easily and they left it running while the idle smoothed out.  That filled our rooms with fumes.

In the late morning Gerri went and sat in the sun and read.  I stayed in the unit and read.  I have only one more Inspector Rostnikov novel to finish before moving on to the 87th Precinct.

Later in the afternoon I went out geocaching. Another cacher had given me a hint on one that I had looked for several times.  I found it and 4 others.

The sun was going down before I headed back toward the resort.  There was a low cloud bank that blocked the sun before it disappeared  below the horizon.  As I drove I noticed a brightly lit red column of clouds. Before I found a safe place to pull over the scene had changed to a tall bank of gray clouds with red tinged edges,

Back at Papakea we had salad with tuna for dinner.  After that it was TV, computer and reading until bedtime.  I stayed up too late reading, I get absorbed and can't always stop until I finish a book.

Sunday September 28, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

A view and a cache, does it get better

It's dinner time

With the time difference we had to be up before 7 to tune into the worship service from the Oakey Blvd. Church of Christ.  We only missed the first few minutes.

We had our coffee and after the worship service we just vegged out.  Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, so we tried to do less than usual.  Really hard to do more nothing.

Gerri had contacted Curtis in Texas and set up a time we could connect with him and the kids on Skype.  Dana was working today and the kids spent most of the time outside.  The time was set for 2 our time.  We had a good visit. After a short time Vanessa starts fidgeting, but she did tell us about selling lemonade in a stand on the street.  Brandon's eighth birthday is coming up on 10/4, he will be eight.  He carries on a good conversation but talks really fast.  It only seems like a few days ago that all he did was wave his arms and legs and smile.  I fondly remember the times we took walks and I taught him to throw rocks up and bat them with a stick.

Hula Grill, outside seating

Later in the afternoon I asked Gerri if she wanted to go caching with me.  Surprise, surprise, she said yes.  I think I may do better when she is along, even though she waited for me in the car as I walked to the cache locations.  I found two that I had unsuccessfully hunted before.  One of them had been found twice since I didn't find it and by reading past logs on the other, I had a better idea where to find it.  You would think that with billions of dollars in technology the coordinates would take you right to the cache.  You would be wrong.  I found one other cache and looked for a fourth with no luck. I will have to go back to that one when the tide is out.  I didn't want to wade in the surf to get to the bushes at the GZ.

Another sunset, this one from the Hula Grill

By now it was supper time.  We knew there were some restaurants by the sea in the Whaler's Village shopping center.  We chose the Hula Grill.  Really a neat place.  They have a dining room but more casual dining outside with bar and table seating.  We sat at a table with an ocean view but not right at the edge.  There was a trio playing Hawaiian music.  They were subdued and the music made a perfect level of background sound for the restaurant.  The restaurant was busy as was the shopping center and walkway along the ocean. http://www.hulagrillkaanapali.com/

I had fish and chips and Geri had fish tacos.  On our Alaska adventure we were used to Salmon or Halibut on these types of plates.  Here in Hawaii it is Mahi Mahi.  Like Halibut Mahi Mahi is a mild, firm white fish and well suited for these dishes. Mahi Mahi is also known as Dolphin Fish or Dorado, depending where you are in the world.

We lingered over our meal until after the sunset and then returned to the Papakea Resort.  After reading, TV and some computer time, we called it a night.  Another good day on Maui: "This is the day that the Lord has made;  We will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 NKJV.

Saturday September 27, 2014 Lahaina, Maui,

View from our table at the AMP Restaurant

 Like most days we started with our coffee.  We caught up on computer stuff while drinking coffee and listening to the surf through the sliding door,

At 11 we headed for downtown Lahaina to attend a timeshare presentation for Club Wyndham.  We committed to the presentation to get $200 discounted from our trip to Molokai last Wednesday.  Getting this discount cut the average price of the caches I found there.  Since we already have too many timeshares, we resisted the sales pitch.

Panning slowly south

After the presentation we went north on front street toward Kaanapali and our place at the Papakea Resort.  Gerri spotted an interesting restaurant.  A quick u-turn and we arrived at the Aloha Mixed Plate Restaurant, AMP for short.

We were seated at a table for two next to the walk along the ocean.  We had a great view of part of the Lahaina harbor, including an old dock.  We could see both Lanai and Molokai. Both islands were shrouded in clouds.  This appears to be the norm. http://www.alohamixedplate.com/  Except for the setting this restaurant had a menu like the Kualapu'u Cookhouse where we ate Wednesday on Molokai. Both places have excellent food.   http://www.yelp.com/biz/kualapuu-cookhouse-kualapuu

Just a little further south

After eating we returned to the Papakea.  On the way Gerri took me to the Cannery Shopping center to try to find a geocache near the Safeway store.  I didn't find the cache.  The last three cachers had logged DNFs.  One saying that they found the magnet that should have been holding the container onto the metal where the cache was hidden.

I left Gerri at out unit and went geocaching while Gerri played on the computer and relaxed.  I found two caches and looked in vain for a third. One thing I have noted here on Maui is that the people who placed geocaches pay very little attention to maintaining or checking on them when they are logged several times as DNFed.  When I logged my finds, I also put notations that they need to be archived and another needs maintenance,  Here on Maui my find to did not find is about 50/50, I did better on Molokai,

The AMP menu

The heavy clouds pretty much blotted out the sunset for this evening.  We watched TV and read.  Since we had a late lunch we only snacked for dinner.  We were in bed by 11.

Friday September 26, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

The view from our unit

It had rained a little more during the night. After we had our coffee and read for awhile, Gerri went out to sit near the ocean.  I went to see if I could find some geocaches.

Larger than normal surf

The caches I looked for were along the hotel that are south of us along Kaanapali Beach.  I found two out of three and didn't find a place to park for the fourth one.  As usual I spent more time trying to find the right roads to get near the caches than I did hunting them.  It rained heavily but intermittently so I didn't want to walk very far.

It was time for sunset when I got back to the Papakea Resort.  But it looked like there might not be much to see because of the cloud banks.

We walked out to see and were pleasantly surprised by a great show as the sun set. There was a fine mist of rain.

Back in out unit we read and watched TV. They have a channel here, "Me TV," which shows old TV shows.  We watched two episodes of Mayberry RFD.  We had salad and the left over pork and rice from Gerri's meal on Molokai, followed by pineapple wedges for dessert.

More reading and we were in bed by 11.

Gerri tried her first video on her new iPad.  It was a view of the sunset and came out well.

Thursday September 25, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

It had rained quite heavily during the night and was raining when I got up. The waves we could see from our unit were larger than usual.  I made coffee and we started what was to be pretty much a lazy day.  We both spent most of the day reading and or computer activities.

I did venture out to the patio and beyond a couple of times.  It was not quite raining, only a mist. Gerri ventured out to get a few groceries and a birthday card for Brandon.  She also went out later to mail the card.

Our only planned activity for the day was in the evening.  We had reservations to see a show downtown.  We got ready and left the resort at about 6:45.  We parked at the outlet mall and walked to the theater a couple of blocks away. parking in Lahaina is at a premium and costly.  Without the validation from the theater, parking would have cost $12.

The show we saw was  called "Burn'n Love" featuring an Elvis impersonator that has appeared in Las Vegas, Darren Lee.
http://www.burnnlove.com/home

After returning to the resort we read and watched TV until calling it a night at 11.

We didn't take any pictures except the one at the theater.  I have included some from previous days. The pictures may have been on previous blogs, I didn't look back.

Sunset from the Papakea Resort

Turtles near Kahana Beach

Looking toward Molokai from Lahaina Harbor

Tree tunnel near Kalaupapa Look Out

Wednesday September 24, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

1st cache on Molokai

We had set alarms for 5:30.  Today was our trip to Molokai.  We had to check in at 6:30 at the harbor in Old Town Lahaina, the ferry left at 7.  The ferry trip to Molokai was two hours.

I had downloaded and saved 17 geocaches on the island.  Saving the caches on the iPhone makes it possible to search for them with out an internet connection.  We weren't sure what cell service on Molokai would be like.  It turned out to be pretty good in most places. Since I wanted to find caches on Molokai we rented a car instead of taking a tour.

It turns out that from the ferry terminal we had to take a shuttle to the airport to pickup the car.  It was about a 15 minute ride to the airport. We also had to have the car back at 3 so we had time for the shuttle back to the ferry back to Maui at 4.

Most of the caches that I had saved were closer to the ferry terminal, so I was lucky that the cell phone worked.  I found the first one just outside the airport.  The cache log was in a small DNA tube hidden in a hole drilled into a rock.  It took us some searching to find it.

Looking down at Kalaupapa

We drove up to Kalaupapa Look Out.  This was pretty much the highest point where we could drive.  According to the map this area is some of the highest sea cliffs in the world.  The same claim was made on Madeira, Portugal. Kalaupapa was the location where lepers were exiled.  There is a tour that goes down to the village via a trail near the look out.  It is a donkey ride or three hour hike.  You can only go there on the tour or by invitation.

Turkeys at Kaluakoi

We drove to the far western part of the island to a small village and then to a ranch area where some  homes were being built.  There was also a resort area with villas and condos but they looked like they were past their prime and not very busy.

A view of cattle and the sea from Maunaloa

All the islands we have visited n Hawaii have a dry side and a wet site.  Molokai seemed to have a larger dry area, not as lush as many places on the other islands.  Molokai is the 27th largest island in the United States, 260 square miles and has a population of about 8000. Except for the higher elevations the predominant trees are Acacia and what looks like mesquite.

Coffee trees in Kualapuu

Before returning to the airport we decided to have an early supper at the Kualapu'u Cookhouse.  We had a very good meal.  Gerri had pulled pork with rice and macaroni salad and I had chopped steak with fried onions, rice and macaroni salad.  The steak was actually thinly sliced instead of chopped.

Gerri's pork plate

We didn't see any old barns, just an old house

A unique house painting

In one of my status updated on Facebook I told our niece Sandi that I couldn't live on an island, too confining.  She said it was "torcher" to live in "paradise."  I don't know if that is a new word for good or a misspelling of torture.  I have included pictures of some homes we saw on Molokai.

A house for sale in Kualapuu

The Molokai Princess

At 4 we boarded the ferry for the return trip to Maui.  The ride back was rougher than the ride over to Molokai.  We were back in Lahaina at a little after 6 and back at the resort after dark.

This was a good day we saw some new territory and I found caches on another Hawaiian Island. Actually I did better at caching on Molokai than I have here on Maui.  I found 5 and didn't find one. That one also had DNF by the last two cachers. My ratio found to not isn't that good here on Maui.

Later in our stay here we hope to go to the island of Lanai.  After I find a cache there I will have completed the Hawaii Island Hopper Challenge. http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2X94M_hawaii-island-hopper-challenge  But I will have to get back to Oahu sometime to claim it.

After cleaning up we relaxed after a long day. After some reading,TV and computer time we went to bed early.

Tuesday September 23. 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

We were up and had our coffee while catching up on computer activity. Today was cleaning day so we had to be dressed before the maid got here sometime after 9.

I went caching about 11.  So far I haven't done well here on Maui.  I have found 7 and DNFed 4, two of them twice.  Today I only managed to find two. But the second one had not been found since July.  This video shows the view from the cache.  Well worth the .1 mile walk to get there.


Back at Papakea, Gerri and I walked out and sat on a bench by the sea while the sun went down. So far we have had beautiful sunsets.  Tonight the trade-winds were blowing and the forecast is for cooler temperatures.

We plan to go to Molokai tomorrow and the ferry leaves Lahaina at 7.  We have arraigned for a rental car and I plan to do a few caches there.  After returning from the beach I downloaded some caches to the saved lists on my iPhone,  Who knows what cell service will be like on Molokai.

We finished the quiche with some salad for dinner and went to bed at about 9 with very little reading or TV time

Sunset day 8

Monday September 22, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

We got up early enough to attend the Expedia presentation on what to see while on Maui.  Besides information they served up coffee, rolls and fruit.

Koi pond at Palakai

We decided on a show and a day trip to Moloka'i.  The show we chose was an Elvis impersonation since we got one ticket free for attending the orientation.  We will go on Wednesday evening, in downtown Lahaina. The trip to Moloka'i will be on Thursday.  It will include the ferry ride over to the island and back plus a renal car for the time we are there.  We also got information for later on luaus and a day trip to Lana'i for later.

After arraigning the activities we drove north on the island.  Near a place where I looked for a cache there was a beach area frequented by turtles.  We wanted to see the turtles and of course I wanted to look for the cache again.

We did see several sea turtles, just not very well.  In the video, if you look closely, you will see one by the rock in the center of the picture.  In the picture the turtle is in the lower left.





We drove further north until we intersected HI-30 and then we drove south to a fruit stand that we had passed on the way from the airport when we arrived.  We bought a coconut that the man there cracked for us.  He found a mature coconut for us.  Here and in Mexico the locals like the green coconut that can be eaten with a spoon. We like the harder dryer meat,

On the way south we also stopped at the site of another cache that I was unable to find last week. That cache was near the station for the sugar cane train that used to be a tourist attraction, but has been closed for several years.
It was nearly dark when we got back to the resort.  We watched some TV and read until 10 and went to bed.

Sunday September 21, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

This morning I woke up before 6:30 to the raucous calling of birds back and forth.  We never saw the birds.  I certainly hope they are beautiful, because the sound they make surely isn't.

View north of Kahana

We got up early enough to tune in to the morning worship net-cast from Oakey Blvd.   Of course I had made the morning coffee and we drank it during the net-cast.  Mark West delivered the message and it was along the lines of our Wednesday bible study, evolution vs. creation.

In the late morning Gerri went out into the sun and I went to Long's to get my prescription. While out I also tried to find some geocaches. I found two and didn't find another two.  I also went to the Valley Isle Resort and picked up two more beach towels.

View of Moloka'i

A close up of the one of the birds that hop around

Our view during dinner

After getting cleaned up we drove into Old Town Lahaina.  We had cheeseburgers and onion rings at the Cheeseburger in Paradise Restaurant.  The onion rings were excellent.  The cheeseburgers weren't as good as we were remembered.  I think time and the group we were here with last made them better in our memory.    http://cheeseburgerland.com/cheeseburgerland/Lahaina.html

After eating Gerri took me to two caches.  I found one, the other eluded me.

Another day is done

 Back at the resort I sat out during the sunset.  After some TV, reading and computer time Gerri called it a night at 10.  I was up a little later reading.

My evening prayers again thanked God for this beautiful place and our ability to enjoy it.

Saturday September 20, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

There is some beach at low tide

Our morning was our normal routine, coffee, computer and looking out the glass door at the birds and trees.

North from our resort

I called Long Drugs and had a prescription I needed transferred from CVS in Las Vegas to a local Long's.  CVS and Long's are the same company.

In the early afternoon I drove to a Safeway store for some groceries.  On the way I stopped and found a cache.  After shopping I tried to see if there was a cache near Safeway.  The app that I had been using on my iPhone stopped working properly.

For our time here we rented a Budget rental car The car is a Volkswagon Passat sedan.  The last VW I drove was a 1967 VW Baja Bug.  In any event I haven't driven small sedans for may years.  Budget may call this a full size car, but I know a compact car when I see one.  There are several things I'm not use to; getting up out of a car, power steering that is so easy that no effort is needed and the sudden brakes.  I think I may take it back and ask for a larger car, preferably an American car.

In the afternoon we lathered up with sunscreen and went to sit by the ocean.  Gerri in the sun, me in the shade.  We read most of the time when not just relaxing and just watching and listening to the waves.  There were rain clouds hanging over Lanai and moving north toward the setting sun.  The sunset was golden with tinges around the edges of the rain clouds.  Our sunset pictures are much the same as ones from Thursday night.  I noticed that there were different different sail boats tonight.  With their timing in the evenings we are assuming they are dinner cruises sailing out of Lahaina harbor.

After the sunset had faded we went inside.  We resumed our reading and later had a chicken salad for dinner.  Gerri was in bed by 10 and I stayed up until I finished the novel I was reading,

Friday September 19, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

Name that bird

We must be still adjusting to the time change. Well one of us is, Gerri was up early. Still on Las Vegas time.  Our morning was typical.  We loafed and spent our time between the computer and looking out at our little patch of ocean paradise.  Birds hop past our door occasionally, of course we don't know what kind they are. We have seen four varieties out the window and a larger bird on the grass by the ocean.  We haven't seen any gulls, they must hang out closer to the harbor.

In the afternoon we lathered up with our sunscreen and went out on the grass near the ocean.  Gerri sat in the sun and I walked to a geocache about a 1/3 mile away. I walked northeast along the seawall. My last walk had been southwest.  I soon came to the end of the resort property, the path along the beach ends here.  The next property has a wall topped with a fence that extends all the way to the water.  There are steps down to the sandy beach but it is very narrow.  The surf usually covers the sand, or at least rolls over it. Where the steps lead to the water there is a passageway in the other

See any crabs?

direction that leads to the street via the parking lot.  Before making my choice to walk to the street, I noticed movement on the rock seawall. There were about a dozen small crabs scurrying around.  I tried to get a picture but I'm not sure any of the crabs show.  I followed the way out to the street and walked up the sidewalk to a small park that had a really nice beach.  The cache was at the edge of the park and after a little searching I found it.




I returned to the Papakea Resort and sat with Gerri.  Of course I sat in the shade of some palms.  We watched a couple flying a remote controlled helicopter.  It went out of sight and we thought it had crashed.  In reality it was high enough above us we couldn't hear the motors.  Later talking to some other I found out that the helicopter had a video camera.

Our  view to the west

After Gerri went inside I walked back to where I had seen the crabs, hoping to get a better picture.  There were a couple of women at the bottom of the stairs so the crabs were in hiding. I spoke with the ladies for awhile and to another group of three from Provo, Utah before returning to our unit.  I also chatted with one of the Janets next door before going inside.  Both of the women next door are named Janet, they are from Pennsylvania.

We watched TV and read until Gerri prepared a dinner of broccoli quiche.  I had mine with some of the quinoa salad.

Some TV. computer and reading finished off the evening at 10 PM.  The TV was on in the bedroom but we didn't know that for very long.

Thursday September 18, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

Koi Pond

Several phone calls woke me up,  People calling from the mainland at what should have been a good time, with the time difference it was early for us.  I made our coffee and returned the calls that needed attention.  One call was from my primary physician.  Pretty scary to get a call from your doctor, but the nurse just wanted to check on phone number of the CVS Pharmacy and a couple of the dosages.  That brings me to the CVS call. Since we have been dealing with CVS I have been trying to have them not fill prescriptions until I call them.  We are trying again to only have them remind me that prescriptions are eligible to be filled.  The other calls related to my Jeep which is at Sahara Jeep for repairs.  The repairs were delayed waiting for parts.  Montyne will pick it up and bring it to the house on Friday afternoon.

Water lilies in bloom

Gerri went out and sat on a lounge chair in the sun near the ocean. I went to the office and asked for beach towels.  They said we weren't guests of the Papakea Resort.  Apparently all of the units here are not managed by the resort, they are managed through Vacation International, who we had reserved through. They gave me the number to call.  I called and ask that beach towels be delivered.

I then joined Gerri at the beach and sat near her in the shade.  After we had enough sun we returned to the unit,  I then walked to the ABC store and bought a coupe of hats with wide brims to protect my ears and neck ( I was already lathered up with SPF 50.)  The ABC store is a short walk.

Nearing sunset time we decided the sunset was going to be pretty much the same as yesterday.  We didn't set out to to watch it.  I did walk about a half mile to the Ka'anapali Beach Resort.  I was told it was two doors down, they are big doors.  My purpose there was to find out if owners had day use privileges while staying else where.  I was told no.  I guess that an e-mail suggestion is in order to Steve Cloobeck who is the CEO of Diamond International.  We have day use privileges at other time shares such as the Carlsbad Inn where we are owners.

Panorama looking northwest

I walked back to the Papakea in the dark being very careful where there was no paved walk.

We had the chicken wraps again for dinner.  I finished off the shrimp that we had bought at Costco.  Before bed I read in another Inspector Rostnikov novel and caught up on computer stuff, e-mail and Facebook.  Gerri frantically hunted eggs trying to maintain her lead as number one in the world.

We were in bed by 10.

Wednesday September 17, 2014 Lahaina, Maui, HI

I think we were still tired from yesterday.  We nursed our coffee and spent most of the day at our unit.  We unpacked, read and did stuff on the computers.

In the afternoon I walked to the ABC store for a few items. There is a gate from the Papakea property (http://www.astonatpapakea.com/our-resort/) to the store , it requires a key card to come back to the resort.

In the late afternoon and early evening we sat on the patio, We are in a first floor unit so we can walk out doors to the pool or beach beyond the pool.  There is no beach directly along the resort.  There is a wall that drops down about 6 feet to the ocean.  Waves hit the wall directly.  There are sandy beaches a little ways in either direction.

Just before sunset we walked out and sat at the edge of the grass near the wall.  Occasionally waves were large enough that we got a few drops of spray. We sat and took pictures, enjoying the sights and sounds.  I took a series of pictures as the sun progressed to the sea. As you can see there wasn't a lot of color, but we enjoy all sunsets.  

A couple of distant sailboats are in some of the pictures.
At dark we returned to our unit. I had been watching the sunset and when I turned toward the buildings I was surprised at the number of people that were sitting doing the same as we had been.

Back in our room I read while Gerri pursued her egg game.  We had a good dinner consisting of chicken wraps rolled up with a Greek yogurt dip and Quinoa salad.  We followed that with wedges of mango and pineapple.

Dinner was followed by more reading and computer time. Gerri went to bed at about 11.   I stayed up until a little after midnight and finished my Inspector Rostnikov mystery novel, by Stuart M. Kaminsky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_M._Kaminsky). We will probably be fully adjusted to Hawaiian time difference soon.