Saturday, November 24, 2012, Las Vegas, NV

Saturday, November 24, 2012, Las Vegas, NV
Friday was our last day on Maui. Check out time was 10 AM but we had that extended to 11am and had the bellman store our bags until our shuttle pickup time of 1:40.
We had lunch at the resort near the pool with a view of the ocean. The shuttle picked us up and made one more stop to pick up another family before delivering us to the airport for our 4:30 flight.
The flight was uneventful until we neared San Diego. We were told that the visibility was less than safety allows for landing and that we might divert to Los Angeles. As we approached San Diego the decision was finally made to divert to LA. We arrived at LAX a little before midnight. Alaska Airlines had arranged for busses to take us to San Diego but there was over an hour delay waiting for the them. Then of course it was a two hour drive to San Diego.
Gerri waited for the shuttle to the parking lot for about a half hour before someone told her that after midnight she had to call for the shuttle. We were finally on the road. Gerri drove to Norco, CA and I took over and drove the rest of the way to Las Vegas. We arrived home at 9:30 AM. It was along day and night at the end of a very enjoyable trip to Hawaii.

Thursday, November 22, 2012, Ka’anapali, Maui, HI

Thursday, November 22, 2012, Ka'anapali, Maui, HI
It rained lightly during the night and a little after we got up. The clouds were high and not too thick, making a bright grey day. Everyone lounged around the room all morning.

Ready for dinner

In the mid afternoon I took a walk around the pool area and past the property on the north side of our resort. The sun wasn't fully out but it was bright enough to make some shadows. Quite a few people were making use of the pool and beaches both at our resort and the one next door. Of course the ubiquitous surfers were out in force.

The beef station

Traditional Turkey

We were scheduled for seating at our Thanksgiving feast at 5:30 PM here at the resort. We got ready for that and arrived at the restaurant just a few minutes early. We were seated with a view of the ocean, but the overcast nearly concealed both Lanai and Molokai. Of course there wasn't a lot of daylight left to enjoy any view. The restaurant put out a sumptuous meal; a full salad bar, turkey with all the trimmings, prime rib and of course an assortment of deserts. As always with a buffet, I hurt myself by eating too much. My favorite of the deserts was pecan pie, which turned out to be macadamia nut pie fixed like pecan pie. I never heard any complaints from Gerri or Neva about the food. So I'm guessing they enjoyed it as much as I did, only not in as great a quantity.

Dessert , of course

Dinner lasted about three hours with coffee after. Back at our room we all did our thing reading, computer and Sudoku puzzles. I gave up and went to bed early. I have no idea how long the ladies were up.


Gerri thought she had read that there was Hawaiian entertainment during dinner, but there was only piped in music. On this trip we never saw traditional Hawaiian dancers, maybe next time.

No hula dancers

We are all so thankful on this special day for the health and means to travel and enjoy God's magnificent creations such as the Hawaiian Islands.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012, Ka’anapali, Maui, HI

Wednesday, November 21, 2012, Ka'anapali, Maui, HI

 
Today started over cast. We started our coffee watching the sun rise higher behind the clouds. The sky cleared up and Gerri and Neva went down to the pool area. I stayed in the room and finished Tuesday blog.

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Surfers and Molokai in the distance

I ate the left over pizza for lunch before joining the ladies by the pool. The day may have started cloudy but it had pretty well cleared up by the time we were at the pool. My lounge was mostly in the shade of a palm tree. After 1:00pm Gerri made arrangements to rent a cabana near the beach. The canopy was adjustable and I was able to stay out of the sun most of the time. From where we sat we could see a lot of water and the island of Molokai eight miles away and Lanai further to the south.. There were sailboats in the channel and surfers closer into us. The waves weren't high but some of the surfers were very good at getting longer rides from the waves than I would have thought possible. A couple of them were adept at standing up and paddling the boards around. All in all an interesting show with the steady rhythm of the waves making it very relaxing. Gerri and Neva split a hamburger and fries from the resort's grill.


In the late afternoon we went back to the room and got ready for our dinner reservation. Kirstan, our timeshare sales person, had recommended the Sea House Restaurant at the Napili Kia Hotel north of us. 

Peter and his assistant Peter is the tall one

 We made 7:30 reservation so we called our taxi driver, Ann, to pick us up at seven. She was busy and sent another driver, Paul. The restaurant was further than we thought. We went through residential areas before getting there. The Napili Kai is an older hotel. It spreads out with two story buildings along the bay, instead of having a tower. It seemed to be a pretty area with a small protected bay.. We need to see it in the daylight.

Neva, Gerri and Frank ready to eat

Neva and her meal

Birthday desert

Our dinner was pleasant and leisurely. Our waiter, Peter, was a graduate of UNLV and had worked in Las Vegas before moving to Hawaii. He took very good care of us. We started with Coconut Crusted Shrimp as an appetizer, Gerri and I had Four Onion Soup before our entrée. Neva and Gerri had grilled Mahi-mahi and I had a mixed grill of Top Sirloin, Mahi-mahi and Shrimp. It was all very good. During conversation we had told Peter we were all celebrating recent birthdays. During our coffee he brought us desert of Angel Food Cake with Whipped Cream and fancy cut Strawberries along with a Toasted Coconut topped Crème Brule. It was an excellent meal with plenty of food to satisfy our appetites and palates.

We made the phone call for the Taxi and Paul was there in short order for the return to the Ka'anapali Beach Club.


I was tired and was in bed by 10:30. Gerri stayed up later on her computer and Neva read. I went to sleep and don't know what time they retired.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012, Ka’anapali, Maui, HI

Tuesday, November 20, 2012, Ka'anapali, Maui, HI

Our first stop

We were up at 0 Dark thirty. 5:30 AM? What's with that? We were in front of the resort and caught the tour bus at 6:35. We had a continental breakfast at the Kahului Country Club before getting on the road to Hana.

One of many waterfalls and pools

One of first stops was a stand that sold banana bread and other snacks. We bought fresh coconut. At another stop we bought Macadamia Nut Brittle. When we stopped at the Lanakila Church in Keanae, I turned on my GPS and there was a cache about 400' away. The cache was in the roots of a tree near two places where the waves crashed against the lava, sending water high into the air. The cache was named "As The Waves Pound The Lava Rocks." Very appropriate.

Near the cache

Bird of Paradise 

Even with the clouds the scenery was fantastic. We made several stops for points of interest. Our driver/guide lives in Hana and supplied a constant stream of information on the areas we passed through. One of our stops was in front of her aunt's house to take pictures of a Poinsettia Tree. Debra told us her aunt's favorite colors were gold and green, while pointing out the Green Bay Packers sign in front.

Frank and Gerri at the black sand beach

Pink Ginger

A black sand beach

The highway to Hana is mostly two lanes. The thing that makes the drive arduous is the hairpin turns and the one lane bridges. Over 617 hairpin turns and 56 one lane bridges.

After the town of Hana the road becomes narrower and in some paces is still dirt, but it's mostly rough pavement. No matter how narrow the road it is still two way traffic.

Gerri and Neva at the National Park

Lunch was at a flower farm. The arraignments that can be shipped anywhere in the world, the owner said it takes longer to get the shipments to the airport than it takes for the rest of the trip to the recipient. The also sold cuttings for different plants, explaining that as long as there are no leaves or roots the agriculture department allows carrying them home. Lunch it's self was Marinated chicken breast, macaroni salad and a green salad. Desert was a chocolate macadamia candy. It was really welcome after a long morning of bouncing over the rough, curvy road. After lunch we had time to wonder the grounds and take pictures of the tropical flowers.

Charles Lindbergh is buried here

It would be hard to remember all the stops and information about the area. One stop was at a church yard where Charles Lindbergh is buried. Besides the gravesite and church there was a remarkable, huge old Fichus tree. We went through several state parks with one stop at a National Park where we saw the famous black sand beaches.

The Grand Canyon of Maui

There were some memorable moments at places with sheer drop offs and beautiful waterfalls, usually with pools at the bottom. Because of the recent rain the water was high and there was no swimming allowed in most of the pools.

Our last stop was at the Tedeshi Winery and general store in Ulupalakua.

Unique carvings at the winery

From there it was about two hours drive through city traffic to the resort. The tour took us through pineapple fields, bamboo jungles, rain forest, ranch land, near desert on the side of Haleakala that last erupted and back to the resort. It was a long but enjoyable day. As I said before we saw spectacular cliffs, waterfalls, tropical streams and pools along with a lot of fragrant flowers and trees.

For dinner we had a Kalua Pork Pizza.

Gerri was anxious to catch up on her computer time. We did watch Vegas before going to bed.

Monday, November 19, 2012, Ka’anapali, Maui, HI

Monday, November 19, 2012, Ka'anapali, Maui, HI

After lounging around the room, I went down to the pool area and staked out three lounges. After awhile Gerri and Neva joined me. Gerri and Neva ordered a pulled pork sandwich for lunch at pool side. I had already eaten the leftover pizza from a few nights ago.

I walked a quarter of a mile down the beach and found a cache. I exchanged travel bugs. I started to walk to another but decided that it was too hard a walk in the sand and too hot. I chose to walk back to the resort via the road. It turned out to be about twice as far because there was a fenced area I had to walk around.
Shortly after I got back, the ladies gave up the pool area and came to the room to cool off.

We lounged around the room and then ordered fish and chips from the resort's grill.
We retired early because tomorrow we have to get up at 5:30 AM. We are booked on a tour of the road to Hana.

Diamond Club Pool

 

Sunday, November 18, 2012, Ka’anapali, Maui, HI

Sunday, November 18, 2012, Ka'anapali, Maui, HI

This morning was still cloudy but the wind was down to a breeze. By late morning the sun was out with some clouds hanging around.

Cultural Performance

We decided to go into Lahaina for some shopping and a late lunch. We took a taxi from the resort into town. Our driver, Ann, was very nice and gave us information along the way. She has only been in Hawaii for a short time; she was raised in Vietnam and came to Hawaii from South Carolina. Our original plan was to eat at Cheeseburger In Paradise. Ann also recommended Cool Cat's. 

We walked around the waterfront for awhile and decided to try Cool Cat's.   The burgers and onion rings were good, but next time we will go to Cheeseburger in Paradise and compare.

Frank and Gerri

Neva

At Cool Cat's

Burgers and rings

Pearl diving

Neva in Lahaina

After eating Gerri and Neva went shopping and I walked to the nearest geocache. The ladies bought Maui sweatshirts for themselves and a couple of shirts for me. 
I found the cache which was in front of a Catholic Church built in 1846.  The cache was too small to leave a travel bug. This was my third cache found in Hawaii.

Neva by the sea

Gerri spotted me as I got back to the main street. She and her Mom were at a place that sold pearls. They both bought pearl earrings. We rested for awhile and talked to a local character. When we were ready to go we called the taxi driver, Ann. Ann picked us up and we returned to the resort at about 5 PM.


We relaxed with the TV on. I tried to do some Sudoku puzzles and Gerri and her Mom read. I for one was ready for bed by 6 PM, I guess I'm still on Texas time. I made it through a couple of Law and Order episodes and a couple of Sudoku puzzles before giving in and calling it a night.


It was a good day, with family in a beautiful place.

Saturday, November 17, 2012, Ka’anapali, Maui, HI

Saturday, November 17, 2012, Ka'anapali, Maui, HI

We slept in this morning. It was still cloudy and windy. We spent the morning in the room.
We did some planning for the rest of the week. In the afternoon we went to a sales presentation for The Diamond Club. We were committed to this for the big discount for the island tour we booked for Tuesday.

As usual we fell for the sales pitch. We now have a timeshare in Hawaii. Part of the deal was an easier way to use the two weeks in Las Vegas that we normally trade. We will see how it works out.

We went to the restaurant in the resort for dinner. It was too noisy and dark. We ordered food from a grill and took it to our room to eat.

Some TV and computer time finished the evening and we were in bed about 11 PM.`