2012 - I Feel a Travel Blog Coming On - Or, Brown's In Maui, Again

June 10

When we lived in Maui from spring of 2003 to fall of 2005, we fixed the condo up so it was as comfortable as it is possible to make an 800 square foot apartment be.

All Ready For Company

We had such good times with Bryanna and Bailey when we had them with us for November and December of 2003 and we were able to take them with us five more times up until 2008.

The Last Night

At the Asian Gardens In Iao Valley

I was working, so it was harder to get away, but we had planned to go sometime in 2009.  That's when we discovered that Bill had Melanoma.  He has been doing so well, that we decided we would make the time, and find a way to finance the trip this year.

The condo needs some cosmetic renovations, so part of the trip is tax deductible. We already know the lanai table and chairs have to be replaced.  With the help of our friends, Pat and Leroy, who stay in the condo for the month of November every year, we bought a new TV last year.  Ennio and Sherry, who own the condo next door, have been so helpful over the past four years by buying dishes, silverware, and a few other necessities.  Gee and Joe took delivery on our new sheet and comforter set two years ago.  Carol, our fantastic housekeeper, has done such a great job of keeping the condo clean and running smoothly.  She has even been our emergency back-up when a guest had a problem, such as having the wrong front door code, so they couldn't get in.  All in all, we have been very lucky to have so much help so we were able to keep the condo rented so we could pay the mortgage, taxes and association dues.

The suitcases are open on the guest room floor and we are pretty much packed except for the last minute things, such as lettuce, olive oil, and apples.  Yes, we take those things because we use a lot of them, and with the prices being so high for food, we like to fill any empty spaces in the suitcases with things we will be using.

We bought the plane tickets in January, and I've been working on all the other details for the last couple of weeks.  Kathy was planning to drive us over to Sacramento on the Sunday before the flight, but I found that we can go on the train for only $100.00, and we think that would be a fun way to go, so we went to the train station on Friday to pick up the tickets.  I have reserved a car in Maui and we have a hotel paid for in Sacramento, so I think we're ready to go.

You might wonder why we are leaving from Sacramento instead of Reno.  There are no flights from Reno to Hawai'i, so we would have to fly to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Sacramento, San Jose, or San Francisco.  Flights for four are from $500 to $600 so we decided to fly out of Sacramento and save the money.  Our Maui flights are costing almost nothing, because we had enough frequent flyer miles for three of us to go for free.  Unfortunately, we didn't have enough for first class, but we are hoping to get bumped in Sacramento, and upgraded on the next flight.  We have done that before and found that first class on Hawai'ian Airlines is our favorite way to travel.  Even Bry and Bai remember doing that, and Bailey asked me a couple of weeks ago if we are flying first class again.  I told her that we are going to try.

So, that is about it for now.  Bill has a few medical appointments coming up in the next two weeks, and then he will be free from doctors, hospitals, and tests for three and one-half weeks.

Saturday, June 23

We are packed and ready to walk out the door.  Tomorrow we will take the train to Sacramento, arriving around 1:30 if the train is on schedule.  We will take a cab to the hotel, and spend the rest of the day swimming and relaxing.  There are several restaurants within two blocks of the hotel so we can walk to dinner.  In the morning, the shuttle will take us to the airport for our 9:05 am flight.

I intend to have Bryanna and Bailey write on this blog and add their photos if they want to.  I think they will enjoy having a place to post things so their friends can see it.

June 25

Lunch on the Train

We’re here! We’ve missed our Maui trips so much and it’s hard to believe that we’ve actually returned to our island home. The train trip was very good, although five and one-half hours with antsy people is a bit long. We went to the dining car for lunch and found the food to be very good, although very expensive, but, we figured it was a one-time thing. We got to Sacramento around 2:30 on Sunday and after we got settled in the hotel, Bill took a nap and we went to the pool for a very refreshing dip. For dinner, we walked to Panda Express and had lots of food dripping with sauces that weren’t at all good for us. Delicious!

The girls wanted to stay up late, but we were exhausted, so after dinner we watched To Catch a Predator and Lion King. Bill was asleep by 8, and I drifted off sometime after 9, while Bailey, who had control of the remote, and Bryanna were still awake and whispering until after 11.

After a light breakfast, we took the shuttle to the airport, where the wait was interminable. Hawai’ian doesn’t overbook their flights like they used to do, so we couldn’t get bumped. But, everyone was happy that we wouldn’t have to wait another day to get here.

The flights were good and we arrived safely in Honolulu at1 1:30, to wait for our flight to Maui. We got ice cream and Bailey kept us entertained by reading the monitors along with the flight announcements in several languages. I wonder if Kathy and Rommie are aware that she speaks Japanese? 

I had reserved a mid-sized car but when Bailey and I got to the rental car counter, the clerk “coaxed” us to go up to a full-size car. Unfortunately, for the extra $22.00 per day, which I got them to reduce to $12.00 per day, the luggage still didn’t fit, so we had to put two of the large suitcases in the backseat between the girls and the other two with all the duffel bags and assorted stuff in the trunk. That meant that we couldn’t stop at Costco for groceries. We decided that we would come to the condo worry about getting groceries the next day.

We took the beach road and loved seeing all the beaches and the white caps on the ocean. We got everything unpacked and put away and then we went to Moose McGillicuddy’s for dinner. We had an ocean view table and a very ono dinner. When we got home, Bill was so tired that he could hardly think, so he went to bed, and I took Bry and Bai to the pool for an hour. Then the three of us watched Big Bang Theory and I went to bed at 9:30.

June 26

They were so frightened!

We had a full day. I was awake at 3:30, so I sat on the lanai and listened to the rain fall for five minutes on the plants at my feet. When everyone started stirring, Bill brought our pet spider out of the closet and put it on the bed with the girls.

 Then we got the condo straightened up and went to the pool for morning exercise. Bry and Bai went to the morning orientation to get some ideas of what they want to do while we’re here. Bill joined them after swimming for a while.

We went to town and exchanged the car for exactly the same kind of car, a Ford Fusion, but they lowered the price from $1043. A week, to $750 because I said I wanted the smaller car after all, but they were out of them. We were happy because it was a very nice car, except for the price. 

We went to Ruby’s Diner for breakfast/lunch and left the girls at Kaahumanu Mall to shop while we went to Costco for the groceries. They had fun and didn’t have to endure buying boring food. We picked them up two hours later and went home to relax and go through some of the things in our storage closet. If I had known how much clothes I had left here, I wouldn’t have brought any clothes with me. Bryanna, Bailey and I were sitting at the

lanai table and I started looking at the damage the table had suffered over the years. We looking at new sets a few weeks ago, hoping to find something at Costco.com, Walmart.com, Lowes,com or Homedepot.com that we could buy when we got here, but we hadn’t found anything we liked. The only things we had found that were even acceptable were over $1000. We can’t just have anything out there because of the wear and tear from tourists. And it has to be heavy enough to withstand the wind. Anyway, I was looking at the table and chairs, and realized that the chairs are in excellent condition except the upholstery is faded. The plastic trim, which looked like wicker, was in very bad shape, with some of it already missing, so I started picking at it. I saw that if we took all the trim off, the table itself was perfectly fine. So the three of us used nail clippers to cut all the trim off, except for the trim on the bottom. The legs and top edge are now bare and we think we are going to sand and paint them. We’ll still have the chairs we love and a table that looks great without spending a lot of money.

First time at the beach

For dinner, we grilled burgers and had lettuce, tomatoes, and baked beans. Then we walked over to the beach for sunset and the girls played in the surf for about an hour. It was a lovely, relaxing evening. We watched Storage Wars before bed.

June 27 - Wednesday

Bill and I slept in this morning, me until 5 and he until . We went to Safeway to get the few things we hadn’t been able to get at Costco and when we got back, I made French Toast, scrambled eggs, (toast for Bailey) strawberries and pineapple before going to the pool for. We stayed until almost 9:30 then went back to get ready for, yet, another trip to town. We went to Walmart for a microwave, some Rubbermaid storage containers, a magnifying mirror and a few other things. We were still looking for the cushions for the lanai chairs, but Walmart didn't have those. We went to Lowe's next, to get some keys made and we looked at verticals and cushions there, too. No luck. By then, we were getting tired of shopping but the verticals were important, so we tried Ace Hardware and Sears. We finally gave up because we wanted to get back well before the Mai Tai party to get the best spot at the pool. Unfortunately, by the time we put things away, the spot was taken by another group, so we took the next table, which didn't have any shade, so we put the umbrella up. Bailey and I played Scrabble while Bry listened to her music.

Bill came down to join us just before the party started and we visited with some of the other owners.

At the party

It was nice to be back to one of our old routines. The girls swam and had lots of Pog with cherries and we all enjoyed two hours of Hawai'ian music and dancing.

 

At 5:00, we went to the beach and they swam and jumped waves for almost an hour. They had a great time. When we got home, Bill was too tired to eat dinner, so he went to bed and we had ham sandwiches. There was a mini-crisis when Bailey couldn't find her retainer, which was in its case.  She was upset, but we knew it had to be here.  We found it in the beach bag.  We promised that we won't go into Kahului again until Saturday, when we plan to go to the Farmer's Market at the Maui Cultural Center. So, tomorrow is going to be our first real beach day - chairs, boogie boards, snorkel gear and food.  What more could we possibly need?

June 28

We had planned to get an early start for the beach, but Bill slept until almost 9, so that didn't happen.  The three of us had a lazy morning, and when he made his entrance, we were ready for a breakfast of Cheerios, pineapple, strawberries, bananas and bacon.  Bill was feeling very lethargic, but he didn't want to spoil our plans, so he said he was up for going.

We finally got started for the beach around 9:45.  Our friend, Paul, had told us how to get to Turtle Town, which is one of the places the snorkel boats stop.  We had stopped there on snorkel cruises before, and remembered that the water was clear and there would be lots of turtles and maybe dolphins.

Unfortunately, when we got there, we found that it was a long walk to the beach, and  that the small amount of beach there wasn't shaded.  Also, there were no restrooms, which would have been a problem.  We ended up at Ulua Beach, which has always been one of our favorites anyway.  I unloaded all the chairs, boogie boards, ice chest, beach bags and towels, and went to park the car. Bill only had a short way to walk to get into a nice shady area under some trees.  It had a perfect view of the swimming area.  After we got settled, Bryanna and Bailey went in the water and were soon jumping the waves.  We sat for a few minutes, and I asked Bill if he'd like to go into the water.  He said he would try, and we put our feet in, but he felt unsteady and was worried about being knocked down by the breaking waves, so he went back to sit and I went out to swim with the girls.  The water felt wonderful!  We had a lot of fun.  When Bry got out and went to sit with Bill, Bailey got a boogie board, and tried doing some wave riding, but the waves just weren't breaking big enough.

We reapplied sunscreen after the swim, and we all sat and enjoyed the beauty of the beach as we had some of the snacks I had packed.  It's amazing how hungry one gets at the beach, only two hours after a good-sized breakfast. It started drizzling around 12:30, and we waited a few minutes for it to stop, but it was getting a little cold, so we packed up and left.  The girls were so good about carrying everything back from the beach to the car.  I didn't remember to take any pictures so we are going to have to go back to Ulua, so I can add some to the blog.

When we got home, Bill went in to take a nap, and the girls went to the pool to swim for a few minutes, while I started laundry and put things away.  Then we had some reading time, after Bryanna downloaded a new book onto her Kindle.

In a little while, we're going to start a Monopoly game.  I have dinner cooking in the crockpot, so I plan to take the rest of the day off.

June 29

The girls had asked for a free day every week and today was the day. Bill and I got up early and read on the lanai until 8:00. Without waking the girls, we went to the pool to swim with Carolee, Paul and Kathy. The Expedia presentation was over by 9 and there was a lot of fruit and muffins left so at 9:15, we took breakfast home for Bry and Bailey. While they were eating on the lanai, I vacuumed while Bill started going through the outside closet. He was feeling so normal, that we have some hope that the after-effects of the radiation may be going away.

Carolee had asked me if I'd like to go to town with her, but I wasn't sure because I had planned to help Bill clean out the outside closet.  He said I should go, and that I might be able to find the things we were looking for and save him and the girls from having to be in on the search.  So, I decided to go.

I left with Carolee to go to town for some heavy duty shopping, and we had a great time. We started at Pier One, where I found cushions for the lanai chairs. I wasn't sure they would fit, so I bought one set and had them hold the rest. Then we went to Macy's and found adorable dishes, glasses and ice cream cups. With that, our shopping was complete for the day. We went to lunch at Zippy's, a new place just at the edge of Kahului. The food was good, and the prices were reasonable, so I think we'll take the girls there for breakfast soon.

On the way home we were talking about the Pacific Whale Foundation, and we decided to go over to the store in Ma'alaea to book our trip. We had planned to go out on the July 4^th fireworks watch, but it had filled up early, and we didn't want to be on such a crowed boat. We booked a trip to Molokini and Lana'i for next Tuesday. Bill isn't going to go, just in case of the nausea problem. But, Carollee is delighted to go with us.

While I was gone, Bill and the girls had a good time. Bry and Bai got the water shooters out and ran around shooting each other on the lawn. Then they prepared ham sandwiches for lunch and served Bill on the lanai. After lunch, they read, and Bailey went to the pool for a while. I got home and showed them all the new supplies. The cushions fit perfectly, and look so bright and happy on the chairs. They are also more comfortable than the original cushions.  The old ones have lasted for over seven years, so we really got our money's worth on the lanai set. We will pick up the rest of them tomorrow.

I puttered around for an hour, and listened to them tell me about their day, and then we loaded the wagon into the trunk of the car so we could stop at a gas station to fill up the tires with air. The girls were in the mood for corn dogs, and we planned to go somewhere to find them some for dinner. Well, just try to find a corn dog when you want one! We stopped at every hamburger stand/roadside joint we could find but nobody had any. Finally, the owner of Fat Burgers told me that the only place he knows of is the food court at Ka'ahumanu Center, so after we are done at the Farmer's Market tomorrow, and after we finished the few errands we have to do, we will go there for lunch so they can have the corn dogs they crave. I just hope that man was right. We ended up at Peggy Sue's for dinner.

They both remembered going there in the past, so they thought it was a second-best idea. The food was just okay but we had a good time. We went to Longs' Drugs (yes, here it is still Long's, not CVS.) The girls desperately needed nail polish, and Q-tips. On the way home, we stopped at Kamaole Beach Park 3 to watch the sunset.

We got home at about 7:00 and we played Phase 10 with Bailey until after 9. Bry didn't want to play, but she sat with us and listened to her music. We went to bed at 9:30.

June 30

Busy day. I want to go to the pool so I'm going to take a shortcut.  Here are the pics with captions.

At the Swap Meet in Kahului - they had fun checking out all the Hawai'ian jewelery.  They each bought a necklace and bracelet.  We got some delicious Kula corn on the cob, a pineapple, and some potatoes
               


After the Swap Meet, we went to the Iao Valley, planning to climb to the top as we always do.  This time, they have put in a parking Natzi to collect $5.00 for the privilege of parking in the lot.  We paid, and found out there were no parking spots.  Bill wouldn't have been able to walk from outside the lot.  The attendant said we could park next to his car, but it was way too far.  We got our money back, and will try another time.  We drove to the Korean War Memorial Park, which we have visited several times for it's peace and beauty.

Plumeria girl at the Korean Park

   

Bamboo girl at the Korean Park

Riding the lions

Banyon tree

Bill was spying on a spider when we discovered there was another one ready to attack.



When we got home, the girls went out on the lanai to polish their nails.







Bailey's First Blog - July 1

Honolua Bay

We have done a lot of stuff and we still will be doing more.  These are some of the things we have done so far.

We went on a scary road it was a one car lane but two way road it was narrow. Bryanna and I were scared to death. The name of this road is Highway 30 but we didn't call it that we called it Death Road!!!

At the overlook on Death Road

Grampi at Oapanalahoa Point  - Lanai'i is in the background

This is us being terrified

We have gone to the Iao valley and the same day we went to the Korean park and shopping. We have also gone to the pool and to the ocean.  We have eaten out at Moose Magilliguties, ruby’s and Peggy Sues.  Bryanna and I remember all of these places. The other place is at the Ka'ahumanu mall it was called Hot Dog on a Stick we had never eaten there before. We had corn dogs because we had been craving them they were good and satisfied our craving for the corn dogs.

We have gone shopping at the Ka'ahumanu mall, Costco, Food Land, Longs, Safeway, Maui Water Wear and many more.

What we are still going to do is go on a snorkeling cruise, Bryanna and I are going to go on a horse back ride and Bryanna and I will also be taking surf lessons.
I cant wait for any of this stuff!

I think that if we do some more of the stuff we did last time it will be different
So far what we have done is fun all but the shopping, we've gone so much I am and tired of it.

I have liked the trip just as much as I have all of the other times we have been here. I would like to do the surf lessons because we haven't done it before so it will be something new to do and maybe when we come back we can do the lessons again or if we remember how to surf well enough we could go alone.

July 2

We had a busy day. After exercise at the pool, Bailey and I sanded and painted the table with the first coat. 

We ran out of paint, so we'll do the rest tomorrow morning. We can only use spray paint when there isn't any wind. After that, went to town to buy, almost the last of the things we need for our renovations. We left Bry and Bai home and told them they could go to the pool, or walk around on the property. They ended up staying home and doing their own thing. They played War and mostly just did nothing. We were gone for three hours, about two hours longer than we had intended, but everything takes so long. Walmart, Home Depot, Sears, Macy's and Cash and Carry. We finally remembered to buy whipped cream. We just decided that the next time we go to the market, we'll buy two cans of whipped cream (the cheapest we can find) so the girls can go outside and have a whipped cream fight. That sounds like so much fun!

When we got home, bringing Taco Bell food for their lunch, Bill made a tuna sandwich and I put things away and got the bread started in the bread machine. We discovered a few minutes after I started it on the dough cycle that the paddle wasn't turning around. Bill tried to fix it by taking it apart, but it was so stuck, that it couldn't be fixed. So, Bailey kneaded the bread for me, and a little while later, both girls formed the loaves

. 

With two really great helpers, it is a breeze to make bread the old fashioned way.

While the bread was rising, Bailey and I played Rummy, Bill took a short nap, and Bry sat on the couch watching TV and talkng to us. Bailey had to call Rommie, because she couldn't remember how many cards to deal. She taught me to play and we had lots of fun. We took a break so the girls could form the loaves, and I wanted to work on the blog for a few minutes. Right now, we're all watching Independence Day.

Last night, we got "This Means War," which we all really enjoyed. On the way home from town today, Bill and I stopped at a Red Box and got "Man On a Ledge."  It looks like a good movie, too. For dinner, we're going to have steak, mashed potatoes and fresh bread.

Later -
Our dinner was fantastic.  We forgot to take pictures of the freshly baked bread, so we'll take one in the morning.  Bailey to took two slices of bread and some butter up to Carolee.  After all, she loaned us the yeast and flour to make the bread.  She also loaned us a bread knife, so we can slice the bread without messing it up.

July 3

We started the morning off quietly, sitting on the lanai reading.  It has been cloudy all morning, and is a little bit on the cool side.  We walked down to the pool to read the paper, and neither of us was in the mood for exercise.  Bill is having one of his very energy-less days.  We went into the hot tub for a few minutes, and then I forced myself to get into the pool. Once I was in, it felt wonderful.  Kathy and Paul were there, but we missed Carolee.  I’ll call her in a little while to find out how she is.

Bailey with Bryanna's loaf -We ate her loaf last night.

For breakfast, we had wonderful, toasted homemade bread.  I remembered to take a picture of it before slicing it.  With it we had juice, cereal and bananas. 

Catching some rays

Catch at Kamaole 3

After breakfast, Bill started working on little projects around the house, and I took the girls over to our beach for two hours.  It was really fun jumping the waves and hoping for one we could ride in on.  We swam for over an hour and then we sat and just enjoyed being there. The girls played catch for a little while.

When we got home, they made sandwiches for lunch and ate on the lanai.

Before dinner, we watched the news, and saw that the tides were very high, so we walked over to the beach to see.  The water had come all the way up to the rocks at the bottom of the trail, which was several feet higher than normal.

We walked back, and Bailey and Bill grilled hamburgers while I got everything else ready with Bryanna's help.  Dinner was scrumptious.  After dinner, we played 5000 for two hours.  We all had forgotten how to play, but it came back to us pretty quickly.  When we were done with the game, we watched "Gone," a very exciting movie.  We had ice cream for dessert.

July  4 

Happy birthday United States of America.

Giving me "stink eye"

After exercise this morning, we had toast, cereal, fruit, eggs and bacon from breakfast. Bryanna was the only one who noticed that Bill had shaved off his mustache, including me.

Carolee and I headed for Wailea to drop off her car in order to snag a good parking place for fireworks.  On the way, via the highway, I noticed something blowing around on the road.  I turned right at the next street, with Carolee following me, and parked on the shoulder.  It was money.  I had to wait for cars to go by, but they are well spaced out, so I had plenty of chance to grab as much as I could find.  Three Hawai'ian men stopped to help he, and they gave me all they picked up.  I'm afraid they thought it had blown out of my car, and I didn't say anything to the contrary.  In all, I got $58.00. Carolee sat in her car, proving she isn't as crazy as I am.

When we got to Wailea Beach, we found out that there are not going to be any fireworks on this side of the island.  Only in Lahaina.  I'm not going to drive up there with 30,000 people and back with 1/2 of them drunk.  We will barbeque hot dogs, and have corn on the cob, baked beans, and macaroni salad.

We loaded the car with the things we want to take to the thrift store, but found out the store was closed today, so we'll try to go over there the next they're open. When I got home, we started some bread, because we have run out of store bread.  Everyone likes homemade bread so much more, and it is a lot less expensive to make than to buy. We baked it just after dinner.

Kathy, you'd better buy lots of flour and yeast. They like making bread,

Tony had a fantastic idea for something fun to do.  The girls are having a scavenger hunt and are going to make a photo blog of the things they find.  Here is the link for that. /http://mauiscavengerhunt.blogspot.com/

So far, only Bailey has posted, but I hope Bry will get started on it soon. Bailey has taken several pictures of things she has found around the property.

Dinner was fantastic.  Carolee brought wine and watermelon to round out the menu.  After dinner, Paul and Kathy dropped by to bring several skirts and tops from their store for our Kathy's approval. She picked out the white skirt and green top.  I know it will look great on her.  Just as Paul and Kathy arrived, we were getting started with the big event of the day - the whipped cream fight.  The girls had a great time with that.  Afterwards, they went over to the pool shower to clean up.

Those cans didn't last very long

We played 5000 until a little after dark when we heard fireworks.  We walked over to the sidewalk overlooking the park to watch the people shoot off their fireworks.  Some of them were really pretty.  A lot of the people were being crazy, holding those hot things in their hands far too long.  I was glad we were watching from a safe distance. When we went home, we had watermelon and then played 5000 again until almost 10:00.  Bailey decided that we should take our shell/trash collecting nets over to the park at 5:00 in the morning to help pick up trash and to look for money that drunk people had dropped.

July 5

I'm sitting here at 6:24 am, letting you know that the good deed didn't happen. I came out here and woke the girls up to get ready, and they both decided they would rather sleep.  Oh well, it was a good thought.

Today was mostly a do-nothing day.  Tony called and we always enjoy hearing from him.  He told us about some of the races he is planning for, and about the storm they had recently.  We had peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, bananas,and  pineapples for breakfast.  I worked on more anchors for the lanai cushions, and the fan guys came over to repair the bedroom.  While he was here, he serviced the living room and lanai fans, and he removed the lanai fan light, saving Bill the trouble of doing it.

We actually had some work done by professionals.

When the fan guys left, we drove to Endangered Pieces, an antique store in Kihei, that wasn't here when we were here last.

It had an amazing collection of old things from all over.  We spent almost an hour checking out every nook and cranny. Even Bryanna and Bailey had fun checking out all the things.  Bailey found a statue and I told her that it was a Buddamist.

The owner even invited us to go past the "Do Not Enter" sign to see even more.  He later said that he has several floors of stuff in his other store but it is open by appointment only.  He gave us his card and said to call any time and he will go over to let us in. The girls said that Kathy would love it in there. We found a lamp for the corner of the living room, behind the papa san chair, so we can get rid of the ugly white floor lamp that has been there forever.

Out with the old - perfect for the corner of the lanai

In with the new very tropical fits well in the corner

We left, fitted the lamp in the trunk, and went to Ace Hardware for some parachute cord and some Scotchguard for the lanai furniture.  We headed home, but had time to stop for some shave ice.  At home, we made ham and turkey sandwiches (Bailey made her own, because she said that now that she knows she can make sandwiches, she likes to do it.)  We went to the pool at 1:00 to wait for the Mai Tai party.  We met some people, Brenda and Bill, who come here every year for six weeks.  Brenda is a melanoma and breast cancer survivor.  She and Bill talked for a long time, while Bailey and I went to the office to get some change for the towel sales.

Towels, anyone?

Bailey stayed with me for almost the whole, hot, two hours, except for frequent swim breaks.

We sold three visors and the we bought two towels for the girls.  Bill later told me that Brenda and Bill are interested in seeing our condo, because they have been staying in a three-bedroom place, and paying far too much for just the two of them.  They are going to stop over for iced tea sometime soon.

For dinner, we're going to have a "clean out the refrigerator night."  Whatever leftovers we have will be gone when we're finished.  Right now, Bill, Bry and Bailey are watching "Angels and Demons," and I'm going to go out on the lanai and read.

Well, so much for that.  I didn't get  the chance to read, because Bill decided that, because it was 6:30, we should have dinner.  So, we dragged everything that was left from the last few days out of the refrigerator and made a semi-nutritious dinner of - two kinds of macaroni and cheese (one with sauce and one without,) two bacon cheesburger patties that were already grilled, one steak, mashed potatoes, buttered carrots, red bell pepper, celery, and macaroni salad. We didn't all eat some of everything.  The girls had all the meat and some of the starches.  Bill and I had vegetables and macaroni. The girls ate dinner at the coffee table so they could finish their movie, and we ate on the lanai with our books.  After dinner, it had cooled down considerably, so Bill and I pulled the wagon over to the office to put the Kamaole Sands promo things away for the next time.  I don't know if I will want to sell them next week, because the area where they had me set up was in full sun, and it was so hot I thought I would melt.  When we got home, we read for a little while and when the movie was over, the girls came out to play 5000 and we had watermelon for dessert.  Bedtime was 8:30 because we were all exhausted.

July 6

SURFING LESSON THIS MORNING!!

So far, the surfing lessons have been the hit of the trip.  We checked in early and the lessons started about 15 minutes before they were supposed to start, so the girls got 2 hours and 15 minutes of surfing.  About a half hour was spent on the preliminaries, but the rest was water time.  Both girls got up on their boards in record time and were surfing on the waves.  They had a great time and want to do it again.

I took our housekeeper, Carol, out to lunch at Cafe O'lei in Kahului.  We had a good time and talked about the ongoing upkeep of the condo.  While I was gone, the girls made lunch and after lunch, they walked with Bill over to Lappert's Ice Cream for chocolate covered cones.  When I got home, they were watching a movie and trying to keep cool. Today has been the hottest day, yet. We spent the rest of the day being lazy.

Both girls have a little bit of sunburn on the top backs of their thighs.  But all in all, they did a good job with the sunscreen.

We had a big salad and bread for dinner, but none of us was very hungry.  After dinner, we played team Scrabble.  Bill and Bailey were way ahead when Bryanna and I made a word using Q on a triple word score to pull slightly ahead.  A couple of turns later, we used Z on a double letter score making the word ZITS, with the S on a double word score at the end of a word Bill and Bailey had made, for a score of 74, giving us a commanding lead and we ended up winning game.  The total score was over 550 points, which is pretty good for Scrabble.

July 7

We're heading for the top of Haleakala today after breakfast at Tasty Crust, a little local restaurant that has been in the old part of Wailuku forever.

7:45 pm - Long day. Tasty Crust. Haleakala. Pukalani. Sports Authority to buy volleyball and two great beach chairs. Home for a swim with Bailey while Bill took a nap and Bryanna did her thing. Read. Fixed dinner. Going to watch Shallow Hal and then collapse. Pics to follow when I get time to download them.  I think I am finally on Maui time.  Wheneva, brah.

The long and winding road

She's trying not to freeze

Why are you trying to freeze us to death?

The trip up the mountain was long and windy, and but the top is spectacular.  It is 10,023 feet above sea level, but almost 30,000 feet in height from the sea floor.  The park is 28,655 acres.  The road up is 36 miles long, the fastest rise  from sea level in the world (I think, I'll check that fact with Bill when he wakes up.)  It was very cold on top, but we knew it would be so we had jackets (except for Bailey, who thought a long sleeved shirt would be enough.)  We explored a little bit at the summit, The view of the Big Island was good - sometimes we can't see it because of clouds or Vog.  We went to the visitor's area, where we could get a great view into the crater.  On the way down, we stopped a couple of times and climbed up some stone  steps to see more incredible views. We didn't see any nene, the Hawai'i state bird.  The girls remembered finding some the last time we were here.

When we got back to the bottom of the mountain, we went to Sports Authority to buy a volleyball and we found some great chairs to replace our rusty ones.  We won't take the wrapping off them until we can get over to Costco to see if we can get the same thing for less $$.

Bailey and I swam after we got home, while Bill napped an Bry rested. Dinner was ham sandwiches for three of us, and toast for our queasy one.  We watched "Shallow Hal," which turned out to be pretty good.

Big Island from the lookout at the summit

Inside the crater - great hike and camping spot.

Silversword or ʻāhinahina in Hawaiian (literally, "very gray").

 Here is a history lesson.

Haleakala Crater is now a cool, cone-studded reminder of a once-active volcano. Streaks of red, yellow, gray and black trace the courses of recent and ancient lave, ash, and cinder flows. The volcanic rocks slowly break down as natural forces reduce them to minute particles which are swept away by wind, heavy rain, and intermittent streams.

Modern geology indicates that the Hawaiian Islands are situated near the middle of the "Pacific Plate," one of a dozen thin, rigid structures covering our planet like the cracked shell of an egg. Though adjoining each other, these plates are in constant motion, the Pacific Plate moving northward several centimeters per year. Scattered around the world are many weak areas in the earth's crust where magma slowly wells upward to the surface as a "plume." Here volcanoes and volcanic islands, such as Maui, are born.

This constant northwestward movement of the Pacific Plate over a local volcanic "hot spot," or plume, has produced a series of islands, one after another in assembly line fashion. The result is a chain of volcanic islands stretching from the island of Hawaii along a southeast-northwest line for 2,500 miles (4,050 kilometers) toward Japan.

Maui, one of the younger islands in this chain, began as two separate volcanoes on the ocean floor; time and again, eon after eon, they erupted, and thin new sheets of lava spread upon the old, building and building, until the volcano heads emerge from the sea. Lave, wind-blown ash, and alluvium eventually joined the two by an isthmus or valley, forming Maui, "The Valley Isle." Finally, Haleakala, the larger eastern volcano, reached its greatest height, 12,000 feet (3,600 meters) above the ocean- some 30,000 feet (9,100 meters) from its base on the ocean floor.
For a time, volcanic activity ceased, and erosion dominated. The great mountain was high enough to trap the moisture-laden northeast tradewinds. Rain fell and streams began to cut channels down its slopes. Two such streams eroding their way headward created large amphitheater-like depressions near the summit.

Ultimately these two valleys met, creating a long erosional "crater." At the same time a series of ice age submergences and emergences of the shoreline occurred; the final submergence formed the four islands of Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe, and Maui.

When volcanic activity resumed near the summit, lava poured down the stream valleys, nearly filling them. More recently, cinders, ash, volcanic bombs, and spatter were blown from numerous young vents in the "crater" forming multicolored symmetrical cones as high as 600 feet (180 meters). Thus this ware-carved basin became partially filled with lava and cinder cones, and it came to resemble a true volcanic crater.

Several hundred years have passed since the last volcanic activity occurred within the crater. This stillness in Maui is attributed by modern geology to the constant northwestward movement of the Pacific Plate. As the oldest islands on the northwest end of the chain have moved farther away from the plume-source of new lava-they have ceased to grow; the ravages of wind and rain and time have thus been able to reduce them to sandbars and atolls.

Maui has shifted a few kilometers from the plume's influence, and Haleakala, too, is destined to become extinct. Though dormant now, about 1790, which is quite recent in geologic time, two minor flows at lower elevations along the southwest rift zone of Haleakala reached the sea and altered the southwest coastline of Maui. Today earthquake records indicate that internal adjustments are still taking place in the earth's crust, but at present, no volcanic activity of any form is visible in the crater nor at any other place on the island of Maui. Perhaps Haleakala could erupt again; we just don't know.

The subalpine shrubland covers extensive areas below the alpine/aeolian zone and above the forest line. More than a dozen species of shrubs and grasses inhabit this zone, many found nowhere on earth. Shrubs are sparse in the shallow soils at higher elevations, but form dense thickets where soils are deeper. The shrubs provide food for many bird species, including the nene (Hawaiian goose). 

 

Rain forest occupies the windward slopes of Haleakala. Annual rainfall ranges from 120 inches to 400 inches or more. The forest canopy is dominated by �ohi'a trees in the upper elevations, grading into a mixed �ohi'a and koa canopy at lower levels. Diverse vegetation - smaller trees, ferns, shrubs, and herbs - grow in the understory. One of the most intact rain forest ecosystems in Hawaii, the Kipahulu Valley is home to numerous rare birds, insects and spiders.

The dry forest zone is found on the leeward slopes of Haleakala, in areas with 20 to 60 inches of annual rainfall. Dry forests may once have been more extensive than the rainforests, but browsing animals, grass invasions, and fire have drastically reduced them. Small patches of dry forest are preserved in Kaupo Gap.

Cutting across several life zones, stream ecosystems hosting fish, shrimp, and limpets meet the lowland/coastal zone. These low level ecosystems have been more heavily modified by humans than any other life zone. Native shrubs and herbaceous plants remain only in pockets along the coast. 

 

Tomorrow, we'll take a drive to the southwest-most point of Maui, La Perouse Bay, the most recent lava flow on Maui.  The lava there is a'a, the kind that, if you walk on it barefoot, you say "ah, ah" because the lava is very rough and can cut your feet.  The other main kind is pahoe'hoe, which is very smooth.

July 8

We began the day on an icky note.  The bread fruit we found last week had been lying at the side of the lanai.  When I walked out to go to the pool, I discovered that it was infested with fruit flies.  The whole lanai was buzzing with them.  Unfortunately, it was one foot from the door.  I got two cookie sheets, held my breath, scooped it up and took it down the hill to the bushes to dump it.  That way, the flies could feast without bothering anyone.

While we were at the pool, Scott called so we both had a chance to talk to him.  It had been quite a while since we had been able to do so.

The girls had mini-chocolate muffins in bed because when the presentation ended at the pool, there were two of them left.  After that we had bacon, eggs, and cinnamon toast.  Then we had the strength to do some work.  Bill changed the batteries and the codes for the front door lock, and put the new hooks on the backs of the bathroom doors.  I finished cleaning out the bedroom closet and made an inventory list, so we will remember what we have in there the next time we come here.

Nooooo!!!!

After the work, we took off for La Perouse Bay. Bill started of trip by making us all laugh at him he acted like a little boy who didn't want to have sunscreen put on.  What the girls didn't know was that he always acts that way.

We all had a wonderful time, walking on the a'a and playing at the water's edge.  The girls found out that the a'a is actually hard to walk on and very sharp.

Haleakala from La Perous

Bill under the solar umbrella

On the way back, we visited the Cove, where Kathy and Rommie were married.  The girls climbed around while we enjoyed watching.

We went to The Shops at Wailea and had dinner at Cheesburger In Paradise.  We walked around the shops and bought a couple of souveniers, and then had a scoop of ice cream at Lappert's, a Maui tradition.

Balancing on the a'a

On the way home, we stopped to see the turtles near the Kihei Boat Ramp, but they were all busy, because we couldn't find any.  Bill read until bedtime and Bailey and I played Rummy, finishing the game we began last week.  Bry texted her friends for two hours.

Just some small waves

July 10

The latest, and certainly not the greatest, is that Bill has been having diarrhea since we got here. It was not debilitating, just inconvenient. Over the weekend it was very frequent. Dr. Minor had said to call about any change so I called first thing yesterday morning. He prescribed something that we picked up at Long's Drugs (yes, they are still Long's here.)  And he wants to see Bill to administer a drug by infusion ASAP. The symptoms could be indicative of a colitis-like condition which could lead to a perforated bowel. Last night we went to the Wailea Walk for sunset, something we have done every time we've had the girls here, starting with when Bryanna turned one.  Bailey took our picture at the same palm tree that we had one taken with Bry way back then.

I got him on a non-stop flight to Oakland leaving at noon. Kathy and Rommie met him there tonight, and will stay with him and drive him home. 

 He insisted that the girls and I continue on here. I am not thrilled with that but I understand. It will hurt so much to have him leave.  He flew first class, had a wonderful meal of mahi mahi, got a device loaded with movies and TV shows to keep him entertained, and enjoyed several cocktails. I asked him if he had pretended to have to go back, just so he could fly first class.  He will call tomorrow with an update.

The girls and I went to Costco and Walmart, came home to put everything away, and then treated ourselves to mani-pedis.  We all look gorgeous, at least our hands and feet do.

For dinner, we had peanut butter and bacon sandwiches and potato chips.  We played Rummy and then 5000.  If the girls survive the next nine days, it will be a miracle!

Tomorrow is the mai tai party.  I'm not going to sell towels this time.  I just want to enjoy being with the girls and the beautiful music of Tarvin.  We're going to watch "Big Momma's House 2" tonight.

I asked the girls if they want to sleep in the bedroom tonight, and I'll take the fold-out.  They readily agreed.  Maybe they will have enough room in the king-sized bed. And maybe I'll let them have the bed for the rest of the time.  It will feel awfully big without Bill in it.

July 11

They slept like logs

We hung around the house today.  I got up at 4:30 and started two loaves of bread, so I could serve hot bread for breakfast.  It worked out well. The girls got up around nine but didn’t come out of the bedroom until almost ten.   I cleaned one bathroom while they were still in bed, and I was ready for a nap.  I am really on Maui time.  That means when I go home, I’ll probably want to sleep late, like around seven thirty.

Bill called me during his treatment.  He was getting drugs that made him loopy, so he didn't talk long.  Kathy let me know when they were on the way home by posting a photo of Bill on Facebook, having dinner at Olive Garden in Vacaville. 

Bring me food!!

Then Bill called me when he got home.  He was feeling good .  There are advantages to him going home early.  In the next few days, when he feels well enough, he will unpack, do some marketing and pick up and go through the mail. That means that when I get home, all I will have to do is unpack my suitcase and rest up from this vacation.

Bry, Carolee, Carol, Roy and Bailey

At a little after noon, we went to the pool to read.  Brenda, who we met last week joined us and we played one game of Scrabble.  Then Carolee and Carol and Roy (the newlyweds)  joined us and we played 5000 for over an hour.  After that,  we just sat and enjoyed the music.  I started getting tired so I came back before the party ended and Carolee went home.  Tomorrow, she is going to to take Bryanna and Bailey to see "Spiderman".  Her little Mercedes is too small to take the three of them, so I'll drive them there and pick them up.  We will go back to Endangered Pieces to explore some more, because Carolee hasn't been there, yet. 

Dinner was hot dogs, salad, cucumbers, carrots, and rice. We are going to watch "Enough" tonight for our evening's entertainment.

We walked over to the Kamaole 2 beach, and then walked on the rocks of Kamaole Point, searching for creatures. 

The sunset was beautiful.  Our pictures don't do it justice.  










We got home in time for the movie, only to find that the Comedy Channel has moved to where Oxygen should be, and Oxygen is no longer there, so we couldn't watch the movie, which had sounded very suspenseful.  We watched two Fraser reruns and ate ice cream in the big bed.  


The girls are sleeping there again tonight.  They agreed to get up at 6 tomorrow morning to go swim at the beach.



July 12

While I was swimming this morning, Bryanna and Bailey came to sit at the pool.  After adult swim was over, Bailey joined me in the pool for a half hour.  They wanted to wait to see if there was any food left after the presentation, and they were in luck.  Bry got strawberry bread and two mini-muffins; Bailey got two muffins and I got several pieces of pineapple and two strawberries.  We went up to our lanai to eat and while they were eating, I went in to take a shower.  When I came out, I found that three pieces of my pineapple had mysteriously disappeared.  Bryanna admitted to being the culprit.  I also found that when they got up, they made the bed.  It was nice not to have to remind them.

We picked Carolee up at 10:30 and I dropped them at the Kukui Theater for the 11:00 showing of "Spiderman."  I was free for two-and one-half hours.  I hadn't decided what I wanted to do.  I thought  about going to Charlie Young Beach to read, but, really, I knew I would enjoy getting something done, so I drove to Kahului to shop.  I got a long needle and heavy duty thread to repair the buttons on the wonderful new lanai chair cushions, a welcome mat for the front porch, and a few other necessary supplies, like roach traps.  When I picked up the three girls, we went to Ace Hardware to pick up some bolts for the desk chair we had given Carolee, and I found a mustard and a ketchup dispenser.  Then we browsed through Endangered Pieces for a few minutes, and we ended up at the little Farmer's Market across from the theater.  I got one ear of corn, because the girls were tired of it, a cucumber and a bell pepper.  Carolee gave me three Maui onions.  Yum!

Back at home, I repaired the two chairs and read for a little while, while the girls played ball.  We whiled away the afternoon and made tacoes for dinner.  Unfortunately, they discovered there were a few minute onions in the meat (which were there the last time, too, but nobody noticed them) so neither of them enjoyed their dinner.

We drove down to Keawaikapu Beach for sunset.  We walked a long way and played in the sand and water, until Bry dropped her phone in the water.  That put a huge damper on her evening and her mood, so we drove home for my wallet, and then drove to the ABC Store for rice.  As soon as she got her hands on the bag, she opened it and put the phone inside.  We all hope it works.

We are watching "Land Of the Lost," a movie we have all seen before, but it is kind of fun.

Racing on Keawaikapu

Friday, the 13th of July

I swam until 9 this morning; then I read the paper at the pool. On the way back from the pool, I saw our housekeeper, Carol, cleaning one of the building 6 condos. We talked for a few minutes and I went on my way. The girls were in the mood for pancakes, but we didn’t have any baking powder, so I called Carolee, who said to send one of the girls over.  Carol came over to visit for a few minutes just as Bailey was coming back from Carolee’s without the baking powder, because Carolee couldn’t find hers.  Carol offered to give me some Bisquick that had been left by the former guests in the unit she was cleaning.  That might sound strange, but it’s what we do here to cut expenses.  We went over to get the Bisquick and take a look at the other condo.  Unfortunately, when we got home, we discovered the Bisquick had a dead bug in it.  Back to Carol, to borrow some baking powder.  She gave us a whole box of it.  So I made scratch pancakes with flour.  They were delicious with bacon.  

Climbing back over the fence

I did a few things around the house before we left for Hookipa at 11:30.  They had put up a fence blocking the path to get down to the bottom.  We have had a tradition of going to the bottom, so we climbed over the fence.  It was as beautiful as always.  We drove through Paia, but nobody wanted to stop.   

I had been keeping my eye on the gas gauge and it was showing that we had 12 miles until the tank was empty.  When we rented the car, we took the option to take it back empty, because the car rental gas price was “only” $4.63, which was 20 cents lower than the going price on the island. But, now that the price has come down, and I could get it for $3.99 at Costco, I checked with Thrifty, and found out that I could fill it up, and bring in my receipt to change the option.  So, we stopped at Costco for a fill up saving lots of $$.  We will top it off on the way to the airport next Thursday.

We had decided that we needed smoothies for lunch.  Could we find a smoothie place?  No!  So, went to Baskin Robbin’s at the Maui Mall for a smoothie and milk shake for lunch. Our next stop was the Tropical Plantation. We went specifically to visit the monkeys but found that the monkey cage has been replaced by grass.  We hope the monkeys found a new, and nicer home.  It always seemed strange to have monkeys there.   

Hibiscus in the garden

Pretty, but we couldn't find a name

After roaming through the gardens, we went into the shop and bought a few presents. We were thirsty, so we got sodas and a water.  Then Bry and Bai discovered some giclees of island scenes and Bry found two that she loved.  She checked with Kathy to find out which one would look best in her newly remodeled bedroom, and we bought that.  Bailey had a harder time finding the perfect one to go with her new décor, but she finally found the perfect one.

Some lady on her first, ever, bumper boat ride

Finally, we did what they had been waiting to – went to the bumper boats.  A great time was had by all.

We came home and Bailey and Bryanna made pudding for dessert.  We sat on the lanai for a while and list ened to Bailey's Ipod, while snacking on grapes.  Both girls started tossing grapes in the air and catching them in their mouths.  It was a good way to polish off a whole bowl of grapes.  

I assembled assorted sandwiches for dinner.  Ham, turkey, salami and bacon with peanut butter.  Bailey washed the dishes and we quickly got ready for sunset.  We walked to our beach across street.  We played in the water near the shore.  Bailey was just starting to throw a pebble onto the rocks about twelve feet out into the water, when we spotted something moving and sticking up out of the water.  My first thought was that it was either a snorkeler or a big fish.  Then we saw the head of a honu (turtle for those who don’t speak fluent Hawai’ian as we do.  He looked right at us, and disappeared.  Walked to our turtle overlook, but didn’t see any turtles there.  We watched sunset from there.  It was pretty, but not worthy of photo.  The smell of burning wood was strong and we found an area next to the path had burned very recently.  I wonder if the sirens I heard in the morning were from the response to that fire. 

We took showers when we got home, and took our pudding, with whipped cream, out to the lanai to play Phase 10.  We played until almost 10 o’clock.  We got ready for bed, and I went out to toss the trash.  We don’t leave the kitchen trash inside over night because it will draw bugs.  I looked up at the sky and saw how plentiful and beautiful the stars looked and I realized that we had been missing something we always used to do.  I ran in and said, “Let’s go to the beach!” Both girls looked at me as if I was more crazy than usual.  Then they understood that I was serious. We got a flashlight, and walked over to the beach to chase crabs and stargaze for almost an hour.  We agreed when we went to bed, that it had been a very good day.

July 14

Bry said that our set up was "beast."

This was a do-nothing day.  We ate breakfast and then we walked over to our beach.  Bry immediately saw “an amazingly hot guy with rock hard abs.”  She kept her eye on him the whole time he was there.  He left a few minutes before we did.  We swam and played catch with a tennis ball for about an hour, and sat in our chairs until the umbrella blew away.  Bailey ran after it and we folded it up and put it in its case because the wind was getting very strong.  

Coming out of the water

The wind made the waves roll in strong, so we all went back in the water and jumped and played until we got tired.  The waves were coming in sets, so we had rests between them, but it was still tiring.  We came back and the girls went to the pool while I put everything away.  I joined them for a few minutes and swam with Bailey. 

We came back and swam for just a few minutes.  “Hot guy” was at the pool, so Bry had something to look at.  While Bailey and I were in the pool, Bryanna said she was going back home.  When we went back, a few minutes later, Bry told us that she had left so suddenly because she wanted to see where “hot guy” was staying.  She followed him and his mom to the elevator in our building!  And she watched the elevator go up to the fourth floor.  I kiddingly asked her why she didn’t get in the elevator with them to see where they went.  She hadn’t thought of it. 

After showers, we drove to the market to buy chocolate to make brownies and we got the movie, “Woman In Black.”  We had hamburgers and salad for dinner.  While Bryanna washed the dishes, I started putting some of the things away in the outside closet  – things like the boogie boards,extra chairs, and beach toys, which we aren’t using.  I took the hose out of the closet and tried to attach it to the hose in the trash room, but, even with three hoses, they wouldn’t reach the lanai.  So, I scrubbed it and used the bucket to pour water on it, then used the broom to sweep away the water.  It looks better, but there are a few cigarette burns in one of the corners that wouldn’t come off.  People have never been allowed to smoke here, but someone has. I also cleaned the blades on the lanai ceiling fan, and Bryanna cleaned the housing for me, because I felt unsteady on the step-stool.  We watched the movie early, because we are going to go to bed early in order to get up at 6 am for our cruise.  It was suspenseful, but not particularly good, but the girls had fun being scared.

Well, after waiting for two suspense filled days, we finally took Bry’s Ipod out of the rice.  It works!!  All is right with the world.

July 15

Waiting for the shuttle - Carolee, Bry, Bai, Carol and Roy

West Maui Mountains

The water is wonderful

Cruising home

 

Carol and Roy

Ali’I Alanui - snorkel trip was a bit overpriced, but we all had a wonderful time.  The girls and I saw lots of turtles and two eels.  Breakfast was all you can eat bacon and eggs, Activia yogurt, fruit, breads, bagels, juices and coffee – delicious.  Lunch was all you can eat teriyaki chicken, pulled pork, focaccia bread, mixed fruit salad with fresh pineapples, blackberries, strawberries and grapes, cole slaw, Ceasar salad, macaroni salad, assorted fresh vegies, and Maui potato chips.  Again, delicious.  We sailed to Oluwalu and motored back.  The girls and I got to be on a trampoline, so we had a fantastic, splashy trip.  When we got back, Carolee, Bailey and I jumped in the pool to cool off and now, we’re going to chill for the rest of the day.

Cancel that last statement. Gee told me to to take some time for myself because otherwise I might murder two girls, so I'm going out by myself and not telling them where I'm going - mostly because I don't have a clue.  I certainly don't want to murder them.  Kathy and Rommie might be upset.










































July 16

Poor Carolee got quite the sunburn. New nickname is Racoon Girl

Neither of them asked where I went for almost three hours last night.  I had a great time while I was gone, and we had a lot of fun after I came back.  The girls made peanut butter and bacon sandwiches for dinner and we tried to watch "The Birdcage"  but the DVD must have a scratch, because it refused to play after about a half hour.  So, we played Phase 10 and we all decided we were too tired to stay up late so we went to bed at 9:30. 

Before our breakfast of cereal and toast, I whipped up some babana bread with chocolate chips.  We have been waiting for several days for the bananas to get too ripe to eat and today was the day. We were going to take the bus to Long's to get a few things we need, but we decided to drive so it  wouldn't take as long.  We are definitely going to ride the bus to somewhere tomorrow.  The bread turned out perfect and we all had a little taste before going to Long's.

We got the supplies from the Mai Tai room for the Pu'pu party this afternoon.  I have the meat that I froze from our taco night simmering in the crockpot and I bought refried beans.  We just hope that there will be more than the seven of us there.

I'm in so much trouble.  The girls helped me take everything via wagon to the BBQ area for the party at 4:50 and we got everything set up.  Bry was able to reach the out let for the crockpot by standing on a bench.  The party went well . We had Carol, Roy, Carolee, us, Ed, Loretta, and potenital owners, Rebecca and John. We talked and ate and the girls started to take the pu'pu stuff back to the office for me but the bins fell off the wagon and Bailey fell with them.  She lay there laughing at herself and we were all roaring with laughter.  It was the perfect Kodak moment but unfortunately I  had forgotten the camera so no pictures were taken because nobody else  had one, either. Sorry, Gee.

We started to play Put and Take, a game we had in the games cabinet. One of our guests had written "Great fun, especially with lots of people," but we didn't enjoy it, so we went to our old standby, Phase 10.  Bryanna won for the third time in a row.  I think she has found her game. We watched Friends and had banana bread for dessert and went to bed a little after 10.

July  17

The packing is going well; we're about 78% done and we're living out of the suitcases and the dryer. The place is even more of a mess than usual when there are so many people packed into a place this size.  I packed a box with some heavy stuff, like binoculars, and we took it to the post office, but other than that, we hung around the condo.  

 

 

I baked the rest of the banana bread dough in the loaf pan we bought at Long's yesterday.  

For the one I baked yesterday, I had to use a cake pan.  

We also baked one more loaf of bread, and I cooked the rest of the bacon, so we can take bacon sandwiches and banana bread on the plane.  This trip, we're going to have something we like to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

We played and dominoes all afternoon and we and just had salad and macaroni and cheese for dinner (the good kind, from Kraft.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the beach for an hour before sunset, and swam in the little waves.  Bry threw rocks for Bailey to dive for.  It got very cloudy, and the water got dark way before the sun went down, so we got out of the water. We didn't want to tempt the reef sharks. 

 

 

On the way back from the beach, we went to Joeand Gee's condo in Building 10, and finished watching the sun go down.  The view from there is spectacular. 

Gee called this afternoon and suggested we go in, because their guests left this morning.  Thank you, Gee and Joe.  BTW, she wasn't mad at me for forgetting to take the camera to the pu'pu party, because she was laughing too hard from imaging Bailey rolling on the lawn laughing at herself.

Tomorrow is our last full day.  What should we do?

July 18

We saw a new/old face in the pool today.  It was Mary from 6-202, who we had met a few years ago, along with her husband, Kurt, when they first bought their condo.  We visited for a few minutes while swimming.  Carol and Roy are going to join us for dinner at Moose McGillicuddies tonight, and I’ll ask Carolee later today if she can go with us.  She had a dentist appointment right after swimming.

I had a lovely surprise this morning.  I got back from the pool, to find that the girls had put away the fold-out, and were preparing breakfast.  They had the bacon warming in the microwave, and there were six pieces of bread out; two of them had already been toasted.  We had leftover scrambled eggs from yesterday, so we added that and pineapple and had a delicious breakfast with very little work involved.  Roy and Carol dropped by for a tour, and they told me to go over to their place when I was ready, to print our boarding passes

.

We continued with packing and storing and then went to our beach for a little while to swim.  Bry didn’t want to spoil her hair, which was looking especially good, so she sat on the beach and watched, then walked around taking pictures. 

The culprit

After getting cleaned up, we were getting ready to go to Roy and Carols, wh1en Bailey stepped on  a nail that was sticking out of the wall I had pulled down to access the new storage space where the water heater used to live.  

Oowie!

Luckily, she realized her foot hurt right away, so she didn’t step down all the way.  

She said she had a tetanus shot recently so she cleaned the area well, and will watch it for any signs of infection. 

The Newlyweds

We went to Roy and Carol’s and I am totally envious.  They have a two bedroom unit on one floor, with a side window in the living room, and two lanais.  They also have an alcove that is larger than our bathroom at home, where they have their office, and a huge storage closet.  Bryanna talked to Roy while Bailey sat with me while I got the boarding passes done.  We found out that Carol is 84, and was married for 48 years before losing her husband, and Roy is 91, and was married for 60 years.  There is hope for everyone that they can find true love in their later years.  Roy keeps so young by being very active.  They swim every day, and go on picnics at the beach. They are going on a cruise to Tahiti in two weeks for their belated honeymoon.   I can only hope that Bill and I will still be able to do things like that when we are old.

I took all our leftover food over to Carolee.  She won’t be joining us for dinner at Moose McGillicuddies because she had a rather awful visit with her dentist this morning  Just after coming back from Carolee's, Janet called and asked us up to visit with her and George for a little while.  I have been so proud of the girls when we visited with people because they are both so good at conversing intelligently about so many subjects.

Janet and George with Bry and Bai

Same people in 2007

We were going to walk to Moose’s, but Bailey’s foot is sore, so we decided to drive.  Bryanna carried Bailey to the car.    

Piggyback

We went over to pick up Carol and Roy.  We had a good time and good food for our last Maui dinner for a while. Roy even paid for dinner for us.  He said they were grateful to us for introducing them to Moose's.

Tonight, we’re finally going to watch Carolee’s movie, “Second Hand Lion.”  She said it is really good and it does look very entertaining.

 

Reflections on this trip.

We knew the girls had grown and become more independent, but, we missed the little girls we used to bring here.  They used to be delighted by everything – even going to the library was an adventure.  Now, they are a little more discriminating about what qualifies as fun.  They absolutely loved the surfing lessons.  The ride on the Ali’I Nui was fun, but not fantastic, but they both loved the snorkeling and swimming with the turtles.  Climbing on rocks is still one of the fun things.  They went gecko hunting with flashlights, seeing only a couple of geckos, but we found a baby one on the lanai a couple of nights ago.  Bailey almost caught him, and Bryanna ran out to help look for him when he disappeared.

There were new delights with them this time, their senses of humor are so sharp, and they “get” everything.  We watched more grown-up movies, but they both still both want to see the new Ice Age movie.  They sing and dance with abandon, as long as nobody else is looking.  Apparently, it’s still okay for us to see them being silly.  

All in all, we had a wonderful time.  I may have mentioned earlier that we realized we shouldn’t  have brought the girls here such a long time.  We will plan on one week, or so, the next time, and we hope to bring them separately and with a friend for each.  That way, they can be the tour guide for someone who hasn’t been here before.

July19

I’m so glad I closed the “hole” last night and didn’t wait to do it this morning.  Just before starting the movie and sitting down for the night,  I put the volleyball in the hole, and put the first wall up, the one with the nail in it, and found it wouldn’t fit right.  I discovered that on the bottom edge, next to the perpendicular wall, there is some damage that looks as if something chewed it – termites??  I got the vacuum out, and found the attachments didn’t have any suction, so I scraped the debris onto the carpet and vacuumed it that way.  The whole process took 20 minutes, and by the time I was finished, I needed a shower.  If I had waited until just before we had to walk out the door, I’d have been in quite a pickle.

Bailey had lost five dollars somewhere in the living room a few days ago, and she had been stressing about it ever since, so last night, I pulled five dollars from my leftover cash and gave it to her.  She was astounded, and said she didn’t want to take it.  I told her that if it was lost in the living room, it had to be somewhere, and we would find it as we put the last of our things away or into suitcases.  

As we were having dessert of buttered banana bread and ice cream with homemade whipped cream that Bailey made for us, Bailey looked up and said, “Do you realize how unhealthy this is?”  I said it was our last dessert and we could, just for once, forget about healthy and just enjoy the fun.  She finished all her dessert.

The movie, “Secondhand Lions,” only had one lion in it, but we all thought it was very good. There were some laugh-out-loud moments, and there is nothing better than when everyone is laughing so you miss the next lines of the movie.

I made myself stay in bed until almost 5 am.  The last things are packed; the bacon sandwiches are made, and I’m ready to walk out the door, except for two girls who are still asleep.  I said, last night, “Wouldn’t it be funny if you woke up in the morning, and found that it was 9:00 and I had already left for the airport?  What would you do.”  Bryanna said, “You wouldn’t do that, but if you did, we’d go to the beach and then call Mom.”

I’m going to sit on the lanai for one last chapter of my book, and then get the girls up so I can put their sheets in the washer. We'll have a piece of toast, Cheerios and they can each have half a piece of bacon, and we'll be on our way back to reality.

Note to Bill, so nobody else read this....

I love you and can't wait to get home.  Please don't wait up for me.  I'll be there sometime around 1ish in the morning, delivered by Rommie's capable hands.

July 20

We had everything done and were out the door just after 8 am.  Roy and Carol stopped by on their way to the pool just as we were leaving, and thanked us again for the fun times we had.

We got to the airport well ahead of schedule, but I prefer to be early rather than have to scramble.  When we got to Honolulu, we decided to have our bacon sandwiches, because I knew they shouldn't be sitting for very long after thawing.  We found a food court to buy drinks, but there were no tables for us to sit at, so we went to our gate to eat.  They were delicious, and it was a good thing we had them, because the food on the plane was as bad as we had expected - pressed turkey, and some kind of cheese- like object on dried hamburger bun with mustard

We had a good flight to Sacramento.

I sat behind Bryanna and Bailey.

Looking down from the top of the seats

Bry's admirer took their picture for me

What cooperation! Bry had her feet stretched out, and Bailey was cool with it.

Me

There was a young man, of about the same age as Bryanna, sitting just across the aisle from her.

He saw her as soon as he walked onto the plane, and he kept stealing glances at her though out the flight.  They chatted a little bit, and both were playing the same games on their electronics.  The movie was Flicka 2 and we all enjoyed it.  Poor Bailey had the window seat, though, and she couldn't see the screen very well.  I offered to change seats with her, because I was on the aisle, but she wanted to stay where she was.

Rommie picked us up and we were on our way home by 10:20.....except, two somebodies were hungry, so we made a quick stop at In and Out.  The burgers really hit the spot, and soon we were really on our way. We got to the Brown's just after 1:30, separated our stuff, saw Bryanna and Bailey's beautiful new bedrooms, and we came home. We did minimal unpacking, just the important stuff, like my phone charger, and my pillows, and we hit the sack before 3.  I guess this blog is just about finished, but I think I'll get pictures of the girls rooms, after they get their giclees framed, showing their Hawai'ian art. It may be a few days so come back to check whenever you have a chance.