Finally got around to uploading some of my Hawaii pictures and figured this was as good a time as any to remember its pre-hurricane glory
It started out as all my trips seem to with a Southwest flight delay that would cause us to miss our connection. On the way to the airport to get that sorted a 4' metal bar decided to joust with my car
For those of you unfamiliar with cars that metal bar leading from the ground and passing through the wheel well into my trunk isn't supposed to be there:
I started feeling like the Universe was trying to tell me we shouldn't go to Hawaii but I took solace in the fact that while I did spend 5 minutes trying to get the metal bar out of my car it had miraculously not hit or damaged something important (Tire, luggage, wife etc)
So we continued on our new route of Detroit -> Nashville -> Los Angeles -> San Jose -> Honolulu -> Maui. Totally direct and not wearing at all. Even better our Alaskan Airlines flight to Maui was delayed making it a tight connection in Honolulu to get to Island Air to Maui. Long story short we paid $60 to 'change' to a later flight to get our checked bags to Maui while we boarded our original flight with just our backpacks. Once there we got the rental car, lunch and stopped by Costco for snacks and drinks while we waited for the luggage to arrive.
We actually managed to get to our hotel only a couple of hours after we had planned although we were much wearier and sweatier.
I don't know if we impressed the Universe with our perseverance\masochism or it just felt bad for us but somehow my wife's award reservation got jumped 5 categories. This was the view we saw when we opened the door to our room:
And all the stress from the past day's worth of traveling melted away. Later we figured out the room was bigger than our first apartment together (875sq ft vs 900sq ft hotel room)
We spent 4 incredibly nice days at the Maui Fairmont. Everyone was incredibly friendly and the property was gorgeous.
I completed my first ever scuba dive in the Lahiana area. I was a bit nervous at first especially since I was the only first timer in the group but the instructor was great and we were able to get up close to quite a bit of marine life. I was also concerned that I would be the one to bring the group back early (since newbs tend to go through their oxygen the fastest) but managed almost 60 minutes on an 80 cubic feet O2 tank which is far better than the 45min he estimated and one of the longer first timer dives hes had.
Unfortunately the pictures he took haven't made it yet but I think he might have more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. Still it was amazing and I know I'll be diving more. Great experience if anyone has the chance to do it
We also hit up the Molokini crater for some snorkeling. It wasn't bad but we both liked the snorkeling in Barbados more. The coral was better at Molokini but you're closer to the marine life in Barbados. The crowds weren't as bad in Barbados either. The smallest catamaran we could find was 48 people which still leaves plenty of clueless kickers compared to the 12 person catamaran we snagged in Barbados.
One night we headed over to a Luau at the Marriott. Very good show with great food. A tad pricey but that seems to be almost everything in Hawaii
The last full day I chauffeured my wife around the road to Hana. Its a bit wearing only because of the length and the masses of clueless tourists that show up later in the day (One guy parked on the one lane bridge while he and his wife got out to take pictures...). Still there is definately some great scenery along the road although the 2 mile hike to the Waimoku falls was the best. On a random side note - when did 2 mile hikes in bikinis and hiking boots become a thing? I'm not complaining mind you just surprised.
It started out as all my trips seem to with a Southwest flight delay that would cause us to miss our connection. On the way to the airport to get that sorted a 4' metal bar decided to joust with my car
For those of you unfamiliar with cars that metal bar leading from the ground and passing through the wheel well into my trunk isn't supposed to be there:
I started feeling like the Universe was trying to tell me we shouldn't go to Hawaii but I took solace in the fact that while I did spend 5 minutes trying to get the metal bar out of my car it had miraculously not hit or damaged something important (Tire, luggage, wife etc)
So we continued on our new route of Detroit -> Nashville -> Los Angeles -> San Jose -> Honolulu -> Maui. Totally direct and not wearing at all. Even better our Alaskan Airlines flight to Maui was delayed making it a tight connection in Honolulu to get to Island Air to Maui. Long story short we paid $60 to 'change' to a later flight to get our checked bags to Maui while we boarded our original flight with just our backpacks. Once there we got the rental car, lunch and stopped by Costco for snacks and drinks while we waited for the luggage to arrive.
We actually managed to get to our hotel only a couple of hours after we had planned although we were much wearier and sweatier.
I don't know if we impressed the Universe with our perseverance\masochism or it just felt bad for us but somehow my wife's award reservation got jumped 5 categories. This was the view we saw when we opened the door to our room:
And all the stress from the past day's worth of traveling melted away. Later we figured out the room was bigger than our first apartment together (875sq ft vs 900sq ft hotel room)
We spent 4 incredibly nice days at the Maui Fairmont. Everyone was incredibly friendly and the property was gorgeous.
I completed my first ever scuba dive in the Lahiana area. I was a bit nervous at first especially since I was the only first timer in the group but the instructor was great and we were able to get up close to quite a bit of marine life. I was also concerned that I would be the one to bring the group back early (since newbs tend to go through their oxygen the fastest) but managed almost 60 minutes on an 80 cubic feet O2 tank which is far better than the 45min he estimated and one of the longer first timer dives hes had.
Unfortunately the pictures he took haven't made it yet but I think he might have more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. Still it was amazing and I know I'll be diving more. Great experience if anyone has the chance to do it
We also hit up the Molokini crater for some snorkeling. It wasn't bad but we both liked the snorkeling in Barbados more. The coral was better at Molokini but you're closer to the marine life in Barbados. The crowds weren't as bad in Barbados either. The smallest catamaran we could find was 48 people which still leaves plenty of clueless kickers compared to the 12 person catamaran we snagged in Barbados.
One night we headed over to a Luau at the Marriott. Very good show with great food. A tad pricey but that seems to be almost everything in Hawaii
The last full day I chauffeured my wife around the road to Hana. Its a bit wearing only because of the length and the masses of clueless tourists that show up later in the day (One guy parked on the one lane bridge while he and his wife got out to take pictures...). Still there is definately some great scenery along the road although the 2 mile hike to the Waimoku falls was the best. On a random side note - when did 2 mile hikes in bikinis and hiking boots become a thing? I'm not complaining mind you just surprised.
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