Maui, Hawaii

October 18-26:  Each year Hyrum has the opportunity to attend a medical conference to earn credits toward his continuing education.  This year there was a conference held in Maui and we took the opportunity to leave our kids with Oma for a week and enjoy some fun in Hawaii.  I was able to convince my good friend Kari and her husband Aaron to come to Maui with us.  It was so much fun hanging out with our good friends all week.  We stayed in a great little condo right on the beach.  We ate yummy food.  We walked on lovely beaches and went swimming and I even tried surfing!  It was my first trip to Maui and I really liked it.  It seemed more relaxed and less touristy than Oahu.  I would definitely go back:)

Me and Hyrum, Aaron and Kari Christensen.  After enjoying a yummy lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Hyrum and I explored Dragon's Teeth at D.T. Fleming Beach Park.

A cool little zen garden near Dragon's Teeth

At D.T. Fleming Beach Park

We had to make a stop to see the giant banyan tree in Lahaina.  Planted in 1873 the branches of this tree spread out over almost an acre of land.

A neat little cemetery and church in Lahaina.  It was Sunday so we popped inside for a bit of the service.

Hyrum went to the medical conference on Monday but Aaron and Kari and I set out to find the Nakalele Blowhole.  We didn't know exactly where to look so we ended up walking along the Northwest coast of Maui for a while in search of our blowhole.  We didn't find it but we did find some beautiful cliffs and gorgeous views of the ocean from up high.  It was pretty windy and I was terrified that I was going to be blown over the edge!

Kari wasn't scared of the wind.  She even climbed this tower to get a birds eye view of our surroundings...we were still looking for that blowhole!

After hiking around for a while we decided to head back to the car.  At the parking lot we asked some other tourists if they knew where the blowhole was and they told us it was about 2 miles more up the road.  We finally made it!  It was a bit of a hike to get down to the blowhole but it was really an awesome sight!

Monday evening we went to a very entertaining magic show.  I would recommend this to anyone visiting Maui, it was a great night out.  Lots of yummy food and some good laughs:)  The show is called "Warren and Annabelle's Magic" and it is in Lahaina.

Tuesday was one of the best days of our trip.  We got to sail out to Molokini crater for a bit of snorkeling.  There are so many boat tours that head out there each day but I'm really glad we booked on a sailboat.  There is nothing quite like being in the middle of the ocean on a boat that is sailing along, quietly gliding over the water.

Aaron and Hyrum getting ready to hop in the water for some snorkeling.

Hyrum snorkeling in Molokini crater

After our snorkeling tour returned to Maui we headed over to the Ioa Needle.  We all took a dip in the freezing cold water, which was actually kind of refreshing on a hot and humid day.

After we left the Ioa Needle we wanted to hike the Makamaka'ole Valley Trail.  We never found the trail but we did find this awesome sign and we just had to take some photos.  I love this one of Aaron and Kari...those two lovebirds!

Wednesday Hyrum was back at the conference but that didn't stop the rest of us from having tons of fun! Aaron and Kari did a bit of snorkeling at Black Rock near Ka'anapali.  I was happy to hang out on the beach and read my book:)  Isn't that the best part of vacations?  To just sit and relax?

 Look at these two crazy kids...they were so much fun to hang out with!

After Hyrum's conferences were finished for the day we all got in the car and drove up to Haleakala crater.  It was a long and very windy road and once we finally reached the top it was completely covered in by clouds so we really couldn't see down into the crater at all.  We decided to hike down into the crater in the hopes that it would clear up bit for us but it started raining and was actually really cold.  Since none of us were dressed for the weather we just decided to head back to the car.  It was a bit of a disappointment but it gives us all a reason to come back to Maui some day!

This is a really fun shot of Aaron and Kari in a sort of cloud rainbow at the top of Haleakala.

The sign we are pointing to lists the elevation at 10,023 feet...that's pretty high up!

The 4 of us trying to stay warm at the top of the world!

Thursday morning was the "Road to Hana" day.  We decided it would be fun to drive to Hana backwards which meant we started on the southern part of the Island and drove towards Hana instead of the more popular jumping off point of Pa'ia.

Hiking through the bamboo forests on the Pipiwai Trail.

Amazing 400 foot Waimoku waterfall at the end of the 4 mile trail.  Well worth the hike!

We stopped and saw the Pools of 'Ohe'o or the "Seven Sacred Pools"  Unfortunately the trail down to the pools was closed so we couldn't get very close.  That was OK, we just hopped back in the car and kept driving the road to Hana:)

Aaron jumping off the cliffs at Waioka Pond.

The red sand of Kaihalulu Beach.  Once again, well worth the sort of crazy unsafe hike down to this beach.  The water was wonderful to swim in and the red sand was beautiful.

Hyrum and I hiking back to the car from the red sand beach.

The black sand at Pa'iloa Beach.  This sand is NOT soft but was pretty cool looking!  It is eroded lava rock, which turns out is pretty poky stuff!

Hyrum and I inside one of the caves near the black sand beach.

Hands down one of my favorite memories from this trip.  We hiked down into the fresh water caves of Wai'anapanapa State Park.  The water is so clear that you can't even tell there is water in this cave. After swimming in the salty water of the red and black sand beaches it was wonderful to take a dip in this fresh water.  The other great part was that there was no one else in the water, it was like our own secret oasis!

After our wonderful swim in our own secret cavern it was getting pretty dark so we didn't stop again at any other sights on the road.  We did end up in Pa'ia where I met a beautiful parrot and we had some dinner while we listened to some live music.  It was a very busy but wonderful day!

Friday Hyrum was back at the conference and so the rest of us decided to hit the waves!  I didn't think I would want to try surfing but Aaron and Kari made it look so simple...I had to give it a try:)

Believe it or not that is ME surfing.  I stood up for at least 2 or 3 seconds:)

How does Aaron make it look so easy?

Kari was pretty much a pro after just one try!

After our surfing adventures we had to stop and get some shave ice, it was a great morning:)  We picked up Hyrum and then sadly had to head to the airport to drop Aaron and Kari off.  It was so much fun having friends to hang out with, especially since I would have been alone on the days Hyrum attended the conference.  Thanks for coming to play with us in Hawaii Christensens!!!

Eating...Hawaiin food cart style!

Hyrum and I explored the hillside town of Makawao.  There were a lot of nice art shops and fun places to buy all our souvenirs

We drove to the Church of the Holy Ghost on the Kula highway.  We thought it was pretty neat how it was an octagon shape, just like the churches we saw in Seiffen, Germany.  It turns out this was built by the Portuguese immigrant community in 1895.  There was a beautiful altarpiece inside that was hand carved and shipped from Austria.

We had some day left and didn't know what to do with our time.  We checked a map and realized we were pretty close to the road that leads up to Haleakala crater.  We decided to take a risk and try to drive to the top before the sun set.  It was clear at the top but there were some clouds rolling in so we weren't sure if we would just get clouded in again.  It really was a race against time to make it to the top:)

The sun was just setting as we pulled into the visitor parking lot but we could see much more of the crater than we could on our first trip.  It was so neat to be above the clouds this time.

We saw a very beautiful sunset and decided to hang out in our car until the stars came out.  We had read that seeing the stars from 10,000 feet was pretty amazing.  Unfortunately for us we were almost out of gas so we couldn't keep the car running with the heater on so we were pretty cold as we waited.  When we finally got to see the stars it was very beautiful but I think I was so cold I couldn't really enjoy it much.  Next time I will be more prepared to enjoy the wonders of Haleakala crater!

Saturday was our last day in Maui.  Hyrum and I went snorkeling at Black Rock and I saw this sea turtle.  It was pretty amazing the things you could see under the ocean, there is a whole world down there:)

We went back to our hotel and packed up our things.  This was our view from our back patio.  It was so nice to be right near the ocean.

We decided to head back and see one more sight on the Road to Hana.  This time we started in the town of Pa'ia where we found and had to have some delicious gelato:)

Hyrum and I in front of one of the "painted trees."  I really was sad the last time we were on the road that it was too dark to see these trees when we passed them.  I'm really glad I got to go back and see the Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees:)

Look at those amazing colors!

We had a bit of time left before our flight took off so we headed to Baldwin Beach.  We read our books and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and we even got a rainbow as a farewell gift from Maui.

I had such a wonderful trip.  A week away from the kids and everyday life is wonderful but when that week is spent in Maui...it's pure magic.