Maui - Day 3

Day 3 on Maui was a VERY busy day, but full of so many fun things and probably some of our most memorable experiences. The day started at 2 AM...that is right! We woke up at 2 AM to drive up to Ha'leakala, one of the mountains on Maui, which is marked as the "best spot to watch a sunrise" on the island. Because of the extremely windy roads, it takes a lot longer to drive the 60 or miles to go from our home to the top. As you can see from the first photo, we were tired. So we drove up and made it to the top almost an hour before the sunrise. We actually took a quick snoozer in the jeep before going to the viewing center. There were a hundred or so other visitors up there, too. And what is so crazy is how cold it is up there....going from 0 to 10,000 feet elevation, you can image the change in temperature. It was about freezing, and we were both the only ones wearing flip flops. But we had on a few layers and a nice blanket. Even though it was a cloudy morning, watching the sun come up through the clouds was so pretty. There are a few pictures below, but it doesn't even begin to capture it. On the way down the mountain, we stopped in Kula at the Kula Lodge for breakfast. It was good food with a great view (even with the clouds, you could see the water on both sides of the island)....but the elevation change got to me on the drive down and I was not feeling so well - pretty nauseous. But once I got some food, coffee, and juice in me, I was ready to go for the rest of the day. Since we were already on that side of the island, we decided we'd do a little bit of exploring, especially since it was only like 8 AM! We drove through Makowa (cowboy town), whose roads led us through part of the rain forest. It was a very different view of Maui, but very pretty. Since we didn't do the full road to Hana (it's on our list for next time!), this side trip left us with a great taste in our mouth. We were heading for Twin Falls, but weren't exactly sure what to look for....they said "you'll see a bunch of cars parked along the side of the road and you just find the trail from there." Ok....???? We saw the Twin Falls Farm Stand and stopped to ask...and they were the "trail head" to hike to the falls. We decided to go hike and then come back for some fresh fruit! We thought we'd just find the first fall and then turn around, but we missed the entry point down to the water and kept walking. We weren't sure where we were going but there were some others in front of us so we just kind of followed them. We almost turned around when we saw them stripping down to their suits and walking through the water - it was a pretty chilly overcast morning. But then Dustin realized they were walking to the waterfall. So we followed suit and did the same. The water was chilly and mucky, but what a cool site once we got there. Dustin went on the rope swing a few times and I just watched and took pictures. After we walked back, we grabbed some coconut (a young with "coconut water" and an old with the hard middle to eat) and of course, pineapple- oh my goodness! We should have bought 4 times as much of this - this fruit stand was by far our favorite on the island! We got in the jeep and started driving back to West Maui, but took a different route that took us along the north coast through Paia (wind surfing town) and we walked through a few of their shops. We wanted to spend a bit of time on the beach since the clouds broke and the sun came out...so we stopped in Lahaina, which is just 10 minutes south of our home. It's in a "cove" so the wind and cold doesn't affect it the same way as our beach. We walked through the town, saw the huge Banyon tree, and then set our towels out on the sand. We both napped for over an hour cause we were spent, but soaked in the rays for about 2 hours. We packed up and went back to our place, only to find ourselves back in the water, snorkeling right out in front of our hotel. We couldn't believe the fish we saw right there....nothing compared to the rest of the trip, but none the less...some cool tropical fish. After another nap, our long long long long day came to an end.
Waking up at 2 AM isn't easy for anyone!

The sun was starting to come through above the bottom layer of clouds. So pretty.

Trying to stay warm....

These two shots were about the best we could get. Just as the sun was coming up through the bottom clouds, another layer was forming on top and the sun just sort of disappeared before we could fully see it's form. It was still very pretty!

Proof that we were that high after starting the morning at sea level!

On the drive down, we were still above the cloud level.

Outside the Kula Lodge after breakfast. Not as clear in the picture, but had a good view of so much of the island.

Drove by the Surfers Foundation just past Makowa and thought this gate and fence were a pretty nifty idea!

The infamous Twin Falls Farm Stand - looks like nothing but oh man was it tasty. He is chopping the young coconuts with a machette, getting them ready to drink out of with a straw.

Starting our walk towards Twin Falls, but not really knowing where we were going. There were peoples' homes in and throughout the rain forest - so weird but kind of cool at the same time.

We almost stopped here after this photo to turn around because we thought we had gone the wrong way. Dustin took a few steps more and realized the Falls were right through this canal below.

This is what we walked through to get to the falls.

I wasn't brave enough to swing through the falls (rope swings haven't been kind to me in the past!), so I just watched Dustin have a blast.

First swing....success!

Second swing....success!

This spot was too romantic to not take a photo like this. Sorry folks! =)

After you drink the "water" out of the coconut, they cut it in half and there is a thin jelly layer of coconut that you can scrape off and eat. It was good, but I like the hard stuff better.
You can kind of see the "coconut chips" that are sliced out of the hard one....this combination was fantastic but we probably ate way too much that day.

At the end of the day, we managed to smile and pose, but boy were we pooped. Day 4 starts at 5 AM, so we need to get to bed!

Maui - Day 2

Our second day on Maui (first full day) started with a free breakfast and orientation presentation from our hotel on all the in's and out's of making the most of our trip. We had a local talk to our group about the things to spend your time on, where to park, the things not to waste your time with, etc. It was a breezy morning, but we hoped it would get clearer and warmer. As you can see from the first photo below, the weather didn't so much cooperate with us! =) After we registered for our activities, we made a trip out to Costco to get some groceries and a new camera. That's right - our camera pulled it's little hissy fit (as it usually does during important times) and stopped working on us. So, we purchased one at Costco and have 90 days to return it. We then found ourselves in the first of a few rain/wind storms during our trip. So we took a nap and just relaxed. We then decided to go for a walk along the beach and finally made the first plunge into the water. It was a little colder than I expected the South Pacific to be, but it was still glorious. We then finished the evening off with some Hawaiian wine, juicy steaks cooked by my husband, and some nice cheesy potatoes! Yummy in our tummies.

Maui - Day 1

Ok, this is my attempt to document our wonderful honeymoon on Maui! We spent 8 glorious days on this island, went all over the island, exploring many of its different aspects. These are a handful of photos from our first day on the island, which was really only the afternoon. We flew out of Portland at 10:15 AM and after almost 6 hours on the plane and a 3 hour time-change, we landed on Maui at about 1:30 PM, got situated with our jeep, and drove to our "home." We stayed on West Maui, just north of Ka'anapali Beach, at the Resort at Papakea. We stumbled across the "Hula Grill and Barefoot Bar" for our first dinner down on Ka'anapali. While we waited, we walked along the sandy beaches and watched the sunset. The dinner was super tasty...but the best two parts were the drink (lava flow) and the spread of fresh fruit. This was just the first of lots of delicous and fresh fruit all week long. We LOVED the pineapple!

On the plane waiting to take off and leave the mainland.

I had the window seat and this was the view as we were landing on Maui. GORGEOUS... and it doesn't even do it full justice!

These reefs were all over the island, but this is one right outside our ocean front room.

Aloha - Welcome to Maui!

We had to catch some rays on our first afternoon there. We just layed out on the lawn right outside our room.

This is what we sat and watched as we were waiting for our table. So pretty!

Sunset on Ka'anapali Beach while waiting for dinner. The catamarans were all over the place.

The lava flow - one of our favorite drinks while on the island.

Just the two of us...waiting to be seated for dinner.

The yummy and pretty fruit spread!

More wedding photos

Our photographer has posted a handful of our wedding photos on her blog, so feel free to check them out. I absolutely love them and feel like this is a teaser cause we have to wait another 5-7 weeks to get the rest of the photos edited and on a DVD. But if they are anything like these photos, it's totally worth the wait. Thanks so much, Randi. We LOVE them!

http://randisphotography.blogspot.com/

Our wedding day - just the first few!!!

Wow, I don’t even know where to begin but so many of you are already asking that I wanted to try to get a few photos up here for you to see! Our wedding was amazing and was perfect for the two of us (even with the pouring rain!). Thank you to those of you who were a part of our special day and for those of you who weren’t able to make it – we missed you! I’ll work on posting more photos later but here are just a few….and our honeymoon on Maui was absolutely fantastic! More pictures of that adventure to come as well.
One of the toasts....kicking off the cocktail hour and reception

I love dancing with my new husband!

The ceremony

For our exit, we ran through a tunnel of sparklers and then took off in the 4 Runner...except it was stuffed with toilet paper and covered with green and white toole, make up pads, and lots of other things!

Maybe he is asking for approval to throw the garder he just went under my dress for!

Cutting into our beautiful (and delicious!) cake....thanks Laurie!

After he went first and was super nice, I decided to swipe a little icing on his face! =)

Are we overdoing it?

Yes, this is Dustin sitting on the couch icing his forehead. Let me explain (since it was my fault!). We have been doing so much these past few weeks between moving me into our new home (and slowly some of his stuff, too) and putting the finishing touches on our wedding plans...I think we have worn ourselves out. We were clearing out our bedroom with lots of boxes and bags (it was the holding area for the first few days of me living here) so when Dustin moves his furniture in later this week there is a place to put it. Well, I was hauling out one of the bags and right as I walked by him, the bottom fell out straight on his head....and there was a box with 2 heavy glasses in it, in addition to all of my wedding magazines (which can get heavy)! I felt horrible. The least I could do was baby him and wrap his head in ice. After the pain was gone, we couldn't help but laugh! Now we just pray there isn't a black eye for the wedding this weekend.

Busy Busy Busy...

Just a little update:

As you can imagine (and many of you already know), the weeks leading up to your wedding are FILLED TO THE BRIM with things to do! Our wedding is 9 days from today, so we are putting all those finishing touches on just about everything. But to say the least, this planning has been fun (although I am ready for it to be over) and I think everything will run very smoothly, or at least as best as it can. Now just join us in praying for some semi-decent weather. It's been raining for the last week!

Also, our new home is great and we absolutely love it. Dustin isn't living there yet, but we have spent most evenings there together fixing it up: organizing the garage, emptying out more boxes, figuring out how to store things, etc. It's been so much fun! I can't wait for him to actually move in. I promise that we'll get some pictures up soon, but I won't guarantee them before the wedding...which most likely means they won't be up till after we get back from Hawaii. But I will try my best!

For those of you making the trip to Portland next weekend, we CAN'T WAIT to see you. Travel safe! For those that aren't, we look forward to the next time we do get to spend some time with you.

Our New HOME.....

Dustin and I picked up the keys to our new HOME last night! Even though it's not technically "our's" (we are renting, not buying this one), we are MORE THAN EXCITED to have our first HOME together. My stuff gets moved in first and Dustin's once we are married...but it is OURS! I am extremely excited about the whole thing, but especially this kitchen. These photos don't do it justice....we love it!

Home

We get our keys for the new place tonight! Our first place to call HOME!