I meant to post day 1 yesterday but was jet lagged out and had to grill up some dinner for the fambam.

Im weird. I like to be in planes and almost was as excited to fly to Maui as I was to be in Maui. Something about airplanes that bring back good memories of flying from Florida to Minnesota to visit family (usually around Christmas). I love the airline food and get pretty nostalgic when we take off and land. Even though I know that when I walk off the plane I won't be in Minnesota, I still get the same feelings.

After the flight we stopped and got our baggage. Maui reminded me of the Philippines. Everything from the taste of the air (yes its that thick and humid here) to the palm trees to the Filipinos walking around everywhere lol!.. We got our luggage and took the shuttle to pick up our rental car. We are driving around a 300M, which is pretty cool because I have always wanted to drive one. Its the v6 model (no hemi) but still is pretty nice. Its not like I can speed here anyways because the speed limit on their highways is pretty much 45mph everywhere. We stopped at Costco to get the essentials for everybody and then made our way to our beach houses after a quick stop to McDonalds.

The beach houses are pretty nice but hot. We have A/C in our bedroom but as soon as you walk out its like a wall of heat hits you. We made sure to open all the doors and windows to get some of the sea breeze blowing through. After we unloaded the luggage and supplies we took a walk down to the beach. Its about 50 yards back from our houses and is really nice. Its a long strip of white sand beach with warm water and very small waves. The water is about waste deep for about 200 yards where it breaks and the big waves are.

Anyways, after our short trip to the beach we went back to the apartment and then to the store to pick up some stuff for dinner. We were in charge of making it so I decided to just keep it easy and do grilled chicken and a fresh salad. The chicken was my usual stuff with Yoshida's sauce on it. I grilled up some pineapple to go on the side but should have bought 3 or 4 more because it went fast. The salad was a good spring mix lettuce with slices of apples, black olives, feta cheese, roated almonds and a good italian dressing. Of course, most of the family just took a handful of lettuce and dumped some ranch on it instead of trying the salad out, but I talked myself out of being upset about it back in the grocery store before I actually bought it.

After dinner everybody pretty much crashed. It was only 9pm Maui time and we were all pretty trahsed after the long flight. Karianne and I were out cold before 10pm.

Day 2.

I slept pretty well the previous night. Probably a good mix of eating too much chicken and being exhaused from the long trip. 7:30am comes around and my niece somehow opens our locked sliding door to wake us up. I ate a quick breakfast of cereal and tossed on my bathing suit. Most of the family went shopping for various items from food to another air conidtioner (guess they couldnt handle the Maui heat). Me, Karianne, Katie, Gary and the girls all took a dip at the beach. The water was amazing but pretty murky due to it being so shallow. After a good 20 min I enjoyed sitting on the beach talking to Gary about stuff. After a few trips back and forth from the beach and the houses we went out to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe in a town about 30 minutes north of where we were staying.

The food was great. I had the Hawiian chicken with a side of the Ahhhhhhh-MAZING onion rings. After lunch/dinner we all went shopping. Karianne got a few things like sandals and a few nice necklaces and I got a box of chocolate macadamia nuts. We got back just in time for the sunset and I enjoyed sitting on the beach watching it.

While I was sitting on the beach I stated to realize that there is something really special about Hawaii. Its almost like the island is alive. It was almost too much for me tonight watching the sun set. There was a good wind blowing from the north east and the setting was perfect. The wind blowing across my orange-cream soda bottle was making a gentle hum. The water was teasing my toes as it rolled up after crashing out of a small wave coming within an inch of my toes then rushing away like a child playing a game. The air was cool and the water almost seemed like it was whispering to me in its motion. Maui is really a place to just slow down and enjoy the "right now" instead of waiting for the next thing to happen.