Three Days in Portland

Wednesday

I was even more excited about this trip than I usually am before vacation. For one thing, I’d waited for it for so long. We’d planned to visit Portland 11 years ago to see the lighthouses, but we’d had to cancel. This year I decided it was time to reschedule! I hadn’t added any lighthouses to my list in a while. The other reason I was excited was because Maine was so different from our usual Caribbean vacation destinations. I was ready to see new scenery, eat new food, and enjoy some cooler weather. But as our plane landed at Portland International Jetport, the captain announced that it was sunny and 87 degrees. So much for cooler weather! :-)

Baltimore's Inner Harbor

We recently traveled to Baltimore for my niece's wedding and had a few hours to walk around the Inner Harbor before leaving for the airport. I didn’t know much about the area, but just before the trip I learned that the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse was located there. One thing I love about lighthouses is that they are almost always surrounded by beauty and history. Find a lighthouse and you’ll find so much more. If I’d realized how much there was to explore around the Inner Harbor, I would have arranged to stay in Baltimore for another day. Three hours wasn’t nearly enough time!

Savannah and Tybee Island

Thursday, July Fourth

Savannah first appeared on my radar when I was researching lighthouses and saw that it was near the Tybee Island Lighthouse. One thing I’ve learned about lighthouses is that they are almost always surrounded by interesting and beautiful places. My knowledge of Savannah was limited to vague impressions of moss-draped trees and good Southern food, but that was enough for me! It just took a few years to convince Ron to make the road trip.

Trees for Charity

While my sister Mary and I were in North Carolina this past weekend for a visit with my parents, we went to Downtown Durham to see the Christmas trees at the Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge display. The Christmas Tree Challenge is a fund raiser for non-profits. Dozens of non-profit companies compete for prizes by designing and decorating trees that represent their mission.

We discovered the trees a few years ago when we’d gone to Downtown Durham for dinner and ice skating. The trees were beautiful at night, lit up in different colors. But I think I enjoyed them even more in the daytime when I could see all the details. Each tree was so creative. The tree for Teach for America was decorated with pencils while the ornaments on Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina’s tree were made from plastic forks and spoons. We got a laugh out of the tree for First Tee of the Triangle, which had stuffed toy gophers (think Caddyshack) nestled among the golf balls and flags. Hee hee :-)

Maui 2016 Part 4

Thursday – Waihe'e Ridge Trail

The plan for our last full day on Maui was to hike the Waihe'e Ridge Trail with Jenny. Jenny had been trying to get me to go hiking for a while, and I was looking forward to doing something together even though I was a little nervous about keeping up with her. I hadn’t been exercising much lately and was definitely not in my best shape.

Waihe'e Ridge Trail was on the northwest side of the island, off of a winding road just past Mendes Ranch where we had taken the horseback riding tour in 1999. It was a two-and-a-half mile trail, beginning at 1000 feet and ascending to Lanilili Peak at 2563 feet. We got to the trailhead around 9 o’clock and started up. It didn’t take long for me to realize that being out of shape was not my problem. My problem was that I’m a klutz and have an intense fear of falling, particularly falling off cliffs. :-)

The hike started simple enough, a somewhat steep walk up a concrete path. But once we got into the woods, it was all slippery mud and tree roots. Jenny warned us, “There will be falling. Just accept it.” Sure enough, I quickly slipped and fell on my side with my foot stuck under a tree root, covering myself with mud. Well, at least I’d gotten that out of the way! Fortunately, Ron saved the day and broke off several large branches for us to use as walking sticks, which made the going much more manageable.

Once we got past the muddy woods, we were rewarded with a view of Makamaka’ole Falls, cascading 300 feet down into the valley. Then we rounded a few more curves and I literally gasped, it was so beautiful. We were looking down into a lush, ridged valley with views of Maui’s north shore and Haleakala on one side and the rushing stream of Waihe'e Gorge below. I have to say that God does some amazing work. It was truly breathtaking.

Maui 2016 Part 3

Wednesday – Haleakala

The first thing we did when we got up Wednesday morning was check the top of Haleakala. No clouds! It looked like a perfect day for a drive up the mountain. We left Wailea at 7 o’clock and made it to the summit at around 9, passing through several different climate zones as we climbed from sea level to the peak at 10,000 feet. First there were the gentle slopes of Haleakala’s upcountry, with jacaranda trees and flower farms. Then we drove through groves of tall trees. And finally we reached the zig zagging switchbacks through scrublands with the clouds below us. The crazy curves were even starting to make Ron feel disoriented. We rounded one turn and there was a nene (the endangered Hawaiian goose) standing in the middle of road! Thank goodness, the car behind us wasn’t following too closely so Ron was able to stop and wait for it to move out of the way. I was very glad we hadn’t had to make the choice of hitting the nene or driving off the cliff. I think the nene might have lost that one.

Maui 2016 Part 2

Monday – Cabana Day

The next morning we went snorkeling again, this time at Ulua Beach, which was about a mile walk from the condo along the Wailea Coastal Walk. We’d actually done one of our very first scuba dives from Ulua Beach in 1999. Back then, I remember looking up and seeing snorkelers swimming overhead. This time we were looking down at the scuba divers. :-) The water was just as stirred up as it had been the day before, but we did see lots of fish, including a bunch of humuhumunukunukuapuaas. We only saw one turtle, hiding under a ledge with just his back flippers sticking out.

Wailea Coastal Walk

Maui 2016 Part 1

Friday/Saturday – Getting There

When I said last year that Maui was a pain to get to, I didn’t know the half of it! We actually hadn’t planned on going back to Maui so soon, but then we got the email from Jenny saying they were selling the condo at Wailea Point and it was now or never. Well, that was a no-brainer. We weren’t going to miss our last chance to go to Maui!

So here we were, touching down at the Kahului Airport, 36 looooong hours after we’d left home. The adventure had actually started Thursday night when the phone rang just as we were going to bed. It was American Airlines saying that our flight in the morning would be delayed 45 minutes. Hmmm, that would cut our layover in Dallas in half. I thought we could still make the connection as long as there weren’t any other issues, but I wasn’t sure that our luggage would. Just in case, we threw a change of clothes and some basic toiletries into Ron’s backpack.

When we got to the airport the next morning, it looked like things were going to work out. The crew was on the plane, the passengers were on the plane, the doors were closed. But then the pilot came on the intercom and announced that there was some bad weather near Dallas. We were going to have to put more fuel in the plane and take a longer route to avoid the storm. There went our connection. :-(

Maui - Part 4

Friday

Our last full day and suddenly Ron was thinking of all kinds of things he still wanted to do. Six days on Maui just isn’t enough!

We spent the day exploring Iao Valley National Park and Lahaina. First stop was Iao Valley, a lush valley in Central Maui and the second wettest place in the state, getting an average of 380 inches of rain a year. Ron and I both loved it! We got there early enough that there were few other people, and it was so peaceful, breezy and cool. We walked up the short lookout trail and then followed the mountain stream back down, climbing around on the rocks. I spotted some more yellow ginger so Ron had a “drink”. It took less than an hour to see the whole park but it was well worth the visit.

Maui - Part 3

Wednesday

We had booked the Short Waterfalls Walk with Hike Maui for the morning. At 9 o’clock Jenny, Gretchen, Reid, Charlie, Ron and I all piled into the van and drove to the Park and Ride spot in Kahului, where we were met by our tour guide Kate and the rest of the group, a family of five. We would be doing a 1-mile hike at Twin Falls, near the beginning of the Road to Hana. As Kate drove, she told us about the history of sugarcane in Maui and how it had impacted the island, from bringing in new cultures to changing the landscape. When we got near Twin Falls, the air started to have a wonderful scent. It was so fresh and sweet, I couldn’t stop sniffing. It must have been the smell of the rainforest.

Twin Falls is privately owned by four families, but Hike Maui has a contract to allow tours so we were able to go into areas of the property that aren’t normally open to the public. The hiking part of the tour was pretty tame because we stopped a lot as Kate pointed out various edible plants. We sampled the “ice cream pods”, ate the flowers off of the Indian Head Ginger (they tasted like green apples) and sipped nectar out of the yellow ginger. If you get lost in Maui, you don’t have to worry about starving because there is food everywhere! Kate cracked us up by telling us that she likes to eat off of the flower displays in hotel lobbies. She said everyone stares at the crazy lady eating the decorations. :-)

Maui - Part 2

Tuesday

I woke up at 2:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Argh! I hate jet lag. My body just does not like going west. For some reason, I find it much easier adjusting to the time change in Europe.

Our plan for the day was to explore West Maui since we hadn’t seen that part of the island before. Jenny suggested that Ron and I take the Mini Cooper so we could put the top down. The Mini Cooper was adorable, blue with the Union Jack painted on the side mirrors, very Austin Powers. We zipped along the coast, deciding to start at the farthest point, the Nakalele Blowhole. The Nakalele Blowhole is kind of like a geyser, a hole in the cliff where the waves shoot through. The hike down to the blowhole turned out to be a lot trickier than I was expecting. It was very steep with large boulders and some slippery, sandy spots. I had stupidly forgotten to put on my hiking sandals and was wearing flip flops, but I finally made it to the bottom with much help from Ron. Unfortunately, the blowhole was sputtering more than blowing that day, which was disappointing, although the rocky cliffs were scenic and we did find the heart-shaped hole in the rock. But then we had to climb back up! I am definitely not the most coordinated person so I was crawling my way carefully up the rocks, using my hands for balance, when some man marched right past me like he was walking through the mall. How embarrassing… :-)

morning on the lanai

Maui - Part 1

Our last trip to Maui was in 1999, and one reason it had taken so long to go back was because it was such a pain to get there. As we sat in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport for the fifth hour, I remembered why we waited 16 years. Our connecting flight in DFW had come in late and then during an inspection, they discovered a leak in the brake fluid lines. We didn’t know if they could fix it or if we’d be spending the night in Dallas. Finally, the announcement was made that the leak had been repaired and we would be boarding shortly. Nine hours later, we were banking towards Maui and heading into Kahului Airport with beautiful views of Molokini crater, south Maui and Haleakala’s upcountry.

Jenny greeted us with leis at the airport and drove us to the condo at Wailea Point. Since we’d gotten in so late, Jeremy picked up dinner at Da Kitchen – delicious kalua pork with rice and other Hawaiian fixings. We ate out on the lanai while we watched our first Maui sunset.  We made it!

The Outer Banks - 696 Steps and One Giant Hill

We got off to a late start leaving Norfolk. The skies were cloudy and gloomy but they were supposed to clear later in the afternoon so there didn’t seem to be a reason to rush. Plus, it gave us the chance to have a nice breakfast with Mary. After she left for work, we packed our bags into Mary’s little Honda and headed for the Outer Banks.

The drive took longer than we expected, especially those last 20 miles driving through Duck, which seemed to go on FOREVER. By the time we got to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, it was already 11:15 so we didn’t have much time for exploring. We bought our tickets to climb the lighthouse and started up the steps. Despite the clouds, the view from the top was beautiful. We could see all the way to Virginia to the north and the 1920’s era Whalehead Club below. The lighthouse itself was very pretty – a red brick tower with a Victorian lighthouse keeper’s house. One lighthouse down, two to go. :-)