Lovin' Maui!

Guess what? We're in Maui! For the next two weeks it's all about sun and fun. I do love Maui, and I love what we do in Maui - relax!

Altho it is always less than relaxing getting here. Gary worked an insane amount of hours to make it happen. I don't know how he did it either.

Our goal was to leave by two on Friday, but it was nearly five. Oh well. We did something a bit different this time and got a hotel near the airport where we could park our vehicle and that worked well.

Unfortunately I messed with the clock radio before we went to sleep which resulted in me waking frequently worrying if our alarm would truly go off or not. In fact I didn't sleep much at all. We did get a wake up call and made it to the lobby to catch the 6:20 shuttle.

It was shocking to be greeted by an entire group of people dressed in their most Hawaiian clothes. Can you picture it? I think there were four different groups all going to different locations in Hawaii, but all flying out on Alaska. The only way we could get in the shuttle was for the entire back row of wives to sit on their husbands laps. It was too funny.

Once we had checked in Gary wanted a Seattle's Best Latte which meant a jaunt to the opposite end of the terminal, but a small price to pay for a "good" latte. I opted for Starbucks.

Lattes in hand we headed to security...and then realized we couldn't take our coffee with us. Dumb! Thankfully we had enough time to enjoy our coffee before going thru. But best was that right next to our gate was a Seattle's Best. Now we know.

As we boarded our flight we noticed two smiling faces already seated. Bill and Linda Bode were on their way to Maui and will be staying right down the beach from us. Actually there are many Lynden people here right now.

We landed in Maui just after noon, and Gary went for the car while I got the luggage. It is only 75 degrees but feels so good.

I love Maui, and love that I know where I'm going. It now looks and feels familiar to me.

From the airport we blitzed thru three strategic stops - Costco, WalMart & Safeway. All three were crazy busy and it was quite a feat to maneuver thru them.

The drive across the island over to Ka'anapali is one of my favorites. The road gets unbelievably close to the ocean as it gently weaves along the shore. It's a beautiful, peaceful drive.

By the time we hit the Safeway in Ka'anapali Gary was fading fast so he kept food cool in the car (ha) and closed his eyes while I did the final shop.

We found a great new-to-us restaurant in a funky old warehouse. The menu looked great and right before we ordered our waiter informed us that all the food was half price. It was really good too. We loved the beachy atmosphere and decided we'll take Taryn here when she comes next week.

I was so anxious to get to the condo. Our unit this year is much closer to the ocean which is so sweet. We also have the larger unit and it's so spacious. What fun! Only my kids will appreciate this, but I even have my own vacuum! Yeah

It will be a resort day tomorrow as we get into full relax mode. Our first Maui gold pineapple is on the counter, and we'll be starting our day with Kona coffee and our favorite fresh pineapple bagels as well.

Being on vacation is so sweet!