Attack of the crabs

When we woke up this morning the rain was pouring down and the air was crisp and so fresh that my lungs were happy to be breathing. I asked Dave what rainy day activities were there for us to consider. Amazingly, by the time I got to the kitchen to start breakfast, there was sun and a huge rainbow outside our window. Where did the rain go? (If you look close enough on the first picture you can see turtles popping their heads out of water)

Last night we bought some huge avocados and I decided to use them for breakfast this morning. This is my breakfast creation sitting on the railings (the birds almost started eating it while we were getting other breakfast items in the kitchen, then we put Alex on the lanai to "guard" our food. These birds here are so fast: if you don't look out they'll swallow anything that's left on the table outside).

After breakfast Alex decided we should go swimming- the pool was our choice this time so we wouldn't get dirty in sand first thing in the morning.

I was showing off my newest beach wear...

So Alex thought that was the thing to do :)

I really do love my new beach "skort". This is the entrance to our condo.

We had a lot of fun in the pool. Alex got totally independent swimming there. It's amazing how fast he got used to the pool and lost his fears of jumping in water and even putting his face in.

I was trying to "surf" on the boogie board. It almost worked..

After lunch we went driving to the North shore. We wanted to see what's there but we didn't get too far: on our way we saw this amazing jungle and a path in the midst of it. We hopped out of the car and followed the path into the jungle. It eventually lead to a cove where a bunch of people were snorkeling and diving. Regretful that we didn't bring our swimsuits and snorkeling gear... Oh well, now we learned to not ever drive in the car without it!

Our next stop of the day was the train station: Sugar cane train of Lahaina. Alex absolutely loved the train ride. We went along the shore line (although ways away) and saw some amazing views of the Pacific and also got a glimpse of the local life. I'm totally coming here to live. I reminded Dave that he needs to start thinking about it. I can grow mangoes (they grow everywhere like weeds- Dave's observation), coconuts and bananas in our yard and that's what we'll eat!




In the evening I convinced Dave to go snorkeling. I was anxious to see turtles again.  It was close to the sunset time but I wanted to go anyway. To my disappointment there were NO turtles in sight! All the fish were there but no turtles... How can it be? Yesterday I saw 13 of them in 20 min... Dave's guess was they were all feeding somewhere. I thought they must have been gone to a meeting. There is just no way they were all gone magically! After half-hour Dave was done snorkeling and started going back to our "take-off" spot (the tide was up and we actually had to find a specific spot to "launch" from). He got confused on the spot and when he lifted his head up there were 15 crabs crawling on the rocks right in front of his face! He swears they tried to attack him. So he put his face back in the water to find the real spot to get out of water and that's when he saw a huge turtle right in front of his face. He started flailing his arms and yelling for me. I got there and we watched the turtle feed right by the shore for the next 15 min while my mom and Alex tried to take some pictures from the shore. Success! I got to see a turtle so this snorkeling wasn't a waste :)) The funny thing about turtles is that when they get scared (when we get too close for example), they have to come up for air. Since we were within 4 feet of the turtle it had to come for air a lot and gave my mom plenty of chances to take a good picture of it. Alex was also ecstatic! 

A perfect sunset at the end of a perfect day!

Video of the day:

Underwater boat ride and other adventures

Every day here starts and ends the same way: turtles popping their heads out in the bay right outside our lanai. If you look closely you might see as many as 8 or 10 at a time! They are the most active in the early morning and at dawn. They come up for air and swim on the surface for a while then go back to the bottom.

We cooked and ate our breakfast on the lanai today: eggs, bacon, toast and papaya. Every meal here has some kind of fruit involved. So today we went out to a local outdoor mini-market and bought a bag full of fruits: papayas, pineapple, mangoes, avocados, bananas. I have to say that fruit here taste like heaven, so sweet and juicy that when we eat them, the sweet juice drips down our hands. This is paradise for me- I love fruit!

In the morning we went out on a Reefdancer- a boat where you sit on the bottom level full of glass windows so it seems like you're sitting under water. First of all, Dave forgot our tickets at home and we wouldn't be able to make it on time but the nice people on the boat let us on it anyway. We got very lucky! While on the boat we saw many different fish, a sea cucumber, an octopus, and some creature that looked like a hedgehog in a ball- I'm really not sure what it was!

After this trip we had a delicious meal at Cheeseburger in Paradise (although they did manage to sell us some mugs but we had no idea we were buying them... oh well). Then we did some very successful shopping on Front Street- we bought out one of the stores completely and they gave us a huge discount because of it :)) At least now we have tons of necessary (and not) stuff and souvenirs!

When we came home everybody went upstairs and I decided to go take one more picture of Bird of Paradise on our property. Intuitively I walked along the shore and saw some people staring into the distance. I saw a boat there and thought nothing of it but kept looking. Suddenly, I saw a whale!!!!!!! He was dancing in the water straight ahead of me showing off his fins and back and blowing water. I've seen whales before but I got very excited. None of the family was answering my phone calls so they missed the show. I sat there on the grass and some ladies said I just barely missed a school of dolphins that passed by as well, they were jumping out of water and doing 360! I can hardly believe it myself so I'll have to sit there more often now so I can see it with my own eyes!

In the evening we went to the beach. Alex and Babulya were swimming by the shore and Dave and I went out snorkeling right there on the beach. O MY GOSH! Never have I seen SO many fish before and trust me, I've been snorkeling before in many different places. I bet we saw close to 100 different types of fish in 30 min that we were out there, including puffer fish, a long stick fish, tons of Humuhumunukunukuapuaa's, and fish of all colors, shapes and sizes imaginable. It made me wonder why would people pay big bucks to snorkel at Molokini (we've done that and it was fun but not comparable to our snorkeling tonight) when you can go outside your condo, get fins and masks on and snorkel on the beach for free! I'm still amazed. By the way, we snorkeled at the Napili Beach, the one close to our condo.

When we got home we decided it was going to be a bucket-of-chicken kind of night and Dave went out to get us some KFC. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Another day in Paradise

We started out at 3 am. We woke up, although the alarm didn't go off, got dressed and left in the car around 3:20 am. We were set out to see a sunrise on mountain Haleakala. Dave and I swore last time we did it that we'd never do it again. But here we were driving to Haleakala again. Granted, my mom has obviously never been, so we decided that she needed to experience it. It took us 2 hrs from our condo all the way to the top of the mountain. We climbed 10,600 feet and the temperature fell to 40 degrees. Brrrr. Good thing we brought a blanket, although we could use 3 or 4. Once again we didn't think about it even though knowing how cold it was going to be. The sunrise on Haleakala is breathtaking. Alex enjoyed it, as well as my mom. The clouds look like whipped cream and the crater is truly majestic. Standing on the highest point of Maui makes you feel how powerful and majestic nature truly is. The silence and the wind make you feel powerless and at the same time at peace.

After Haleakala we stopped at our favorite cafe in the middle of the mountain and had a great breakfast. They have all kinds of trees growing there: notice the lemon tree and a beautiful tree with bright blue flowers in the background. I've never seen a tree like that anywhere, the most amazing blue flowers ever. I decided someday we will move to Maui.

After a long morning trip Dave and I went snorkeling outside our condos. I saw 13 turtles in about 20 min and swam with 2 of them. I actually got a little scared because they get so close to you- they must be used to people constantly snorkeling above their heads :) Alex waited on the shore, he couldn't wait to go swimming too.

The family went swimming at the pool right after snorkeling while I took some cool pictures of the grounds.

We all, except Alex, took long afternoon naps. No wonder- we had to wake up at 3 am and he didn't! For dinner we walked along the beach to the nearby restaurant that's located right on the shore- Sea House.

While we were waiting for our dinner I enjoyed the beautiful view of the ocean.

After a very nice dinner on the shore we explored the resort.

This is Napili Kai resort- the one Dave and I think about coming to next time we're here. It's gorgeous and located right on our favorite beach.

Paradise on Earth

I've felt today like I've died and gone to Heaven. Someone please pinch me because I can't believe that this place exist on Earth. Having said that, this is not my first time to Hawaii, or to Maui for that matter and I still feel like it. The feelings that I experience here are hard to describe. It's in the smell of the salty air, in the sound of waves crashing on the shores, in the singing of the exotic birds at 5 in the morning and in the sounds of palm trees swaying in the wind. This place is so incredible, so peaceful and powerful at the same time that I have forgotten of all the worries in the world and truly let myself FEEL the nature....

This is the view from our lanai. It overlooks the cove where turtles live. To the right is the expanse of the Pacific ocean.

Another view from the lanai. I could get used to this! And this is the condo's living room and kitchen. Nicely updated and very airy. Lanai doors open wide and the windows are the height of the wall.

This is just one day of our life in Maui.

Perfect ending to a perfect day. Maui sunset (although I missed it because Alex smudged his greasy fingers over my camera lens and while I was looking for cleaning cloth, the sun went down...).

Mike Masse and the Pie

In case anyone would like to hear some great music in SLC, the first Monday of each month an amazing Artist named Mike Masse plays for free at the Pie by the University of Utah campus.  Not only is the food incredible, but the music is even better.  Here is a sample from You Tube:

Check out his website for info on his shows.  He has links on his website to some of his original music also.  Be sure to check out his song "Now that I know".  It shows his true talent.

Thanks to Randall and Carine for introducing us to his music.  I can't wait for the first Monday in June (we will be in Hawai'i for the first Monday in May).  We hope more of you can join us!