I'm Back!

Although if I could have figured out a way to stay in Maui, believe me - I'd still be there! And yes, I did read the "help wanted" ads in the Maui News every morning...there were several jobs available for me, but the only thing I could find for Jeff was "timeshare salesman" so sadly we had to get on the plane and come home. Can you tell that we had a great time? October in Maui is just gorgeous - lovely weather, and with the exception of a few raindrops on the drive to Hana and the 'Ohe'o Gulch, we experienced sunny, mid-eighties temps every day. It was so pretty there! We went swimming in the ocean every day but one (the Hana day), and also got to play in the whale-shaped swimming pool. Well, swimming is a stretch for me - mostly, I floated. The best $3.49 I ever spent was on a pink (naturally) inflatable ring - this way, I could hang out in the ocean while Jeff went a little ways off to snorkel, and then he would swim back to me and hang on the ring to rest. Why, you may be wondering, was I not snorkeling with Jeff? Well, getting that close to fish and sea turtles (and a manta ray!) creeps me out. So I hung out a little way from Black Rock, where Jeff did most of his communing with sea life.

Black Rock in the early morning during a gorgeous walk on the beach!

One thing that I kept realizing during our trip was that I was DOING things - like hiking up a half mile trail to see a waterfall at 'Ohe'o Gulch (aka the Seven Sacred Pools), and then down a mile to see the actual pools, and then back up a half mile to our car. I didn't have to stop and rest, nor was I out of breath, or sweatier than anybody else on the trails. It was like I was a normal person - I know that sounds weird to say, because you may look at my pictures and see the new me, but in my head, I still see the old me. Case in point: I was walking out of an airport restroom, where they had a huge full-length mirror positioned near the exit. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and thought "wow - I look like a normal person" - I wasn't thin, but I also wasn't fat. It was a little surprising to realize something like that.

It was a half-mile hike up to this spot.Where we got to see this awesome waterfall!

A mile hike down from the waterfall brought us to the ocean and sacred pools.

And another thing that I "did" was to not only wear a swim suit, but get used to walking to the beach and the pool wearing it with no cover up. Of course, the only picture I'm going to share with y'all of me in my swim suit involves a cover up, or pareo, which are very popular and can be found everywhere...naturally, I had to get one in pink to match my flip flops! This picture was taken during my self-imposed, mandatory "shade time" - my pale skin can only take so much sun, even with using sunscreen at an SPF of 50!

Showing my bare upper arms for all the world to see!

At the nightly hula show, wearing our crazy cute Hawaiian clothes and the leis we made - our hotel had a lot of fun activities to participate in!

And as this post is getting a little long, I'll leave you with one last picture - I found my beloved bike's cousin in Lahaina Town!

**********
Don't worry - there will be more posts to come on our vacation, including such fascinating topics as food (aka "diet...what diet?"), the interesting characters I met in Maui, and shopping with my mother (aka the "pre-vacation"). Now I'm off to catch up on what all y'all have been up to!