Maui Revealed ~ Hawaii Day 2

There is a book that many tourists purchase called Maui Revealed. It gives advice on the things you should do while in Maui, complete with mile markers and everything. But on our zipline tour our guide, George, gave us insider information as to one of the attractions in the book.

Here's George. He was a card!

On our second day in Maui we had planned to just drive up the Hana Highway, which is a scenic highway. We had been told that it was a long drive, on very narrow and treacherous roads and that, honestly, it wasn't as cool as all the hype.

So we decided to take George's advice and just drive far enough on the Hana Highway to hit the hot spot he had told us about.

We had gotten up at 5:30 a.m. (again), had a light breakfast and then went for a run. After getting ready we went back out to our 'stang and hit the open road. It was a beautiful mid-80's, sunny day so driving on the windy roads with the top down was awesome!

We were told to go to the 6 mile marker and then proceed for another half mile. We would likely see cars pulled off on the side of the road (which we did) right next to a "bamboo forest". We were told to look for an opening in the barbed-wire fence and follow the trail (which we did). We saw several people with their copy of Maui Revealed. We were just going on what we remembered from George.


And it was, in fact, a bamboo forest and I have never seen anything like it! Luckily we had thought to throw in our tennis shoes as we were leaving our room that morning. Here we are having some fun with the bamboo.




See how big it is? It actually got bigger.


The trail wound around and around until we came to a clearing and there was the first waterfall. People were jumping off its cliff into the water below and swimming in it. We would have stopped, but our final destination beckoned.


We climbed up the left side of the waterfall by pulling ourselves up by a narrow rope. It wasn't as difficult or terrifying as it seemed.


Then we continued on, climbing over rocks and climbing until we came to a second waterfall.


Here we climbed a wooden ladder up the side of the waterfall and continued on.

We came to a third waterfall and continued on past it as well. Then we came to what appeared to be a dead end at a cliff and body of water. Here is where most people turn around, because they think it's the end.

But, it's not. We were told to get into the water and swim upstream. Then we could come to a cliff that we would climb. At the top of that cliff would be a swimming pool at the base of a huge waterfall!

We swam (brrr ...), we climbed (scary ...) and we stood in awe! The waterfall was not running very heavy because there hadn't been much rain. But it was a sight to behold! And I fulfilled my dream of swimming at the base of a waterfall! Another couple was there with a hired tour guide and they actually jumped off the cliff into the water. I am way too big a chicken for that. It was freaky enough to swim in the deep, dark water. I've watched way too many movies.

If you click on this picture it will blow it up and you can see the people in front of us climbing the cliff after the long swim.

We didn't have our camera here because we were afraid it would get wet. So you'll just have to take my word for it that it was one of the coolest things ever!

After beholding the beauty of the waterfall, it was time to hike back. We were tired at this point, but headed back. Thankfully it was easier on the way down than on the way up.

On the way back to the ship we stopped at a roadside stand and bought a pineapple. We also tasted some fresh sugar cane.


Then we headed to a beach to eat our lunch we had packed. It was so pretty! There were windsurfers and locals swimming. We ran into a lady who was bringing pots and pans and other supplies to the shelter we were eating in for the local fishermen to use. She said they came late in the day and fished and drank until the wee hours of the morning. They even slept in their cars.
I guess she took care of them.






Our last stop of the day was in the quaint town of Pa'ia. We walked around and got a Geletto and a Shave Ice. (Notice they don't include the "d" to make it "shaved". In fact, they even leave complete words off certain statements, like, "How ya?" instead of "How ya doing?")


The pictures we took of our adventure don't even begin to portray what an exhausting day this was. We climbed and hiked and climbed some more. We slipped and slid and ran into things and tripped over things. It was the most physical exertion I have done in a long, long time! My legs were noodles by the end of the day.

After a long day, we returned our rental car and went back to the ship for a nap. We got up in time to shower and eat a late dinner in the main dining room. I had Mahi Mahi and Rick had Salmon. The food wasn't that great in the dining room, and the service was worse, so we decided to skip the formal dining room from then on out.

We were in bed by 8:00 p.m.

We thought we had just experienced the height of the adventure on our vacation ... until the next day.

Rick Rocks ~ Because He Gave Me the Vacation of a Lifetime

Aloha ~ Hawaii Day 1

The night before our vacation began we got three hours of sleep. We were at my parents' in Missouri, from delivering the kids, and were flying out of Kansas City. We got up at 2 a.m. to drive to KC for our 6 a.m. flight. At 11:30 a.m. we arrived in Honolulu. With the 5 hour time difference, it was 4:30 p.m. our time.

We took a shuttle to the ship and boarded. It was about three hours before our stateroom was ready, so we headed to the Aloha Cafe for lunch and then to the pool deck for some sun.

At a little before 4 p.m. we retired to our room. We were EXHAUSTED, now being up 19 hours, and decided to take a nap. We were going to get up at 7 p.m. to see the ship leave port. At midnight we woke up ... ooops! Oh well. We had a good night's sleep, and hadn't even unpacked.

And up to this point we hadn't even taken our first photo.

The next morning we were wide awake at 5 a.m. (that time difference issue). We left our room at about 5:30 and went to the Aloha Cafe for breakfast. Then we decided to walk the ship.

This was the sunrise.


And this was the rainbow that arrived shortly thereafter.


Yes, it was touching the water!


We decided to go for a run. And then we had a second breakfast .. yes, a second breakfast!

We got off the ship around 8:30 a.m. in Maui and went to get our rental car. We rented a Mustang convertible.

We had a zipline tour scheduled for late that afternoon, so had hours to kill before then. So, we started driving around. We saw a sign for Halakalea Crater, and since I remembered seeing that in my research we decided to take the drive.

Wow!! Wow!! Wow!!!!!


The summit of the crater is 10,023 feet. When we started our drive, the clouds were heavy above us! Then we drove through the clouds. And when we were done, the clouds were literally below us. It was astonishing! And the higher we climbed the colder it got! It went from over 85 degrees to right at 60 degrees in a very short time. Since we were going ziplining, we were in long pants and tennis shoes. I had also bought us some "jackets in a bag" at Old Navy at the last minute. And, I'd thrown a hat into my suitcase at the last second. Thank goodness! It was cold and windy and foggy, especially at the summit!


It also looked a little like mars. (See the clouds below us?)


Funny story here. Rick had the tripod set up for a picture and said, "Hey, there's a bag going down the hill." I thought he was telling me to move over. He said, "I said 'there's a bag going down the hill', not 'hey bag, move down the hill.'" He thought that was so funny!

On the drive down we stopped and ate a lunch we had packed ... and the clouds were below us. Magnificent view!


As if we hadn't already had a breathtaking day, we arrived at our ziplining tour.

Now ... I am not an adventurous person. But, I knew that Rick's thing isn't to just sit on the beach day after day, so I planned some adventure to keep him happy too.

I was scared to death!




But, I did it. And, it was fun!


Rick had a blast! He zipped like a pro!


After an exhausting day, we headed back to ship. We ate dinner at the Cadillac Diner, a fun 50's restaurant. We were back in the room by 8:30. I read for a bit and we were out!

I woke up at 11:30 p.m. WIDE AWAKE! Yes, the time change was killing me! It took Dramamine to get me back to sleep.

And we were up at 5:30 a.m. again the next morning for another full day!

What an Anniversary!

Yesterday Rick and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary. Well, "celebrated" is a relative term in that we "celebrated" in Hawaii for a full week last week so last night we "celebrated" by doing yard work and laundry. You know you have been married for a long time when you are perfectly happy with that! Of course, had we not just come off an amazing anniversary celebration in one of the most beautiful places on earth, we might not have been as satisfied to have just a normal day.

I could go on and on about what a great husband Rick is, but I do that every Friday in my Rick Rocks posts. So, instead, I thought I would just share a little something about how we began.

In 2000 I was a divorced single mom practicing law in Springfield, Missouri. Rick was a divorced man working as a project manager at a company in Joplin, Missouri. He had just come out of a bad relationship. We lived about an hour and a half away from each other. We weren't in the best of places in our lives, but were recovering and rebuilding.

We met one weekend at a church event called Camino. You know the "love at first sight thing"? Well, I just knew immediately upon meeting him that he was the one. He was the one God had planned for me all along. We started dating. But, it never felt like dating. Honestly we just started living a life together from the first moment on. That's why we were engaged three months later, moving to Oklahoma three months after that and getting married two months after that.

We got married on a Saturday morning. It was a small wedding, with just family and close friends. Then we invited all of our guests to our favorite coffee bar for coffee and dessert as our reception.

On our little program for the wedding, Rick wrote the following that was printed on the back:

A story of us ...

It's very difficult to write about your life sometimes. You don't want to include all of the mistakes and bad choices you made along the way, but we would like to share a small story of us for you, our family and friends ..

This is a short story because we only met a few months ago on October 17, 2000. But God had a plan for us long before that day. You see, He was allowing us to live our lives as we saw fit and according to "our" plans. And we were not doing a very good job of living our lives under those plans. That was only until the point that we (not knowing each other) each decided to give up on our own works and let God take over. At that point our lives began to evolve around His plan and not ours. The two of us met through a mutual friend ... Jesus. When we each began to walk on His path, we looked over and saw the other walking on the same path and in the same direction. In our past, He led us through similar difficult times and helped us through "our" decisions, good or bad. Then when He got us on the same path, he steered us together so that we wouldn't have to walk the path alone. He knew that we could make the journey much stronger if we were together.

What happened to us cannot be explained to the unbelieving heart, for sometimes even we find it very mysterious. All that we can tell you is, we are here because we allowed Him to be in control of our lives and it is so much better than what either one of us could have ever imagined. We will not give up on His plan for our life together and we fight everyday with our own souls on who is in control ... but it can be done. Never give up on that!

Our story is not over .. it has just begun. And we cannot wait to see what the next chapter holds. We are so happy that you will be there to share in the unfolding of our story ...

... to be continued ...

Like any road or path, ours has been straight and flat at times and easy to walk with beautiful scenery. At other times it has been very curvy, with some steep hills to climb and then some treacherous declines to follow. There have been slippery rocks to balance on, debris to trip over and trees and branches so thick we could hardly push our way through them. There have also been other small paths tempting us to get off the one God has prepared for us. Marriage is a struggle, there is no question about that.

Oh, but the reward and benefit of walking that path together, no matter how difficult! When you get to see the sights together, nothing is better!


Rick, thank you for a wonderful journey so far. We have written many chapters in our story, and we are always starting new ones. I can't wait to read it when it is complete.

I love you!
Happy Anniversary (one day late!) .. Hey, I've been doing your laundry!

Trying to Climb Out

Yes, we are back from our relaxing vacation. And as soon as I climb to the top of my laundry pile and see daylight again, I will begin posting about our trip and some other things.

I have two posts I'd like to get done today. Hopefully I'll have some time to sit down and do those soon.

Until then ...

Lordy, Lordy ... yep, he's 40!

With failing eyes
And balding hair
An electric blanket
And an easy chair

You have reached a time
Called middle age
A time when cardigans
Are all the rage

"But I’m not old!"
I hear you say
It’s only my 40th
Birthday today

Well I was just joking
Having some fun
You’re as old as you feel
If you’ll pardon the pun

So I send my best wishes
On your special day
And I hope you will celebrate
In your own special way

~ Anonymous

Happy 40th birthday to my amazing husband!

You are hotter now than you were when you were thirty.
Especially when you're being rather flirty.
You're not old and stodgy, in fact you're quite sporty.
So lift up your glass, here's to being 40.
~ your loving wife

I love you Rick! I'm sorry you have to spend your entire birthday traveling. I know you must be exhausted! I want you to know what an amazing time I had with you this past week. I love you so much!

See you tomorrow! Your enchiladas are in the freezer.

Heading Home

We board a plane headed back to the mainland at 4:30 p.m. today. Thankfully we upgraded to First Class so will be able to sleep peacefully on our overnight flight home.

This has been a wonderful vacation, as I am sure you can imagine.

I am also sure you have figured out that every single one of these posts this week were created in advance and auto-posted. There was no way I was going to waste even one single second of this time away with Rick to work on my blog, as much as I love you guys. The computer stayed at home!

I am equally sure you know that I took at least a bajillion pictures on this vacation, many of which I will bore you to tears with later in the week.

Tomorrow we will be arriving home to our children (and my very exhausted mother) around 11:00 a.m.

There will be another very special auto post for you on that day.

Then on Tuesday the kids and I will drive back to Oklahoma.

Starting Wednesday, I will begin to lay out for you in descriptive prose and photos galore the special moments Rick and I shared on this magical vacation.

A hui hou ... Until we meet again.

Honolulu Heaven

We docked back in Honolulu this morning. The cruise is over (sniff, sniff) but the vacation certainly is not!

We are staying an extra night in Honolulu to experience these sights:

This is the view of Diamond Head from our hotel room.

A traditional luau.

Never forget December 7th ~ Pearl Harbor.

A real highlight of this trip is if I could somehow find a way to find him ....

Gilad ... my mom would be so jealous!

See you back on the mainland!

Rick Rocks ~ Because He's the Funnest Cruising Partner Around

I've been on a cruise with various people ... my ex-husband, my mom and aunt, my grandmother, another couple and a large group.

Out of all of those people there is no one and I mean no one who I have had more fun on a cruise than with my husband.

Rick is a blast! He's funny .. he's fun .. he's willing to try anything ..

Our cruises are romantic and they are magical. But most of all, they are fun!

And I can honestly say that it's all because of Rick. He brings fun wherever we go.

Rick Rocks ~ Because he's the funnest cruising partner around!

The Sea of Love

We've definitely been to some Fantasy Islands this week, but tonight is the night the ship becomes The Love Boat.

Kauai ... another Fantasy Island!

This is the day and night of our cruise that I always look forward to the most. Today we are on Kauai and will spend a portion of the day doing some sightseeing. But tomorrow, since we are only on the island for part of the day, we will stay on the ship and relax and get some rest. Knowing that we really have nothing to do tomorrow makes tonight a night that we can get a little more wild!

Cruises are busy, especially when you see a different island every day. It's easy to get so caught up in the beauty around you that you forget to concentrate on the beauty you brought with you ... your spouse! We have had an amazing time together, experiencing all the Hawaiian Islands have had to offer. But, today and tonight, it's all about us and only us!

Today we plan to have a couple's massage later in the afternoon, and a romantic dinner tonight. We'll dress all sexy for each other and then go to a nightclub for some dancing and cocktails.

I am an early to rise/earlier to bed kind of girl, even on vacation. But, this is the one night I will party with my man showing him how attracted I am to him! It's a night of rejuvenation and fun! It's a night where we know, without a doubt, that we were created just for each other. I'd be lying if I said we didn't party it up a little. Because, we tend to. But, that's okay. We're not huge partiers, typically, so we give ourselves this one night to just let loose! And it's so fun!

On the last cruise we did this, my sweet husband got up early the next morning to let me get some extra sleep and he brought me back some coffee and breakfast. Then we had a relaxing day at the pool.

It's a perfect way to end a fun and busy vacation!

I am very excited!

If you ever get the opportunity to do this .. do this!