For 7 days, I learned how to relax. It's not easy for someone who packs her schedule from dawn til dusk every day of the year (sometimes intentionally, but mostly unintentionally), but I think it did me some good. Perhaps I have regained a few years in my life that I may have lost to stress.
This story goes back to March. Daan found out he snagged a summer job with AFRL (Air Force Research Lab) in Maui. I jokingly told him that I'd have to visit, seeing that I've never been to HI...and he welcomed the idea. I pestered the other ASTORM kids to see if anybody wanted to join me, and the idea was generally turned down...but it seemed to pique Matt's interest. We looked up tickets, and the first week of June seemed to be off-season, because they were ridiculously cheap! After some deliberation, tickets were purchased. We were on our way to Hawaii.
The view from Daan's place:
We were staying in Kihei, which is the SW quadrant of the island. About a 5 minute walk, and we'd hit Kamaole Park III:
The swimming and snorkeling were unbelievable. My first day there, Daan and I went on a morning run-swim-run along the beach. I couldn't believe how many tropical fish and different types of coral I saw during the swim portion...more often than not, I stopped swimming just so I could glimpse down into the ocean before starting to swim again.
Daan had to work on the weekdays, so Matt and I spent our days under the sun. I flew my parafoil kites on the beach, went for swims, snorkel sessions, and sat by the pool and polished off a few books. We also spent the mornings walking around Kihei, discovering food (FISH TACOS!) and finding gifts for Matt's family (I am a terrible person and brought nothing home for anybody).
My days generally went:
- wake up
- run/swim
- explore Kihei
- lunch
- nap (I'm pretty sure I took more of these over the week than I have over my entire life)
- spend time at the beach or the pool
- dinner
- funsies
- sleep
On the weekend, we ventured out to Lahaina to check out Maui's only microbrewery. They had connections to Colorado's own Oskar Blues, so we had a good chat with our bartender.
The most memorable taster was the Black Pearl, a porter aged in rum barrels. It was dark and syrupy, and kicked like rum. Overall, delicious. After the tasters, we wandered around Lahaina before catching the sunset on the beach.
We also spent time at Haleakala National Park. Given our short time there and the insanely treacherous drive from Kihei, we had to choose between the top of the volcano (10,000 ft elev.) and the oceanside coast. Since we have tall peaks in Colorado, we decided to spring for the coast.
The drive took 2-3 hours one way, and a decent chunk of it was on narrow, unpaved, windy roads. We passed probably every possible biome during the drive.
At times, it looked like we were going to drive into the ocean.
...or off a cliff.
Daan and the car were troopers. We finally arrived at our destination: the Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls. While it was a short 4 mi out-and-back (8 mi total), there were tons of off-shoot exploration opportunities. The hike dominated our afternoon. There were mango trees everywhere, and we indulged in some hand-picked snacks.
Within the first few minutes of the trail, we were greeted by gorgeous views.
"boys will be boys":
Almost at the end of the trail, there is a non-native bamboo forest. It's insane, and shades the entire trail up to the top.
The trail ends at Waimoku Falls. Obligatory group shot, followed by obligatory panoramic shot.
On our way down, we took a peak at O'heo Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools). We ate our lunch there, and then participated in some cliff-jumping. This was my first cliff-jump, and I was pretty darn scared...but it was so much fun!
Many thanks to Daan for putting up with me and Matt for seven days. We had a blast, and it was hard to leave. I'll definitely be returning.
