Hunter Mountain Dancing
Last week we took a vacation with my parents to the Catskills. When Rachel and I went to Lake George a few years ago we climbed Crane Mountain. We enjoyed it so much we figured we’d climb another one this trip. This time we climbed Hunter Mountain (4,050 ft) & celebrated at the top. It was probably the most strenuous hike I’ve ever done (2,250 ft in 2.2 miles).
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1 commentBig Beach
Our last full day in Hawaii, how sad. We spent it in true Hawaiian fashion by just relaxing and ‘taking it easy mon’. We hit up
Whaler’s Village and popped in and out of a few shops before lunch. Then we were off to Makena and Oneloa Beach.
Because its over 100′ wide and over 3,000′ long, the natives call it ‘Big Beach’ not to be confused with ‘Little Beach’ next door where the nudists hang. Big Beach is probably our favorite beach thus far. Its golden sand, perfect crescent shape and sparse population all make it a perfect spot. We swam in the clear waters, tried to catch a few waves and played in the sand.
As the evening passed we picked up and moved south along the beach to get a good view of the sunset. We can safely say that tonights sunset was the most beautiful we’ve seen since arriving in Hawaii. This is saying alot as our previous posts have mentioned the other sunsets we’ve had the privilege of seeing. What a great way to say goodnight and goodbye to Hawaii.
With Aloha,
Randy and Rachel
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No commentsSurf’s Up Dudes!
That right, we did it! Our first surf lesson started at 9am today. We went through a basic training on land where we practiced our pop ups and how to balance our bodies. Right off the bat our instructor told us with surfing tall people have a disadvantage. It did take us a little longer than our shorter classmates but with persistence there was success. By the end of our lesson we were catching waves and riding them in to shore.
Surfing is a very physically demanding sport and we were in much need of nap afterwards.
Dinner tonight was at the Tiki Terrace where we dined outside and enjoyed live music and Hawaiian dancers. When dinner was finished we moved to the Tiki bar and continued to enjoy the music and couple more drinks. We met two nice honeymooning couples and had a few more drinks over some conversations.
We ended the night with a game of coconut checkers. in our hotels courtyard there is a massive checker board with painted coconuts were you walked your coconut over the opponents and then get to throw their coconut off the board. How fun is that! I don’t remember who won but I’m sure it was me (just don’t tell Randy).
only a few days left 
Rachel and Randy
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No commentsFrom Sunrise to Sunset
Haleakula, House of the sun. aparently the best way to see it is: to be picked up at 2am by bus, taken up the 9,740 feet to its overlook and wait for sunrise. the 2 am part was brutial but Boy it was worth it. When walking out to the edge you don’t see much except the top of a few clouds (because you’re well above them). As the sun begins to rise the horizon begins to take form around you. Purple, blue, orange and red bounce off the surrounding cliffs making it more and more aparent what 9740 feet up really looks like. A few couples thought it was a good idea to cozy up on a rock outside the protective gaurd rail. once there was enough light to see the distance to the bottom of the crater they were gone, hopefully by choice. Once what we and many others besides us called the most beautful sunrise on earth was completed it wAS time to make our decent.
The company we rode up with, Maui Mountain Cruisers, specializes in the cruel game of roll the tourist down the mountain. They dress you up in a bright blue jump suit, give you a goofy helmit and a rickety bike probably older than the mountain itself and push you down the guiness book of world records steepest road. It’s like a high school science experiment gone bad. As a matter of fact the question is on the Hawaii state regents exam. All kidding Aside it one of the best thing you could ever do, as long as your breaks work (and Randys didnt at first). the ride down the mountain is literally a coast. only 400 yrds of pedaling in the whole 40 mile ride. The views were amazing. The cold wind on your face while you zip around sharp bends really made you feel alive.
At the bottom a hot breakfast was waiting for us (it was only 10AM although we had been up for 9 hours). after about an hour the bus brought us back to our hotel. It was just before noon and we decided to take a short nap. about 430 we woke up and got ready for dinner.
A few minutes walk from our room was the barefoot bar at the Hula Grill. we got a table in the sand so we kicked off our shoes and enjoyed a few drinks before the meal. Our table was up front near the hawaiian band and hula dancer. We listened to the musice, sipped pina coladas and ate as we watched another spectacular sunset over the beach.
wish you were here (but on a different island :-)),
Rachel and Randy
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No commentsIt’s always the right time
We saw two little birds near our dinner table this evening. The male was puffed out, fanning his wings while he did a courtship dance for his female.
Aww look they’re twitterpated
Randy said.
Twitterpated? But its not the right time. don’t birds mate in early spring?
He looked at me with that coy little smile of his and said
honey, in Hawaii its always the right time.
And its so true! Everywhere you look in this place there is romance, something to put a sparkle in your eye. Today we didnt do much but still it was one of the best days ever. We took the car out for a spin, thats all. We saw a little bit of the island and now understand why this is known as the valley isle. There is so much lushious greenery and rolling hills that end abruptly at turquoise blue waters. We let the road take us up steep moutain sides, around sharp bends, and squeeze us through tight passages where you pray to god a sneeze doesnt jerk the car over the edge and onto the rocky cliffs below. Dispite the anxiety of the rocky cliffs edge the drive was one for the books. We stopped at a few sandy beaches (Maui has a lot) and hiked to lookout points were the view just seemed to go on and on. When The Who wrote “I can see for miles and miles” they must have been talking about this place.
Our hotel sent us box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts and a complementary bottle of champaign. We ended our first whole day on Maui with a toast to each other and chocolate macadamia nut kisses. To top it all off we got to experience first hand why it’s said Maui has the most beautiful sunsets on earth.
Aloha Nui Loa (Love you lots),
Randy and Rachel