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Published: September 4th 2010
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September 1, 2010
The morning after our snorkel adventure was a tough one. The sunburn on my back hurt so much it was hard to sleep; every time I would change positions it felt like sandpaper was being scraped against my skin. Ouch. My arms and upper torso muscles were also really sore. I couldn't think why, the swimming was so minimal, I didn't want to think it was because I was that out of shape. Then I remembered, cumulatively I spent about an hour clutching onto the boat lines for my life as we sped through the wide open ocean. I mocked gripping on the boat and sure enough those were the muscles that were screaming at me. Still worth it. Mom and I lounged around the condo in the morning. She took a walk on the beach while I enjoyed being a bum.
After lunch we headed west to Lahaina. It looks much like many other port towns built in that era - boardwalk along the pier, dozens of little botique shops. The wind was not blowing as hard in this town as it was at our condo, and the sun beat directly onto us. We wound
up in a lot of little shops mearly to get out of the heat, hoping for some air conditioning. For a cool snack I treated Mom to some gelato. She got a mint swirled with chocolate and I got a coconut. So much better than icecream. Unfortunately, as soon as we stepped outside the sun began to immediately melt our treat and we ended up slurping our gelato as quickly as possible.
Lahaina also boasts a large banyon tree, taking up what would seem like half a small city block. The tree was planted in the mid-1800s and its size can attest to that fact. It was enormous. Trunks grew upon branches and roots embedded into the pavement, disrupting the cobble stone pathway. Even though there was the warning sign of "No clumb, No swing," many local children were running up and down the massive branches like little miniature Robin Hoods.
We detoured on our way home to the Ioa Valley. I visited this place last time I was on Maui and I remembered how beautiful and green it was. The center piece is the Ioa Needle, a rock spire that rises some thousand feet in the valley.
Alas, when we pulled up the road to enter the park, a sign read, "Construction August 31 through September 1." What the heck? Did they time is just so we could not see the park? Many people were hiking out of the area, but Mom and I were more interested in the quick tour, not the whole day adventure. Next time.
We also stopped by the Tropical Plantation nearby in hoped for some fresh fruit locally grown. Another disappointment. There were a few over-ripe and tiny-tiny bananas and some pineapple. The rest of their gift store was full of the same trinkets we saw at the ABC stores. No thanks. So onward, back to Kihei to relax some more.
With a couple glasses of wine behind us, Mom and I went out to dinner at the Outback Steak House and ordered way too much food. The signature bloomin onion is now on my not-to-order list. I love deep fried food, but this was too fried for me. Maybe they doused the onion with extra grease right before they served it. The steak was good though, as it should be. We carted our leftovers home and hit up the
wine some more.
And then, the best part of the evening, a soak in the hot tub. This is not the insulated bathtubs we have in the PNW, it was more like a water feature that would warm up with the touch of a button. On either side of the hot tub were cool soaking tubs which were great for escaping the daytime heat. We sat and stared up at the stars, recanting the bits of knowledge that we gained from our Mauna Kea evening. I slept great.
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