Maui and Back Again - 2015

This is my first plane ride post as Cindy and I have made it over to Maui and back again for a four night, five day trip to one of our favorite places. We’ve been five times beginning 30 years ago with our first trip away from our two kids (Lauren came along after our 10^th anniversary). Three ‘Mauied with kids’ trips were sandwiched between that first trip and this latest one. If asked about which of our trips is my favorite, I will recline to answer.

First I’ll get us there and talk about our transportation in keeping with the Iron Side Up theme and then over the next couple of days I’ll offer a few thoughts from my notes about our time on the beautiful island (nani mokupuni) with a few Hawaiian words thrown in for fun.

Our flights were timed well to help maximize our time in paradise (Palekaiko), a morning flight over to give us the afternoon to get checked in to the Royal Lāhainā Resort on the Kāʻanapali coast and jump into the Pacific Ocean (moana) to immerse ourselves in the tropics. That preceded our run down to Lāhainā for dinner. As would be the case throughout our evenings, we found time to be distracted by live music by the pool prior to dinner on Front Street with the waves gently slapping the beach across the road from us. The flight home was late afternoon giving us enough time for a morning swim, a leisurely checkout, a final stroll around Lāhainā for lunch and a shave ice under the great banyan tree.

The flight over was filled with anticipation of our time in palekaiko and was pleasant, fun really as we talked over things we wanted to do, what we were looking forward to. I felt like we were on a date that would allow us to get to know each other better and it turned out to be a fine thing as part of our island experience. I had plenty of room in the standard seat with a person in front who didn’t recline leaving me plenty of room to read, write, and work a crossword. We’d managed to do the trip as a carryon-only venture, something we’d worked on for our trip back east last year to good success. Simplifying the flight reduced the stress and we were easy going as we waited for the rental car shuttle, something a few others waiting hadn’t managed as well.

Just up from Ho'okipa Beach
and some big surf

Our rental car was part of the package that we had put together from Pleasant Holidays, a convertible that turned out to be a Camaro, bright red and in a perfect shade as to conjure thoughts of Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum. We made good use of the convertible top on a few of our drives even though we had to keep a weather eye out for rain, gentle as the showers were (Akahai Ua – gentle rain). While the low roofline made it a little tough for me to fold into the car, the seating was comfortable and amenities ample. It was an ideal car for our short stay.

The flight back was the polar opposite inbound flight for me; my butt hurt from the outset and the guy in front put his head in my lap and writing was out of the question. I contemplated the value of groom as a social activity but passed as there was no midpoint for this plane to land to kick me off and I hadn’t seen any parachutes. His wife thrashed around while seated trying to pound the seat into submission and she used the same method to exit their row jamming the seatback into my knees. They couldn’t quite grasp the considerate traveler mode. I suppose it was mostly my angst at leaving the nani mokupuni that really made the trip home that unbearable.

I was able to read What the Robin Knows and thus salvaged some of the time which allowed me to figure out that I need a portable ‘sit spot’, a place to be quiet and consider ones surroundings and our place within them. For the purpose of the book it is for observing bird behavior, for the purpose of life it is for acclimating oneself to current circumstances and maintaining your identity and integrity. Had I done that the behavior of other passengers would not have had a real impact on me and I’d have assimilated the great benefits from our trip. My loss, my problem, but a win in that I’ve seen it for what it is.

Alhoha, keep the iron side up, even our rides can be sit spots.