Friends on Maui Day 7: Chillaxing

I woke up this morning to the smell of Kate cooking breakfast for all of us.  We had bought eggs and didn't want them to go to waste.  I forgot to take a picture but it was delicious!

After breakfast, I went out to the lanai and Kate brought me a cup of her Vietnamese coffee, which is the only coffee I have ever been able to drink.  So for the first time, I got to have coffee on the lanai on Maui, what a treat!

Ben joined me later.

We had no real plans for the day so we decided to stay on the lanai.  Pog-mosas anyone?!

We watched turtle after turtle swim by.

For lunch, we picked up takeout from the Maui Fish Market, another of my favorite places.  I was still full from breakfast but I will never turn down baja fish tacos!

Ben and I sat on the lanai the entire day, moving our chairs around to stay out of the sun.  Nick and Kate came out and joined us for part of the day.  

That evening, the boys went down and grilled our hot dogs for dinner and Kate made potatoes.  I was too full but Ben had no problem eating them!

Earlier in the week, I had the idea to dress up and go down to the beach to take pictures at sunset.  I asked Kate if she would take a few pictures of us and of course she agreed.  Ben was a good sport about it!  

It was another beautiful sunset.  

My favorite one, thanks so much Kate!

That night, I realized that even though Ben and I had been careful to stay in the shade all day, we were both sunburned.  I was upset because I am so careful to protect my face from the sun but I was careless this time.  I blame the pog-mosas!  Lesson learned!

Tomorrow would be our last full day and I couldn't believe it was already here.

Friends on Maui Day 6: Kaanapali

It was a little overcast this morning.  Which was good because we were going to be doing a lot of walking outside today.

Besides, rain showers mean rainbows!

Day six started with another nice breakfast at the Sea House.  

Ben with his fried rice.

Kate got a cocktail in a cool tiki glass.

After breakfast, we sat at the bar for a drink until the rain let up.  (Remember, it felt like noon to us!)

Today we were going to walk along the Kaanapali beach path.  Kaanapali is the main resort area in west Maui and has a paved beach walk along a big beach.  We planned to walk the beach path to the end, get shave ice, and then take the free trolley back to the car.

We walked the path and went in and out of the hotels.  Normally we have a drink at each one but it was so early, nothing was open so we just enjoyed the walk.

Taking a break.

At the Hyatt, we did another Maui must-do, shave ice at Ululani's!

The lovely view overlooking the Hyatt pool.

Unfortunately, when we were ready for the trolley, the driver was at lunch which meant we had to walk back, oops!  Oh well, at least we got some steps in!

Back at the condo, it was lava flows, poke and sunset on the lanai!

Cool moon shot taken by Kate!

Tomorrow would be a much needed relaxation day!

Friends on Maui Day 5: Upcountry

I couldn't believe day five was already here!  I was a little sad when I went to the balcony for breakfast and tried not to think about our trip already being halfway over!

But we still had lots of fun things planned, starting with a trip to upcountry Maui which would include driving up Maui's dormant volcano, Haleakalā, which means "house of the sun."  Ben and I have made this trip several times but it would be Nick and Kate's first time to see it.

It was a beautiful day and I was happy to see there would be a clear view at the top!

On the way to the volcano, we stopped at Kula Lodge for a restroom break and to look at the beautiful gardens.

Then it was a long drive up the volcano -- the view at the top always makes it worth it!

Ben and I did a short .20 mile trail to an overlook.

We then drove to the summit which is at an elevation of 10,000 ft.  Ben and I had never gone to the actual summit on any of our prior visits, so this was a first for us too.

From the summit, you could see the Big Island of Hawaii in the distance.

I decided I like the views better from the visitor's center but I am still glad we did it so Ben and I can officially say we've been to the top!

After another hour drive down the mountain, we were all ready for lunch so we stopped at Kula Bistro, another restaurant Ben and I had not tried.

Kate and I split the burger and the kalua pork sandwich.

Ben got the mahi mahi sandwich.  We all thought the food was ok. There is a restaurant in upcountry that Ben and I like better but at least now we were full.

We decided to take a tour of the Hawaiian Ocean Vodka distillery.  

This is a tour Ben and I have done before but I was happy to do it again with Nick and Kate because the views and the grounds are really pretty there.

Unfortunately, the tour has changed a bit since Covid, and they have added buildings that have taken away some of the beautiful views the distillery once had.  Oh well, that's progress I guess!   

The one good thing is that in addition to vodka, they now offer a rum and gin tasting which was interesting. 

Ben is ready to get his tasting on.

This will probably be the last time we do this tour, but I was glad to see the distillery one more time.

Back at the condo, we were treated to yet another beautiful Maui sunset!

Tomorrow we would show Kate the Kaanapali beach resort area.