Oscar

I've been needing a bra to work out in. I mean a bra that will hold the boobs in place! I found on the internet that Oprah's favorite exercise bra is Enell. So, I set out to find one in Toledo. There is one store that sells them. It actually started out as a store for cancer survivors. When I walked in I was greeted by Oscar, the resident chihuahua. The owner told me that Oscar had been to therapy school for cancer patients and actually trained to "hug" people. The owner's cancer was in her left breast, so Oscar was trained to "hug" on the left side. This is a picture of Oscar hugging Jim. It was THE sweetest thing! Everyone that came in the store while I was there was drawn to Oscar.

My next trip

Voyager of the Seas


Nassau, Bahamas


Azores, Portugal


Malaga, Spain


Cartegena, Spain


Barcelona, Spain

Leaving on a Jet Plane....March 3, 2010

After we left Kanaha Beach, we still had some time to kill, so we went back to Paia. I love this town. I would totally enjoy living there. When you go to Maui, going to Paia is a must! We weren't sure when we would eat on the plane since it was a 9:30PM departure, so we found a little cafe and bought sandwiches to take to the airport with us. Some people had ordered 3 sandwiches and not picked them up and the cafe was about to close, so we bought $8.50 sandwiches for $5 each! I love a bargain! We stopped at Baldwin Park again and picked up a few seashells. Next stop...airport in Kahalui, Maui. We turned the car in and rode the shuttle bus to the airport. We had a 6PM flight to Oahu and then a 3 hour layover before heading back to Houston.

Iao Valley - March 3, 2010

Today we had to go back home! We ate at the restaurant in the hotel, loaded the car and went to Hilo Hattie's. This is a local tourist store and we had looked for it several times. Since we were leaving...we had to find it! It was a few blocks from where I thought I remembered! Abby bought a few things and off we went. Daddy had either lost some of his meds, or had not brought enough. He talked to the VA and they called in a prescription to Walgreens. We stopped by there and then headed towards the Iao Valley. The Iao Valley is a dense rainforest with an average rainfall of 386" per year! In the midst of the valley is the 1200' Iao Needle. There is a legend about how the needle came to be...from mauigateway.com...

BIRTH OF IAO NEEDLE

Once in Old Hawaii, in the days when anything was possible, Maui, the most powerful God, had a beautiful daughter. Maui loved her very much and as he watched her grow up, he vowed that only the most worthy King in all the islands would marry her.

But without her father knowing, the beautiful maiden fell in love with Puuokamoa, a Merman God. She knew that her father wouldn't approve, so they kept their romance secret. Every day the beautiful maiden sneaked off to meet her love and every night she returned home, radiant. One day, a townsperson saw the two of them together and ran back and told Maui of his daughter's secret lover.

Maui was furious. He flew into a rage and his screams of anger were heard by Madame Pele, the volcano Goddess. She flew in her supernatural way to where Maui was and suddenly appeared in front of him.

"What is so horribly wrong to put you in such an uproar?" Madame Pele asked.

"My beautiful daughter has fallen in love with a God and I disapprove. When I see him, I am going to have him condemned to a fiery death", Maui said.

"Who is this God?", Pele asked.

"His name is Puuokamoa".

Madame Pele frowned at the mention of his name. "Oh no, Puuokamoa is my friend. Spare him, Maui. I beg you. Do not have him killed".

But Maui would not listen. Madame Pele was still pleading with him when his beautiful daughter returned. She heard her father's death sentence on her lover and burst into tears.

"Oh Father", she sobbed, "I cannot live without the sight of Puuokamoa".

The Father's heart softened at the sight of his daughter and thinking that she would be unhappy for the rest of her life if she could not see the man she loved. Finally, after much thought, Maui put his arms around his daughter and lifted up her beautiful face. Tears soaked her unhappy eyes.

"Daughter dear, I cannot bear to see you unhappy", Maui said tenderly. "But I cannot allow this romance to continue. You cannot marry this Merman God".

His daughter waited to hear what her powerful father had decided. Madame Pele stood quietly, waiting to hear the fate of her friend.

"I will not reduce him to ashes", Maui said.

"Oh, father dear", the daughter cried out, hugging him.

"I will turn him into stone. Then you may gaze upon him, but your romance will be pau (over)".

And that is how the mountain, known as the Needle, at Iao Valley came to be. It is the Merman God turned to stone for all to gaze upon.





Daddy taking it all in...



Me huffing and puffing walking up many, many steps...



We were not flying out until 6PM, so we had a lot of time to kill before turning the car in and going to the airport. So, we went to Kanaha Beach. This beach is famous for kitesurfing and windsurfing. We saw some unbelievable stuff!

Grand Wailea and Luau - March 2, 2010

Today we went to south Maui...Wailea area. We ate breakfast in Kihei and then drove towards the Grand Wailea. Jim and the kids and I stayed there 16 years ago when Jim had a convention there. It was and still is the most beautiful hotel we've ever stayed at. I wanted to show Abby and Daddy the grounds and also wanted to buy a sun visor in the gift shop. There is a public beach access between the Grand Wailea and the Four Seasons, so we parked and walked down to the beach. We've snorkeled there many times, but we didn't have any snorkel gear with us on this trip. I laid out in the sun for a while and my Dad found some shade and took a nap. Abby explored down the beach. After almost 2 hours on the beach we decided to go to the Grand Wailea. We went to one of the poolside bars and had a drink before touring the grounds.
Here are a few photos taken there...

Daddy's nap spot...






We went back to Lahaina in time to get ready for the luau. Jim, and the kids and I had been to the Old Lahaina Luau in 1991. I remember the kalua pig being one of the best things I've ever eaten, so I was excited to be eating it again for supper. The entire show costs $95 per person, but you get a lot for your money. When you go in they are serving drinks and there is an open bar. There were several artists showing their wares of local Hawaiian crafts and selling them. The highlight for me was to watch them uncover the pig. The pig is laid on top of lava rocks, then lava rocks are inserted into the cavity and then it is covered with banana leaves. The last step is to mound a big pile of sand on top of it.







The luau supper is buffet style. OMG, the food is SO good!



After supper there is a hula show that is second to none! It is very entertaining. After the show we went back to the hotel...to pack. It was time to leave Hawaii the next day : ( !

North Shore of Maui - March 1, 2010

This was the long day in Maui. We first had breakfast at Moose McGillycuddy's in Lahaina. Picked up the car and headed north. We stopped at one of the roadside pullovers to see if we could see whales. Saw a few breaching and also saw a large Green Sea Turtle swimming just off shore.



We first stopped at Ho'okipa Beach and then went to Paia. It is a quaint, eclectic town. I drove to Haiku, which is where Roy, our friend from high school, used to live. Then we headed to "up-country" to Makawao. This is the cowboy area of Maui.



We went back to Paia and stopped at Baldwin Park. We happened upon Baldwin Park almost 20 years ago when Jordan and Hailey were with us. There was a soccer game/practice going on, so we stopped. It is a nice beach area with a park and bathrooms with wet toilet paper thrown up on the ceiling!




We had not been to Ka'anapali Beach area, yet, so that is where we went for supper. We parked at Whaler's Village and put our name on a waiting list at a restaurant on the beach. We didn't eat for a while, so we walked around and took pictures of the sun setting behind Lanai.

Whale watch & Hula Show February 28, 2010

Woke up early to catch a 7:30 boat on a whale watch. It was drizzling, but wasn't bad enough to keep me inside the boat once we got off shore. We saw a LOT of whales. Also, saw lots of breaches! The Mama whales would breach and when the baby whales would breach, the splash was so much smaller. It was so cute seeing them show their stuff.



After getting back to Lahaina and eating breakfast, we went to the Lahaina Cannery Mall to see a free Hula Show. Towards the end of the show the dancers started getting people from the audience to participate. First, they picked Abby...and then they picked my Dad. They went up on stage and hula'd! I was trying to video with one hand and take pictures with the other. It was very entertaining!