Day 1

My first thought was, "Great, a 5 1/2 hour flight." It was to be the longest flight I've ever taken...but I took it...and I survived. It was probably one of the best flights I could have asked for...just long. But, oh, the destination was so worth the cramped legs, kinked neck, and dry eyes. As we walked out of the plane I got my first glimpse of Maui (Mark and I had seats in the center of the plane so we saw nothing outside of the plane for the whole flight) - palm trees blowing in the trade winds, and behind them some of the gorgeous mountain ranges on the island. Then I felt the hot and humid air and knew at once that I was actually on a tropical island...this wasn't just California...I was on an island in the Pacific Ocean. I looked at Mark with probably the dorkiest grin ever and couldn't say anything...I was too excited. I think I squeaked, "Yeah!", and then almost started crying. We rushed out to the rental car agency, sticky and hot, and got a ride from the happiest dude I've encountered so far - Uncle Joe he insisted we call him - to our car (a Toyota Corolla...better than the Focus we had in Arizona). We stopped and picked up some groceries on the way to the condo, since we'll be cooking most of our meals to save $$. Food is SO expensive in Hawai'i ($5 plus for a loaf of bread) - wow. So, we get to our condo, which, by the way, has an amazing view of the ocean (bam! right out in front of our lanai (or to you "mainland" folk - patio/deck)) and West Maui. Today we saw all three islands that you can see on a clear day. Everything else about it (the condo) is great too - well worth the $60 or whatever we're paying a night. Mark's favorite feature of the condo is, of course, the flat screen TV which went on pretty much as soon as we got unpacked. That didn't last long - we hurried outside to the beach...which is right across the street to catch our first "Maui rays" and we didn't burn! (We were wearing SPF 30, though.) We went in the ocean a little bit...which is just a hair cooler than bathwater and then we walked up and down the road our condo unit is on (S. Kihei Road) and got a feel for what was around us (quite a lot, actually). Then we came back to our condo and I jumped in the pool for a bit...and that water was almost hot in spots...a bit too chlorine-y...but fabulously warm. By 7:00PM (HI time) we were eating dinner and falling asleep, but we popped in a movie on the "big screen" and saw our first Maui sun set.

Mark has since passed out...but I'm obviously still awake (it's now 11:30PM HI time). It's been a pretty good first day! Tomorrow, hum...what will we do? Maybe a little sunbathing? Swimming? Henna tattoos? (Yes, there is a shop two blocks away.) I think Mark is going to try and convince me to go to Denny's for breakfast (within walking distance of our condo)...we'll just have to wait and see!

Aloha everyone!