Home Sweet Home 3/24/25

We've been home a week now and are finally caught-up, up-to-date, and -- me particularly -- no longer feeling brain dead!  Hallelujah, snow that fell before we flew from Hawaii had melted, but NorCal's chill temps hit us hard.  This close to the end of March means icy winter is on the wane and spring will be fully upon us soon (we hope).  At least there isn't a foot of snow on the ground!

Our two-week visit to Maui was so extra-special and, again, thanks to Diane and Tom for inviting us to join them.  We had great fun in the evenings playing the card game called Hand and Foot, or Mexican Train Dominoes, and even threw in Yahtzee one night.  They brought the required six decks of cards, and we brought the four pounds of dominoes (plus weightless Yahtzee).  Shall I mention that girls beat the guys in cards over and over?  Dominoes had no overall winner.

I had to include these last (full) day gorgeous cloudscape photos, taken from our lanai.  We saw lots of different level clouds this day, including some truly billowing tropical "pillows."  Each moment brought a new view in the everchanging sky, dramatic and spellbinding.   

And this warm, saltwater pool.  Every day I swam.  Jimmy joined me sometimes, and we stood at the far end resting our elbows on the infinity ledge looking at breaching whales or watching golfers below us.  They were good for some belly laughs, whacking their ball from one sand trap to another or far into the bougainvillea!

I wanted to pay homage to Diane's son, Jordan, who cooked an "Australian" dinner for us Saturday night -- leg of lamb with potatoes and veggies, and a traditional Lamington Cake, above.  All of this was for the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix, which aired while we ate, and his fav driver won.  Sensational cake!  

The sunset!  Brilliant and stunning.  You can see rain showers over the ocean to the right and left, but -- lucky us -- no rain fell on us during our entire two weeks.

Back home today, the blazing, exotic red flower is a wide-open Tulip on our back deck!  My Forsythia is covered in cheerful yellow flowers, a real harbinger of spring.  The pink Hibiscus and the white Giant Bird of Paradise are two of Maui's best.

Last November, Jimmy and I spent two days camped at Cal-expo in Sacramento, adjacent to the American River bike trail.  On our final morning, we picked six pounds of walnuts laying on the ground alongside the trail (click here to read).  Black, hard-shelled walnuts that we stored in a bag in Jimmy's shop.  I was reminded of them a couple of days ago when I saw a squirrel scooting out of the shop with a walnut in its jaws!  Impetus to crack each one in a vice and pick out the nutmeats.  Wow, we gleaned over two cups of walnuts.

Somebody had a birthday while we were on Maui -- Everly Rose turned eight on March 15th!  We had a little birthday celebration yesterday (Sunday, the 23rd), with cake and presents.  Matt said, "smile," and so you see that silly grin!  As soon as presents were opened and cake eaten, she moved on to Easter.  But it's too early for Easter, I groaned.  Nope, I was mistaken.  She and I went to TJ Maxx, and you see Easter goodies below.

You have to agree that Jimmy and I are pretty good sports, wearing our ears with aplomb.  We had a grand time; it was a lovely warm and sunny day.  Happy birthday, sweet girl.

One more thing:  Everyone we see wants to know when our next trip is!  Gee, I wonder why?

To the Pacific! -- March 14, 2025

 

I've been a-hankerin' to "go to the beach."  This is Maui, for heaven's sake!  Wednesday morning, Tom, Jimmy and I packed up beach chairs, towels, and drinks and headed a bit south of Wailea to Mākena State Park.  Though we say we're staying in Kihei, technically we're in Wailea (who cares, right?).  As usual, the wind was blowing, which put the kibosh on snorkeling.

Glorious Pacific!  From the beach, unpopulated Kaho'olawe Island and tiny Molokini Crater (right), where Jimmy and I snorkeled two years ago, can be seen.

Mākena St Pk (aka Big Beach) is 1.5 miles of golden sand stretching as wide as 100' in places, and beautiful pristine water where you can swim or snorkel.  Snugged up between two black lava outcroppings, Mākena offers (some) protection from the trade winds.  

But red flags were flying when we arrived.  The surf looked rough and the sand dropped off sharply just a few feet into the water.  I'm here to tell you that I was afraid to go out very far.  I'm a pretty good swimmer, but I'm also 80 years old, and have to heed warnings and instincts from my body. Besides, no one else was out beyond the surf.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed my brief swim!

Well, haha, I ended up getting caught in a wave and tumbled into the sandy surf.  I came home with a bathing suit full of sand, and fine sand in every pore and crevice of my body! Ladies, you know ...  😄

Neither Jimmy nor Tom set foot in the water, but Jimmy did join me for a walk up and down the beach.

* * * * * * * * * *

Thursday morning, the four of us piled into the car to go to Karen Lei's Gallery on the north shore of West Maui.  It's a tortuous drive on narrow roads with one-lane bridges and hairpin turns.  We went counter-clockwise, as opposed to two years ago when we tackled it clockwise.  Either direction, it's a beast of a drive, though really scenic.  The waves were rolling in.  Windy!

Sweetly-scented Plumeria flowers.

Oh good, she was open.  It's a nice gallery and we bought a few things.  Then, I wandered the grounds, admiring flowers and et cetera.

Like the goats marching up the hillside opposite.

Ocean-side.  Lots of goats!

And the verdant mountains and valley beyond.

And these little beggars:  Hawaiian Red-crested Cardinals.  Eating bits of cookies out of our hands!  Handsome birds.

Below Karen Lei's shop is a tiny town.  You can see the road winding around and about, to the ocean and back into the hills, up, down, and do it again.

Tom stopped a couple of times so we could grab a photo.  Picturesque Pacific.  Whenever I'd get out of the car, I had to hold onto my hat ... or lose it.

When we saw lots of cars parked at an overlook, Tom pulled in, too, and we all got out to see what was going on, walking to the edge of the cliff.  WINDY.  My shirt nearly blew off!  (bad hair day)

It was at this point that we figured out the draw:  The Blow Hole, far below at the ocean.  See it?  I look like I'm fixin' to take off!  Or lose my shirt!

We didn't walk down to the blowhole; no one had on the right shoes to clamber over the rocks.  With every wave, water shot upward and spray flew inland.  With the wind howling, we couldn't hear any associated blowhole noise, but I bet it made a racket!  Plenty of others hiked down there, as you can see (enlarge photo).

Later, the road turned into a four-lane and we ended up on the Lahaina Bypass again.  Above, along the road is a section of the memorial picture wall to the Lahaina wildfire victims.  Sad to see, but an admirable thing to do.  Also on the way, when the road was right beside the ocean, we spotted a whale launch itself out of the water and land with a huge splash -- WOW!  Jimmy and I made straight for the pool when we returned home.

Finally, dinner was at KOAST, a new restaurant in Kihei, piloted by a "Top Chef Masters winner and James Beard Award-nominated chef, Chris Cosentino, who joined forces with industry veterans Dave & Alicia Soboda to unveil KOAST, Maui’s newest culinary destination."  While awaiting our food, I got a sunset photo.

We all ordered unique (and strange, at least some of them) dishes.  Diane had clam fritters, plus coffee roasted carrots with yogurt + carrot top chimichurri, while I chose clam fritters and ember roasted cabbage with sea urchin butter.  I'm not saying what Jordan ordered but one of the ingredients was pig's ear.  Jimmy and Tom each had a "ham" burger pork patty, gruyere, onion, arugula + dijon.  Then we ordered a frozen pineapple dessert with ice cream and whipped cream and I don't know what else.  I was so full I thought I'd burst.  Believe me, everything was superbly delicious.

We were on the wrong side of the island to catch the lunar eclipse (we face west), so sorry, but I got up early enough to catch the moonset over the Pacific.  Maybe I don't need to mention that Life is Good on Maui.  Fran, our across-the-street neighbor, said it's snowing at our house.  Maybe we should stay here.

Oh, boy! Two-fer! to 3/10/25

Saturday, March 8th, was our whale-watching tour, out of Ma`alaea Harbor in central Maui.  Jordan booked 10am tickets for the five of us, but (in retrospect) 8am probably would've been better, with less wind.  We're discovering that March is a windy month on Maui!  White caps were already on the water by the time we left the dock and it wasn't easy to tell if you're seeing a whale spout or spindrift under those conditions.

Hi Jimmy!

Rogues gallery, ready to roll!

Jimmy, Tom, Diane, Jordan

Das boot.

Front seats on the upper deck.

Hold onto your hats!

You can see choppy water here at McGregor Point and Lighthouse.

Further out we spied our first "thar she blows!"

By gum, "whale ho!"  Humpbacks breaching!

I was glad I'd brought my Tilly hat 'cause it protected my face (and it would stay on!).  Everybody else had to remove their visors and caps or lose them to the wind, and they came home red-faced.  I guess I was videoing something here.

When not looking for whales, many people on the top deck were mesmerized by swirling mists and clouds over the West Maui Mountains.  I can tell you that returning to the pier was a trip in itself with the boat bouncing in the waves, spray reaching the upper deck!  Woohoo!  We didn't get up close or personal with whales, no matter, but the two-hour tour/boat ride was fun.  The two of us are happy campers anytime on, in, or near water!

Next to the pier is the Maui Aquarium.  It seemed like a good idea ... and it was.

I could've spent hours and hours in this amazing aquarium, watching the fishies of the sea in their reef habitats.  Their exhibits are unique, highlighting marine life around Maui, including sea turtles and humpback whales and live Pacific coral.

That strange-looking orange blob, lower left, is called a frogfish.  The aquarium had five Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Honu), a protected species and the largest sea turtle in the world, in a lagoon exhibit.

But my absolute favorite was the octopus, who was attached to the side of its exhibit, till lunch time and then it was all arms and legs!  That light-colored "stick" is someone's arm!  Feeding or petting or what, I don't know, but his hand stayed inside the octopus for quite a while.  Again, I would've stayed till dark watching this octopus -- I name each one I see "amigo."

* * * * *

On Monday morning, the 10th, Jimmy and Tom announced that "the mountain looked clear," and we should drive up to the summit of Haleakala National Park, approximately 35 miles away and straight up from sea level to 10,000'.  It's over an hour to get there on a very winding road through various microclimates as diverse as rainforest and alpine desert.  But, these mountains attract clouds like ants to honey.

Twist and turn!  Haleakala's peak (or close to it) is to the left in this picture.  Yup, clouds.

It was VERY WINDY up here and we were all cold.  But we did it!

Swirling mists clouded the crater.

The usual "it-doesn't-belong-here" non-native Chukar birds were hanging around.  It's a wonder they can survive in these harsh conditions.

Up to the tippety-top.

Wishing I had my Nevada City parka!

Jimmy wondered if Haleakala Silverswords were soft or stiff.  They're soft with silvery hairs and fleshy leaves, and can only be found on Maui.  We didn't see any blooming.

You can actually hike down in the crater.

We didn't last long at the summit, t'was just too unpleasant!  Remembering our delicious lunch two years ago at Kula Lodge, we returned for lunch this day.  These round "pavilions?" are a fun place to eat, surrounded by gorgeous, exotic flowers ... and cute li'l hungry birds.  Good food, too.

This tall shrub was intriguing.  I thought it might be some kind of pine tree.  I asked several people, finally learning it's a Pincushion Protea from the manager.  Never saw anything like this!  Their seeds look like upright pine cones!

So, that's two days' worth of adventures.  When all is said and done, we end up in the infinity pool, loving every minute.