Alright, let me catch you guys up.. Night 5- Day 8
Tuesday night the family and I went to Lahaina for a luau. It was a sit down, five course meal that took us through all of the cultures that came to become the Hawaiian culture that is today. Ya’ll know me.. I’m not a seafood fan. The chicken and steak dishes however, were AMAZING. WIth every course the dancers would dress and perform in relation to the culture the course represented. The first course had the men dancers wearing next to nothing. Basically loin cloth looking things; whenever the wind blew or they made a turn there was bare ass and occasionally some penis (which I tried to capture a picture of for Hannah) everywhere. After all that food I slept VERY well.
Wednesday was a free day; meaning we didnt have any scheduled activity. Slept in late, or well late for the trip I guess.. Woke up and got around then went down to the concierge desk and made an appointment to go parasailing. Around 1pm i was on the beach and signing in at the UFO Parasailing stand. I had planned on going by myself but a lovely woman by the name of Aileen asked me to go up with her since she didnt meet the weight requirement. To be honest I was a bit relieved. Being alone up 1200ft over the ocean sounded scary so having her up there with me made getting into the harness and strapped in less stressful. Parasailing ended up being a lot less scary than I had anticipated. It was really quite peaceful up there. Aileen and I ended up talking the entire 12 minutes we spent up in the air and I throughly enjoyed the experience. Not to mention the view of the ocean, mountains, and other islands was AMAZING. After parasailing we piled into the car and dropped my brother and grandpa off at the golf course to play a round of golf while I napped. When everone was done doing their own thing we went down to the pool bar for dinner and then called in a night.
Yesterday we woke up and piled into the car to drive the Hana highway to hike into the rainforest and check out waterfalls. We spent the entire day in and out of the forest before stopping at a local skatepark to let Parker do his thing. After about a half hour of skating in the heat he decided he was done and we drove back to Kaanapali to eat dinner and then go to bed early.
This morning we woke up at the BUTT CRACK of dawn to ride to the docks to go on our snorkeling adventure. Everyone loaded into the boat and we went out to the Molokini Crater Island. The fish were gorgeous but honestly I spent most of my time with the younger kids jumping and flipping off the boat into the ocean. I made a friend in a ten year old girl named Taylor. We flipped and swam for most of the morning and then sat together and talked all the way back to the docks. After the snorkeling trip we went in search of the red beach (where the sand is literally red). Unfortunately it was a misprint in our map and the only real red beach was hours away. So instead we went to the black beach (black sand, duh) and to our suprise sea turtles were swimming and feeding close enough to shore for us to watch them. While watching the turtles, little crabs popped up from the sand and started dancing around. I ran away. Crabs are just sand spiders to me LOL. Now here I am sun burnt and tired and its only 5 o’clock. Tomorrow we fly back to Honolulu to stay until monday afternoon when we begin traveling back to the east coast of the mainland. Sunday however we’re spending the ENTIRE day touring Pearl Harbour. Which I cant wait to do. I guess thats it for now.. add more later when more fun stuff happens :)
hawaii- maui- days 4 & 5
Yesterday was INTENSE. We woke up super early and went down to the lobby where Thomas from Cruiser Phil’s Volcano Riders came and picked us up. We rode back to their office, which consisted of a small building tucked behind larger buildings off a bumpy dirt road. We read over and signed all rules and waivers; saying basically that if we died riding down Haleakala we couldnt sue.. the usual. After everyone in our group finished reading and signing all of the forms we loaded into the van and rode an hour and a half to Haleakala National Park (which is at the top of Haleakala). After taking photos and wandering around the park for about thirty minutes we all loaded back into the van and left the park. Unfortunately the park does not endorse cyclist riding down the volcano so we had to start our ride once we exited the park.
Thomas went over the rules: BOTH hands on the handle bars at all times, keep space between riders, ride in a single line, no passing, no tailgating, no s-swerving, and no turning around to look at other riders. MOST IMPORTANTLY: stay on the right side of the road (most deaths were from cyclists passing over the yellow lines and getting hit my an oncomming car). After freaking out the entire ride up the volcano I finally decided to suck it up and ride the damn bike. & honestly once Thomas told Parker and I we were riding in the front of the group.. I didnt have a choice, being nervous would only cause me to wreck.
Now there is something you must understand; riding downhill wasnt the scary part for me. What terrified me were the hairpin curves. I could just picture myself not making the turn tight enough and slamming into a bus. As you can tell, I made it down all 28 miles alive :) It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and the nerves made it that much more exciting. As Thomas said we “got our flow on” lol. The views were like nothing I’d ever seen. It was AMAZING. Not to mention I got to see how a pineapple really grows.. which ISNT on a tree. & fyi the smaller the pineapple the sweeter it is.
After getting back from the bike trip I layed by the pool for an hour or so then got ready for dinner. My mom, dad, brother, and I rode into town and ate at Bubba Gumps (like Forrest Gump.. get it?) Dinner was delicious and after the short ride home I was EXHAUSTED (why I didnt post last night).
Today, we woke up and drove out to the airport/helipad. We were weighed and instructed on emergency procedure then loaded into a helicopter. Al was our pilot and a funny one at that. He told us how he’d been flying for YEARS and that his grandkids were convinced he first flew a terradactyl LOL. We flew around West Maui and Molokai and the views were breathtaking. I couldnt do justice to the views if I tried to describe them.. So check out the pictures I post later :)
Now its time for a nap.. then a traditional luau tonight at six. I’ll let you know how that goes later!
hawaii- maui- day 3
Today was a chill day. Woke up around nine am and hung out around the room for an hour or so while the rest of my family decided to go grocery shopping. When they returned my mom, grandma, and I headed down to the beach while my brother, dad, and grandpa went off to the local skatepark. I layed on the beach for about three hours.. hoping I would gain some color from the prolonged exposure to the sun. Lets just say I accomplished my goal.
After an afternoon in the sun we showered up and hopped onto the shuttle that drove us down to Whaler’s Villiage: a shopping community/museum right off the beach. We ate dinner at a restaurant on the beach while a band played hawaiian music. I have to admit it was pretty picturesque. We did some shopping after dinner and Parker ended up finding this sweet black volcom suit. After that purchase we browsed in a few more stores before heading back to the shuttle.
Back at our rooms Parker donned his new suit while I put on my new dress (purchased yesterday). My parents and grandparents were STOKED. Finally they saw Parker and I cleaned up and presentable.. which they loved. Parker and I decided then to go walk around the resort acting rich and snobby.. which we didnt actually do LOL. We walked around in search for the other pool in the resort that had a slide (yes, we really are youngins at heart).
Now here I am. Back in the room and getting ready for bed. Early morning tomorrow, six am to be exact. I dont know whether to be excited or scared. Riding down a volcano shouldnt be too hard.. I hope :)
