Vacation!

It's VACATION time!

Every year since 1995 (except for 2) we have taken a trip to Hawaii with our good friends Tom & Lani. Some of the years we have also had the pleasure of Wally & Beth's company. For 2009, it is all 6 of us and that time has arrived!

Sue and I flew to Hawaii last Saturday (the 24th). Tom & Lani flew in this afternoon (Monday), and Wally & Beth flew in tonight. We had dinner with Tom & Lani at Fred's Mexican Cantina but we have not yet seen Wally & Beth.

We have a few simple rules on our vacations. Each couple gets their own condo and car. We usually decide where we are going to eat our next meal at the time of the current meal. If a couple decides they don't want to do what the group wants to do they have the time to themselves and nobodies feelings are hurt. We also try to limit the amount of time that we talk about our families so that we focus on spending time together.

With the fact that we were on our own today, Sue and I decided to drive to the top of Haleakala. Haleakala is in impressive part of the island of Maui. Maui is called "The Valley Isle" because it is basically 2 large mountains (extinct/dormant volcanos) with a valley between them. The island can be thought of as the west side (where Lahaina and Kaanapali and Kapalua are located) and the south side (where Kihei and Waimea and Makena are located). Haleakala makes up the southern portion of the island, and rises from the sea to a summit that is 10,023 feet above sea level. Starting in Kihei, where we stay, it is a nice day's activity to drive 37 miles to the summit of Mount Haleakala. It is a real curvy road with lots of blind turns and steep dropoffs.

We were lucky (or blessed) in that the mountain on the drive up was cloud-free and we could see all the way down. We could see the port of Kahului and we could see Maalaea Bay and lots of other interesting views. On the way down the clouds drew in and we could not see anything.

Here are some photos we have taken to this point on our vacation:

1) Sue works for Worldmark. Every day at work, above her desk, is a poster of the swimming pool at the Worldmark location in Kihei. Sue decided to do her pose of the girl in the poster, but in her normal clothes and not her swimsuit. She then shared it with her boss and coworkers to prove to them that this is where she is staying!



2) Me at breakfast Sunday morning at Stella Blue's restaurant. The place is named after a song performed by the Grateful Dead. I think I am already looking pretty relaxed!



3) My sweetheart at breakfast. Looking good, Sue!



4) Sue, with the city of Kahului behind her. I think we are at about 7500 feet above sea level where this photo was taken.



5) Me, at the same location, but with Kihei and Maalaea Bay in the background.



6) Me, in our rental car. It is so fun to drive a convertible that we pretty much always try to rent one.



7) The first time we came to Hawaii was probably in 1991 or 1992. As we got off the airplane in Honolulu we were amazed at the tropical setting and the flowers that are ALWAYS blooming. On this trip Sue wanted to get some photos of the different flowers to share with the friends back home. Here are the first few she took:











We are really pleased with the photos and how they turned out. These were taken with the camera that Sue bought right after Christmas from an infomercial on TV. It has been fun.

Please leave any comments if you want more info on the Hawaiian activities!

Dave