Paia Thursday March 14

Slipping into vacation mode a bit more with each day. Today was a chill at the beach day. I didn't take my big camera because I don't like to leave it on the beach while we swim, so I don't have many pictures. (A common conundrum!).

We had a quick breakfast and then got out of our little funky apartment. Ack! I just looked up the price of purchasing an apartment here. Remember this is simple living for these three days, just a rented one bedroom apartment found on the internet. These babies cost $300,000 to purchase! There is a $6,000,000 home just down the street, so I guess if makes sense. These are located next to the wind surfing capital of the world. Location. Location. Location! The apartment below us is getting renovated and they were drilling into the cement ceiling. Just a bit noisy, so we were happy to go to the beach.

Baldwin Beach is beautiful! I walked the length of it and found a pool in the ocean. Really! There was a band of flat rock aobut 20 feet out that protected the beach. There were actually a couple of people there swimming laps. You could just tell that they did it often. So you are swimming along with the surf coming up and slightly over the rocks and this perfectly clear/calm water to swim in. I asked a local and they said the nickname for the area is Mama's Beach. Go figure...any Mama would want to bring her babies here. There were a few young families there enjoying the calm shallow waters.

Mana Grocery store called out to me a lunch, so Mike took me there and we got some great food at their deli. I tried a raw pizza. No we didn't bake it in the sun. It was all raw. Oh my! I will try to recreate this at home. So good. It didn't hurt that we ate it on a picnic bench overlooking our next beach! Ho'okipa Beach.
Can you find the turtles in this picture?

There weren't any kite surfers this day because the wind was fairly calm.

This was where I spent some quality time reading. 

About 4 we went back to our place so Mike could get a bit of work done. I went into town to shop for the perfect beach hat. Mine is too floppy and blows around too much. When I came home Mike was not working! He was watching the first F1 (Formula 1) car practice of the year. The race is in Australia and will run tomorrow. Way to vacation Mike! 

Maui 2013

Vacation time! Mike and I have come to Maui, Hawaii. It has been about 10 years since we have visited this island and look forward to enjoying some down time just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful  creation that God has so generously bestowed upon these two volcanoes.

Day 1 - A long-ish flight to Maui from Seattle. We were struggling against the Pineapple Express so it took about 7 1/2 hours to come west. On the way home we are scheduled to fly the same distance in 6 hours!

We did out land/groceries/settle in/explore the neighborhood routine. We are staying at Kaua point just east of Paia. We toodled into town (5 minute drive) to go to our favorite little hole in the wall known as the place that "has the same good food as Mama's Fish House, but without the view or the prices". I don't know if that is true, but we always enjoy the fish tacos there. We wandered around town for a bit. It is hippy dippy/tourist-ville. More rasta braids than I have seen for a long time. Then lots of tourist types like ourselves. Cute shops. We returned home, than walked to the beach (5 minutes, or less).

Day 2 - Mike had a bunch of work to finish up, so he settled in at his computer for the morning and I read and relaxed. Just nice to hang out and listen to the distant waves. We have a very, very tiny view of the ocean through palm trees in the distance.

We tried out the Flatbread pizza place in town (rave reviews....ours? pretty tasty -  not bad). They have a very cool wood oven so the crust was perfect! 

Mike loves to get apple-bananas, the little ones that are sort of creamy and tangy. We found the local grocery store - a gem of a store. Kind of like the MV Co-op but in tiny space with every square inch used! It was remarkable. Their produce display was fantastic. I will take the camera in there next time. 

Off we went to Ali'i Lavender Farm way - way up the hillside. It was lovely and we enjoyed a very leisurely wander through the farm and gift store. Most of the lavender was not blooming but it was beautiful.

Down the hills we came, dropped by Walmart to buy myself a card reader and then we went to Baldwin Beach. A beautiful beach with blue water and rolling waves. Mike went and played in the surf for a bit and got that nice salty feeling. 

Heading home and Mike made us a nice stir fry with coconut sauce and Ahi. Yum.

This is the view from our balcony. If you squinch up your eyes you can see the ocean.

This is a hand painted - artsy - painting on the wall in our living space.

 This is a great guy who flies around the neighborhood and squawks at people. We think he is a pet who gets to go out to play in the late afternoon! Very fun to have him eyeing us while we eat our dinner on the balcony.