timistravels

Early Oct. 2012

Our friends Rob and Nell have built a ‘cabin’ on Horse Island, however it is the nicest ‘cabin’ I have ever been in.  Horse Island is across from the end of Douglas Island.  Rob does amazing work with his construction and Nell’s artistic flair is highlighted throughout the house. They invited Harry and me over for a night and we took them up on the offer.  It was a beautiful boat ride over.  We ran into Ron and Nan who have a cabin around the corner.

We sat on the porch with adult beverages, watched whales go by as well as sea lions and seals.  It was beautiful.  In the morning we watched the sun rise and could see Mendenhall Glacier across the water.

The highlight of the night was the cedar hot tub/bath they have.  Everyone got their turn in the 1 person tub and enjoyed a good bath!  They have 2 bedrooms upstairs and had just put a door on theirs, so they didn’t have to be worried with Kootz bothering them during the night.

All and all it was a great night and we sure did appreciate their invitation!

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I had been invited to Wrangell to work with their school board on Monday night, Nov. 19th.  Only glitch, we landed from Maui at 9:30 that morning!   I made it work! Though I was a tad tired by Monday night!

Wrangell is yet another small, isolated community in Southeast Alaska.  It is known as the entrance to the  mighty Stikine River and their petroglyphs that can be seen on a walk along the shores of Petroglyph Beach.  I did not do that this trip, BUT did it several summers ago when I went there with an Elderhostel trip.

The community is quite close-knit and the people are wonderful.  I ate at Diamond’s for breakfast and it was like stepping back in time.  Next time I hope for more time to explore the town. 

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After working 8 out of 9 weekends, it was time for some relaxation.  To start off the trip,  on the fight over we had nobody sitting with us in the emergency row so we get all three seats are self, it sure was a nice bonus. We landed about 10:30 p.m. and went to get out rental car, a ‘compact’ however,  when we got there they only had a full size  Silverado truck or a Yukon… we figured the Silverado would help us look like a local so we took it!  We stayed ‘up hill’ in the town of Haiku where we have stayed before.  Our hosts, Kolette and Adam have a sweet apartment above their garage that we have stayed in before.  They charge $50/night and it is a great deal.  We love it there b/c it is not in the touristy areas, but rather a bit off the beaten path.
First full day we found a new beach it was really nice (in the end we went there many days of the trip).  We then hit Savers and Costco, stopped to watch the surfers at “Jaws” then have dinner at the Fishplace in Paia.

Second day Friday we went back to the beach but a little further down where we could go snorkeling in a better spot however it was too windy to snorkel that day so we just relaxed.  We went into Kihei and had lunch at a pita place, then went home, showered and went to a movie, Harry and I rarely go to movies, but it sure was a nice treat,  we went to see Argo and it was a good movie.

Saturday got up and went to the flea market/swap meet as they call it.  Bought a lot of jewelry from my favorite little jeweler,  Sandy.  She remembered me from last year which was sweet.    We then headed back to the beach and stayed until sunset, snorkeled  little but it was still pretty cloudy in the water.  We went to the Pita  place and have the calamari I been craving and then home and where just relaxing around the apartment.

On Sunday we did the typical going to the beach laying out all day finished another book and snorkeling  saw first turtle.  We just caught a quick dinner at some brewpub and headed home. 

Monday we thought we drive to the north end of the island but it was really sunny so we actually went to Makena for the first time of this trip and stayed most of the day.  The sun is setting about 5:45 during our vacation, so we’d pack up about 5:30.   This morning as we left the house together few miles away and I realized forgot my wallet!   But what was funnier is that on the way home, we were 10+ miles away from the beach and Harry remembered he’d forgotten his shoes after he’d showered off… so we turned around and went back, they were still there!  A day of forgetting!
On Tuesday we did a normal beach thing saw a lot of turtles while we snorkeled.  We had  dinner at a  traditional Hawaiian place called ‘Da Kitchen. 
Wednesday we got up and we decided to drive around the north end of the island!  We took a hike at the “8 mile marker”, called Maka Maka Ole.  Hiked about 2 miles into the jungle and found a poolwith a waterfall flowing into it.   Beautiful.  We continued around the N end of the island and hiked down to the  blowhole.   The other amazing thing on this hike was the remnants of the lava flow.  Such amazing formations are made when hot lava hits the ocean water.   After the blowhole we went to the Maui Brewery had some good food!  Once in  Lahaina we ended the night with Skyfall (007), another movie (I don’t think we’ve ever gone to 2 movies in one year let alone one week).
Thursday when we got up it was pouring rain up near our place, so we headed up to Haiku where we had some breakfast which is disappointing and we headed over to our normal beach!  It was exceptionally windy  but we stay there until the sunset and then we went to dinner at Coconuts, fish taco’s! YUMMY

Friday we opted to go back to Makena for day where Harry boggie boarded most of the day.  He loves doing that so much!  Once we got home “Lucky” the homeowners cat hung out w us for a while.

Saturday was a slow morning, we returned to the  swap meet bought some local coffee a ceramic, a piece of artwork for our travel room.  Back to our favorite beach where we saw a lot of turtles and other cool fish while snorkeling.  To end the day we had a fun chance to meet up with some Juneau friends, Carrie, Mark and their kids.  We ate at Flatbread pizza in Paia. 

Sunday was a cloudy morning. Off to Keawakapu Beach for one last day in the sun.   Did the full day 10-5,  We snorkeled 2 times  and saw a lot of turtles. One time there were 5 huge blue fish and a baby turtle all in one eyeshot. So beautiful.

We were sad to pack up and say goodbye to Maui but I am sure that we will get back there again within the next few years.  Loved the trip!

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