Aloha Maui

The Gazebo restaurant

We began our last full day in Maui by saying farewell to Mitch (brother-in-law) and Jaimie (niece) who left that morning. The day before we said goodbye to Martin (brother-in-law) and Traci (wife) and then Jon (nephew) and Kelsey (girlfriend). So our group was slowly shrinking. 14 of us plus a baby decided to drive to Napili for brunch at The Gazebo. This is a pretty famous breakfast/lunch place that seats about 40 people. You sit under a large gazebo right on the edge of the beach. There is always a long line, and we waited in line for about 45 minutes. When we got to the head of the line, we had to break into smaller groups as tables were available, so we sat at tables of  4, 2, 2, 4, and 2. We enjoyed quickly served meals of banana & macadamia pancakes, macadamia and white chocolate chip, big kahuna omelets, and eggs benedict. After brunch, we walked down and explored the tide pools formed by the lava rocks while deciding what to do next. 

Davidn and Grandma relaxing outside the Baldwin House

Two cars decided to drive back to the Villa. Joe joined that group. Marc's car went searching for a good snorkeling area, and my car drove back to Lahaina to do some shopping and explore some of the historic sites. Zach was in the snorkeling group with his cousins and they found a great cove where they swam with the turtles and saw hundreds of fish.

My car had Grandma Linda, Uncle Mike, and David, and we spent about 1.5 hours looking through some shops and learning a little history. I read placards and visited the Baldwin House which was fun. Lahaina has a varied history. It was a central spot for missionaries and the Baldwin House was the home of one of those missionaries, Dr. Baldwin and his wife. Their son, Henry Baldwin became one of the entrepreneurs who brought the sugar industry to the island which we learned about at the Sugar Museum earlier in the week. Lahaina was also the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom when King Kamehameha united the islands, and a popular stopping point for whalers.

We had some successful shopping. David found a gift for his friend, Kimmie. Grandma bought a bracelet and Uncle Mike picked up a new pair of sunglasses. I was excited because I was able to purchase a 1966 Hawaiian license plate for my ballroom wall. I also got a Christmas tree ornament and an awesome t-shirt that describes the Road to Hana perfectly. It starts with, "Directions to Hana: Turn right. Turn left. Repeat 617 times."

On our various trips back and forth to different activities and locations, we kept passing a large marshy pond with a long boardwalk, so after we dropped Grandma and Uncle Mike off, we picked up Aunt Jackie and drove over to check it out. It was a bird sanctuary with a small selection of birds. We walked the length of the boardwalk and were able to identify the different birds described on the placards. Our favorite bird was the ae'o. It was a cute little black and white bird with long stilt-like orange legs. It would run around in circles, and then put its beak into the water and move its head back and forth. It also had a crazy squawk that sounded like a dog's chew toy. When we got to the end of the boardwalk, we walked through an access point onto the beach and walked along the beach. On our walk, we saw a turtle in the water, but he didn't come on to shore.

Final Hawaiian sunset

It was just about time for the parking area to close, so we went back to the Villa for leftovers and a view of our last Hawaiian sunset. Each day, one of the family groups had prepared dinner. Now we had an abundant supply of food. So everyone was able to prepare their own culinary creation. After a quick bite to eat, David and I took Matt to the airport. He had a redeye that was leaving at 9:30 p.m. We stopped at a Walmart so David could buy a new suitcase and also the ABC Store for some last minute souvenir shopping. When we returned, we found that Zach, Alex, and Ian had walked to a local brewery and were now out hunting Pokémon using the new augmented reality app. They came back briefly to pick up Cata and I am told they were out until 2:00 a.m. and walked 6 miles around town hunting Pokémon.

Because I now had the bedroom to myself, I turned off the air conditioning, opened the huge sliding glass door that disappeared into the wall, pulled the screen across and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean and a cool breeze. I woke up to birds singing and calling to each other and one final gorgeous view before packing up for the airport.

As I finish this blog post while flying back to San Diego, I am remembering the fun things I did with my sons, and the special time we spent as an extended family. We all commented on how great it was that all five McKay sons came for this 60th anniversary celebration. Every grandchild was in attendance too along with the one great grandchild, so we had four generations of McKays at this very special event. Happy Anniversary to Russ and Linda, and Mahalo for finding such a beautiful venue for our family gathering.

Aloha!

For another perspective, read my son David's blog here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

Sunrise Ride

Haleakala National Park with two distinct areas. The day before we had explored the coastal area of the park off the Road to Hana. Yesterday, we watched the sunrise from the Summit of the volcano. Our day started with a 1:30 a.m. (yes, you read that correctly) wake up so that we could leave at 2:00 a.m. for the Haleakala Bike Company. We arrived at the bike shop at 2:45 and were on the bus to the Summit by 3:15 a.m. It was about an hour to the park and by the time we were at the top, it was a little after 4:00. We stood around in the 40 degrees cold huddled near the guard rail around the crater, waiting for the sun to rise at 4:45 a.m.

At first, the sky was a deep blue with dark clouds hovering over the crater. As we watched, it grew lighter and the clouds in the background began to glow. A few minutes before the sun peeked over the clouds, one of the bus drivers, began singing a native Hawaiian sunrise song greeting the sun. Haleakala means "house of the sun" and the summit is considered a sacred place to the Hawaiian people. It was really cool to look to the east and see the rays of the sun and then to the west to see the "moon set."

Moon set

We also had the rare experience of seeing the Silversword plant in bloom. Our bus driver told us that it takes 50 years for the plant to grow and bloom and then release new seeds. The plant is endangered, so the NPS is doing what it can to preserve and protect these plants.

Silversword plant

After we watched the sunrise, it was back in the bus back down the mountain and out of the park where we started our bike ride down the remaining 6,000 feet of the mountain. This was very similar to our bike ride down Pike's Peak and we had a lot of fun coasting down the road. I, of course, was always in the back, since I'm not as brave as the younger crowd and pretty much used my brakes at least a little the entire ride down. We stopped about halfway down and had breakfast at Kula Lodge, While eating breakfast we had a wonderful view, and we could see the ocean on both sides of the island.

View of both sides of Maui.

When we finished the bike ride and turned in our bikes, we were all surprised that it was only 10:00 a.m. It felt like it was the afternoon since we had been up for so long. That afternoon many of our group took naps. It was our night (the Spring Valley McKays) to cook dinner, so we went to the store and purchased a few supplies for our Build Your Own Pizza and Salad night. After dinner, Marc and Jackie and I walked out to the beach in search of turtles. Jackie and I went walking up the beach and on our way back, we watched a large one slowly edging up onto the beach. We watched for a while and then continued our walk where we came upon another turtle. Marc and my two nieces Jaimie and Jessie met up with us and we attempted to take some photos in the dark without disturbing the turtle.What a great end to an awesome day.

For another perspective, read my son David's blog here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

The Very Long Road to Hana

It is difficult to keep up with writing in this blog, our days have been full and by the time evening rolls around, I'm pretty wiped out. So I tend to be a day behind.

Kipahulu: Seven Sacred Pools

Yesterday, we woke up early and were driving away from the Villa by 6:15 a.m. Our goal was the Road to Hana and some hikes at Haleakala National Park: Kipahulu Trails. It took us three hours to get to the park entrance not because it is really far away, but because it is 42 miles of very narrow curvy roads up the mountain and through a rainforest going 15 miles an hour. There are over 600 hairpin turns, and 54 one lane bridges. I have never driven on a road like this before.  Every time the road narrowed, you had to wait for oncoming traffic to go by before attempting to drive through. It was crazy!

Walking through the Bamboo Forest

We arrived at Haleakala around 9:30 a.m. and we were told that the pools were closed because it must be raining at the top of the mountain and they were concerned about flash flooding. So we went to a viewpoint, but couldn't go down to the pools. We then decided to start a two-mile hike on the Pipiwai Trail to see  waterfalls. The beginning of the hike was the hardest, but after a half mile, we came upon Makahiku Falls which is a 200-foot waterfall. The hike continued on and we walked through various ecosystems including past a huge Banyan tree, through an amazing Bamboo forest, up and down muddy rocks, and finally across a rushing stream until we came upon the majestic 400-foot Waimoku Falls. The sites and sounds were unforgettable as we ventured into these remote areas.

The hike took us about 2.5 hours round trip, and then we had a picnic lunch near the Visitor Center which was really just a trailer with some porta-potties nearby. After lunch, it was time to drive the another three hours back down the crazy Road to Hana. There were other stops along the way where we could have stopped and hiked, but we needed to get home for dinner, and we were all pretty tired both physically from the hike, and mentally from the never-ending winding road.

We arrived home around 4:30 p.m. And after dinner, I was in bed by 8:30 p.m. First because I was exhausted, and second, because the next morning, we were going to the other side of Haleakala National Park to watch the sunrise at the summit of the volcano. We were leaving the Villa at 2:00 a.m. (yes, you read that right). But more about that tomorrow. For now, I need to go to bed and catch up on some sleep!

The end of the trail at Waimoku Falls

Read my son David's perspective here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

Sand, Sugar, and Show

Yesterday was our third full day in Maui and it was action packed. We started by going to Ulea Beach which is fairly close to where we are staying. It has a sandy beach, but also some coral area for snorkeling. The younger ones spent most of the time in the water either boogie boarding or snorkeling. I spent most of the time sitting under an umbrella watching young children play in the sand and watching the gang wipe out on the strong waves. We spent a few hours at the beach, and then it was back to home base for lunch and showers.

After lunch, my mother-in-law and father-in-law with Joe, David and I to the Sugar Museum. We learned about the process of making sugar and about plantation life years ago. It wasn't in the top ten of the museums we've visited, but it was interesting enough. The one thing I walked away with was the reminder that those with power and money will always take advantage of the underprivileged. When the native Hawaiians weren't able to meet the labor force needs, the owners of the Alexander and Baldwin Sugar company recruited immigrant workers from China, Japan, the Phillippines, Russia, and Portugal. As you read through what their life was like, you realize that like many immigrants, their lives were just a small step above slavery. Each culture group created its own community which was encouraged by the company both to help new immigrants acclimate and to prevent workers from organizing against the company.

That evening, all 22 of us headed out to a Luau which was at a hotel in Lahaina. The luau was outside near the beach and we were treated with a bit of rain and of course a rainbow. There was a good amount of food and drink with Pina Coladas, Mai Tais, a large variety of salads and sides along with Kalua pig, fish, and chicken. For dessert, there were several options, but the best was bread pudding with a vanilla bean custard, delicious. The entertainment was typical and similar to what we had seen at the Polynesian Cultural Center. The master of ceremonies seemed a bit like a Las Vegas lounge singer, sort of a Don Ho wanna be, but the dancing was fun and David went up on stage a second time (the first was at PCC) to learn the hula. My nephew, Alex also went up with a group of Newlywed men to learn a special dance for their brides. The highlight of the evening was the fire knife dancer who impressively twirled one and then two batons of fire.

On the way there and back, we drove past an area where there had been a fire earlier in the week. All day, we kept seeing smoke as the firefighters kept putting out hot spots. That night we could see the glowing spots all over the mountain. It was eery to see them when earlier in the daylight, they were hidden from sight. Once back to the Villa, I went straight to  bed. We were leaving at 6:00 a.m. for the Road to Hana.

Read my son David's perspective here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

Just Another Day in Paradise

Walking along the beach

On our second full day in Maui, I was ready to do some exploring of the island. I took an early morning walk along the beach (which is feet from the Villa) enjoying the quiet, and splashing in the water. The water is surprisingly warm. I am used to the Pacific Ocean in Southern California which feels quite cold to me. But here, the water is cool and refreshing without the initial shock to your skin.

After breakfast, a group of us decided to visit Lahaina which is a 45-minute drive north of where we are staying in Kihei. Lahaina is definitely a place for the tourists with its hundreds of shops and restaurants along the ocean. It reminded me of Seaport village in San Diego, but with more local shops and points of interest.


There were a number of historic sites, but I wasn't really able to visit any except the Banyan Tree which is an amazing tree. It came from India and was planted in 1873. It spans a city block with at least 16 trunks which are actually aerial roots that support the sprawling branches. This majestic and expansive type of fig tree offers cool shade for the weary as it stands guard in front of the old courthouse.

Joe having a Lava Flow

Banyan Tree

We ate lunch at Kimo's a local restaurant and enjoyed the view, food, and Hula Pie for dessert. Then it was back on the road for a 25-mile drive further north to find the Nakalele Blowhole. We drove the windy roads up and down the mountain with amazing views of sapphire blue ocean and emerald green surf. When we arrived, we were are the top of a steep hill, with an adventurous hike down the rocks to get to the blowhole. The brave took the hike down, while some of us watched from a distance. There was a sign posted near the top of the hill that said,

Nakalele Blowhole

"Warning: Stay clear of blowhole. You can be sucked in and killed. It's not a water park." The blowhole is an opening in the rock over the ocean. When the waves come in the water is forced up the hole making a geyser-like spray that goes into the air about 100 feet or so. Even from a distance, it is impressive. Those who went all the way down got soaking wet from the spray.

I had hoped to get back to Kihei to go to the Sugar Museum, but it was a pretty long trip back, so the Sugar Museum was postponed for another day. There is much to do here, but often all you want to do is sit on the balcony and watch the ocean. I could get used to this!

View from our bedroom

Read my son David's perspective here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

Mahalo O'ahu

Our final day in O'ahu started with an early rise and shine so that we could hike Diamond Head before it got too hot and crowded. The park was only a 5-minute drive from the Airbnb we stayed at, so we got there right when the park opened at 6:00 a.m. The 1.5-mile hike reminded me of the Cowles Mountain hike we do near our home, but the view was much more scenic.

View from the top of Diamond Head

After the hike, we packed up the car and started toward the Bishop Museum. We had been on the road about 20 minutes when Chris, our Airbnb  host called to let us know that he found one of our phone chargers. So after returning and picking up the abandoned charger, we changed our plans and decided to drive to the Disney Aulani Resort since three of the four of us are fans of Disney and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to visit this tropical resort. We walked around the kid-friendly grounds and discussed our dream plans to return and stay at the Aulani.

Private Beach at Aulani Resort

One of David's friends from college lives on O'ahu, and we made arrangements to meet him for lunch, so it was back in the car driving toward Honolulu again and the Ala Moana Center. The Ala Moana is a gigantic multi-story open-air shopping mall. We met Sean at Shirokiya which was a huge Japanese food court. Zach was our most adventurous eater. He had sushi and a curry bowl. Joe had Chinese food, I bought a meal with fried rice, steak and a fried egg, and David got a...wait for it...cheeseburger. The most interesting thing I saw was Tokyo Dogs. Apparently, the Japanese have taken a liking to the American hotdog, but have added Japanese toppings to give it a new twist, so instead of mustard and relish, you might get a dog covered in nori (seaweed), shichimi (chili pepper), or furikake (seasoning made of dried fish). Yummy.

Testing out the water

After lunch, we walked across the street to the beach and put our feet in the water just so we could . We were starting to grow weary, so we decided to spend the remainder of our time on O'ahu sitting at the Starbucks in the mall working on blog posts and catching up on Facebook. After a few hours, it was time to catch a plane to Maui and our crazy trip to O'ahu.  Although it wasn't an official "road trip" we certainly spent plenty of time traveling in the car exploring the many corners of the island. Sadly, the one corner we didn't reach was the North Shore where my brother-in-law, Martin and his wife Traci live. So the next time we come to O'ahu, our first stop will be Martin and Traci's to experience more of the day to day life of Hawaii.

The flight was short and before we knew it we were landing at the OGG airport on Maui. Matt's flight was arriving about 30 minutes after ours, so I headed over to the rental car center while the boys waited for Matt's plane. Eventually, we all met up again and drove the 30 minutes to Kihei and our final destination for the next 6 days, Villa Moana. It was late when we arrived, but we got a quick tour of the two-story villa. It's a gorgeous place and in the morning, I woke up to an idyllic scene of pink clouds hovering over the ocean and the silhouette of palm trees in the foreground. It was just lovely.

We spent this first day in Maui working out various cooking and activity details. Working with the different schedules and preferences of 22 people is always a challenge, but the time with family is priceless. In Hawaii, ohana (family) is a priority, so what a great place to spend quality time with our precious extended family.

Read my son David's perspective here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

Who Said Vacation Was for Sleeping in?

Just now catching some time to write in my blog. So I will share about yesterday now and share a second post about today later tonight.

We decided it would be a cool thing to go the Arizona Memorial and Pearl Harbor on Independence Day, but we knew we would have to get up early to get our tickets since they "sell out" quickly.  I told the boys I wanted to be in line at 7:00 a.m. when they started handing them out, and we accomplished that goal fairly well. Our ticket for the Arizona was at 12:00 p.m., so we decided to go to breakfast and then come back to explore the other exhibits at this National Monument.

After a quick search on Yelp, Joe found us a little hole a strip mall cafe located just a mile or so away. We ate a yummy breakfast at Koa Pancake House. Joe was very excited to discover they had coconut syrup for his banana pancakes and David had a red velvet waffle. After we finished our large portions (well except for the waffle), we headed back to Pearl Harbor and tried to decide what we were willing to spend money on based on the time we had until our time for the Arizona Memorial. We walked through two exhibits on the events prior to  and during the attack. David and I decided to pay for a self-guided tour of the USS Bowfin, a submarine that was launched exactly one year after the attack and was nicknamed, the Pearl Harbor Avenger. We got to walk through the tight spaces and learn a lot about this particular one submarine and submarines in general.

It was finally time for our scheduled appointment which started with a 23-minute film with actual footage of the attack on Pearl Harbor. We then boarded a boat that is owned and operated by the U.S. Navy for a trip out to the memorial. The rangers of the Park Service explained that the Arizona Memorial was a joint project between NPS and the U.S. Navy. There were very specific rules we had to follow and we were not allowed to use our phones except for photos (no texting, phone calls, or emails) out of respect for those who lost their lives. It was a somber experience looking over the side of the platform at remnants of a ship that became a watery tomb. The Arizona is still leaking oil one drop at a time. You can see the oil as it collects on the surface and moves with the current away from the memorial. The thing I found most significant was how the survivors of the attack have responded. Many of them upon their death have had their ashes interred with their shipmates. It was really quite touching and the entire experience made me glad that we don't forget our dead. It is good that we have these memorials to remember those who lost their lives defending our country.


Well, you would think that would have been enough for one day, but we still had the afternoon, so once we finished the Arizona Memorial tour, we headed north to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was a gorgeous drive along the coast with the lush tropical mountainside on one side and the ocean yards away on the other side. At times the sea would splash over the wall onto the road. The scenery was so beautiful and exactly what I imagine when I think of Hawaii.

We arrived at the Cultural Center at 3:00 p.m. and spent the rest of the day and evening wandering through the six different islands of Polynesia. We learned a little about the culture, watched a few shows, and even learned how to dance like a Tahitian. It was fun and the Tongan show was really funny and involved audience participation. We stayed for the luau and got to see dances from representatives of the different cultures. We watched the pig come out of the ground, tasted poi, and sampled a variety of food both Hawaiian and American. We shared our table with a family from Indiana and we enjoyed getting to know them a bit. The final event of our visit to PCC was the night show, Ha: Breath of Life. We got to see many dancers and the show was well done. The boys were most impressed by the fire throwers. I was a little skeptical that the exhibits and dances we saw were authentic representations of the cultures, but Joe did a little research and it sounds like much of what we saw was fairly accurate albeit a little showy.

The day ended with the hour long drive back to our Airbnb. On the drive home, I announced to the boys that I'd really like to hike Diamond Head in the morning and do it right when the park opens at 6:00 a.m. So after some grumbling about having to wake up at 5:30 two mornings in a row, we settled down to a few hours of blissful sleep.

Read my son David's perspective here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

Book 'em Danno

This year my in-laws are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on Maui and most of the entire McKay clan is showing up to join in the fun. There will be 22 of us staying at a villa on the beach, but more on that when the time comes.

Today is Day 1 of our Hawaii trip. Although we saw several police cars, Steve McGarrett and the rest of the Hawaii 5-0 team were nowhere to be found.

Since no one in our immediate family has ever been to the Hawaiian Islands, the three boys and I decided to get started a few days early and be typical tourists in Oahu.

We arrived at Honolulu International Airport around 1:00 p.m. and after waiting in a very slow, long line, I was able to pick up our rental car at Hertz. I had high hopes for Hertz, especially after our adventure at Christmas time with Alamo and Enterprise. Ahh, but that's another story.

We found our little car and realized that our four suitcases weren't going to fit in the back, so David's suitcase was relegated to the third spot on the back seat. Note to self: I need to get a bit larger car when we get to Maui since Matt will be joining us. After fumbling around in the back for a while, Zach announced that he would be sitting in the middle spot since apparently the passenger seat behind the driver was missing the part that the seat belt clicks into. Weird. What is it with us and car rentals?

Once we were all cozy and buckled in, we headed to the Dole Plantation where we hoped to learn about pineapples. On the way, David commented that he thought it was strange that Hawaii would have Interstate highways. We drove on Interstate H1 and H2, but last I checked, there isn't a way for the highway to go into other states. Isn't that the definition of "interstate"? Plus the numbering systems was the opposite of the rest of the U.S. The odd number was traveling east/west and the even number was north/south. As we drove, we listened to the soundtrack from Lilo and Stitch to help us get into the Hawaiian mood.

The Dole Plantation was your typical tourist trap, but for Joe our pineapple lover, we had to go so he could get a Dole Whip. We walked through the garden and read about some of the different plants, and then took on the challenge of the World's Largest Maze. The race was on to collect the icons from 8 different stations. David was first and was through in about 35 minutes. I was last to finish with a time of 70 minutes.

It was time to check in at our Airbnb, so we drove back toward Waikiki and one of the freeways we drove on was H2O1. How fun is that? We found the house and met our host, Chris. Turns out we are just down the road from the Rainbow Drive-In, a classic dive for tourists and locals alike. So that was where we had dinner. David and I had cheeseburgers and fries, but Zach and Joe tried the famous Loco Moco which is a hamburger patty covered in gravy on a bed of rice and a fried egg on top of it all. While eating outside at the picnic table, it began to rain and we got to see a rainbow in the sky which was quite apropos.

A 15 minute walk in the opposite direction took us to the beach where we walked out on a pier  and watched the surfers and the kids in the water. Even with the intermittent rain and breeze, we can definitely tell that we are in the tropics. Fortunately, our room has air conditioning. It's only 9:00 in Hawaii, but my body says it's midnight, so it's time to put this head to rest. Tomorrow will come early and we have more planned than we have time for.

Want to read about our first day from another perspective? Here's David's blog: favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com