Day 11 Aloha Maui! A hui hou!

Good Morning Maui! I wish I could wake up here everyday!
First order of business today was to search once more for B.'s wallet; my brother pulled the car out after sun-up and B. met him downstairs to look.
Well, there it was, tucked in the back of some counsel and just was not meant to be found the night before. RELIEF!
He called The MPD to let them know and they said they would send an officer over again... we are now getting a reputation at the resort. :)
The officer that came was so wonderful, one of our favorite people we have met on Maui, he made us feel so welcome on the island and was full of great information for future trips!
He was excited I had tried the loco moco at Grandma's Coffee as that is his families favorite restaurant, he suggested if I liked it to try L&L BBQ for lunch today, he said he really likes it there as well. We had not eaten there yet and added it to our plans for today. We were thrilled our plans no longer included going to pick up a police report! 

These are all pictures at Kaanapali Beach Club, I was in a last minute panic to take pictures today.

After we were done talking with the officer we headed upstairs to pack, we were going to move everything to my Brother's room until we were done playing for the day so we could change one last time.

After packing up and moving we headed to The Farmer's Market to stock  up on Maui Macadamia Blossom Honey, I brought 6 bottles home so I can make it last until I go back.
I also bought about 7 different little jars of jellies and jams to share with the Grandgirls when they visit. (we had the mango this last weekend)

Next stop was the ABC Store, we had some gifts to buy and I had to cash in my receipts for free gifts. I earned 3 new coffee mugs, the little things that will remind us of Maui at home...

This is really a lovely place and it never occurred to me to photograph it until we were heading home.

Per the recommendation earlier we headed to L&L for lunch.
Here it is right in the lot across from us by Times Market and Snorkel Bob's and we had never noticed it or heard of it.

Here we are waiting for our food, you can already see how hard it is to smile and we were trying our best.

 
B. had the Chicken Katsu, it was good but we both agreed my Loco Moco was better.

...and while my Loco Moco was good it did not touch Grandmas Loco Moco, but I would still recommend it if you go to L&L's.

After lunch we headed to the beach at "home" and planned to stay there until we thought we absolutely had to head back to the room. I found myself trying to soak in every glimpse and sound I could, the water was lovely, the sky was lovely, the air was lovely... why were we leaving? :(

We watched this great little dog for quite a while, running and chasing sticks or whatever his person could find to throw, and he only had 3 legs, he could have cared less, I love how the animal kingdom is so resilient,  they overcome so much easier than we can.

 

Our next attempt at smiling did not go well, so we tried again, it's better but still...

 ...how do you smile when you know you have to leave this place?

What a beautiful sky... and I sure love Maui B. too! I look forward to squinting to see him in the Maui sun in 9 months when we go back, I still can not believe we are booked before I could finish this report.

 ...so cozy, don't ever want to move.

 Dang, this one just made me cry, he waited a lifetime to find what Maui had to offer and he now wears it on his sleeve, he is a changed person and we are a changed "us".

 If I close my eyes I can still see this view...

Alas, we had to pack up and leave and below you can see how we were feeling about that.

B. was getting the car and I looked up to my Brother's room and there was Lisa! She was watching us go and it broke my heart, we wanted to stay so bad and seeing them there was hard but we were so happy they had another week to enjoy it!

Aloha Bob & Lisa!

This was in Lahaina, B. brought me for one last Shave Ice at Ululani's. He is so good to me. :)

It is taking a lot of effort to smile now... harder by the minute and hard to talk to each other now, we were both so emotional heading to the airport, I think we were so emerged in the whole trip that we had no way of dealing with this last day when it crashed in upon us.

The Shave Ice was marvelous! Mango and Pineapple with toasted coconut on top!

The views on the final drive were stunning as the sun was starting to set.

I think the Island was saying goodbye to us... what a lovely sunset even as we were driving out of sight.

 On the plane, ...it is hard for me to see this picture, it is exactly how we were feeling.

I don't really know how to end this, we were of course glad to see our puppies when we got home but our emotions were very mixed and it took us quite some time to settle in.

The silver lining on the cloud is that we are on our way back soon for 17 glorious days and we have a better idea now how we will spend that time.

We talk so much more now that we got home, we have this common love of Maui and we always will. No matter how many more trips there are in the future, this trip, the first trip, where we met Maui B. & Maui T. and fell in love in a new and wonderful way, this will always be Our Trip and we will never be the same. ...and that is a good thing.
~
....thank you all for joining us, a fond farewell from Maui B & Maui T..
A hui hou!

Day 10 Road to Hana, Grandma's Coffee & The MPD

Heading on the Road to Hana today with My Brother Bob, Lisa & our nephew Travis.

Bruce called me from downstairs to say there was a turtle on the beach so I headed down, so did Travis as soon as he got wind of it. I was glad to see it had been roped off so no one would disturb it.

 

Our first destination on the RTH was Twin Falls, we stopped at a little stand and lookout to get some coconut candy and the wonderful girl working there let us know we had missed it; she said it was worth going back for and gave us directions.... I am so glad we listened!

I can't resist the flowers, seems there is another beautiful one everywhere I look!

 The falls are quite a ways out when you first get back there, and the walk was about 30 minutes to get to this point. We wondered how you get to the falls and finally my brother just started walking back through the stream, it was an easy enough walk, same as everything else, just take your time and be careful. 

 This is me heading back there, once Bob went for it I knew I was going, B. was not so sure, he just doesn't really love the cold water and I don't mind it, I just jump in quick!

 I didn't know he was close behind me, I love this shot of him trying to keep his shorts dry... :)

A lot of these pictures are fuzzy but I had to include them; swimming in that pool under the water fall was so amazing, it was, however, THE COLDEST water I have ever been in! It was like ice water and you really have to just go for it. :)

 

 This is me and my brother under the falls. 

 This is me again... looking up in the sun with that water in my face was a moment right up there with seeing my first honu while snorkeling... I felt further away from "everything" than I ever have.

 Here B. is heading out just ahead of me and I never knew it; in my defense, I was not wearing glasses and have no distance vision. :)

 Now THESE are Maui FACES!!!!

 I Love that you can just be walking around and see bananas growing...

 

 Next stop were the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees, they are so beautiful! 

 ...not as many selfies today, we brought along a couple photographers. ;)

 ....loved this little yellow flower.

 One of my favorite memories from my first trip to Maui were the gorgeous view of these beautiful Asian Tulip Trees spread all over the mountains, I was very happy to see them again!

 We made a quick stop at Aunt Sandy's, I didn't buy any banana bread but did find this amazing view below to photograph. :)

 Here we are at Ke'anae Peninsula, it is simply amazing, the views on Maui never disappoint you!

B. takes a nice outdoor shower... :)

"Hi Lisa"!

 

 This is Ching's Pond, if you do not know, this is a place locals dive from a spot you can not imagine into the tiniest spot that simply looks impossible, we got a demonstration as while we were here a guy stopped and parked, walked right up to the concrete landing they jump from and just jumped right in, it was cool to see and after seeing it I could see more clearly how they actually do have room to jump. But DON'T TRY IT! ...just saying

This picture (above) is taken looking down from the spot people stand on and dive... again,

 DON'T DO IT!

 Bob, Lisa & Travis.

 Bob & Travis decided to head down the trail to the pool, I hung back this time ...but maybe next time, it really looked fun.

 

 This is Upper Waikani Falls, also known as Three Bears Falls. There is a small pullover here to stop and enjoy them, they are really quite lovely and you could see them running from really high in the mountain but it is hard to see in the pictures.

 I have waited for what seemed like forever to try Coconut Glens, I was so excited to stop here and I am happy to report that the ice cream AND the coconut candy are both worth stopping here... as well as the atmosphere, if you have not stopped, I would suggest it on your next trip.

B. had the original coconut ice cream and I had he Pistachio, I thought the Pistachio was the best.

There are no dairy products used here, the ice cream is made from coconut milk. 

 Me & B. at The Black Sand Beach, we love how we actually look photo-shopped into this picture!

...but we WERE actually there. ;)

 This is inside a little cave just to the right of the beach if you are facing the ocean.

 The views walking around the park here are just great, ...I am running out of adjectives to describe Maui's awesomeness! 

 ...this picture of my family makes my heart smile.

 By the time we were back to Kula we were hungry and Grandma's Coffee House was calling our name.

 From the minute we walked in this place felt like home and the service was wonderful, loved the entire atmosphere of the place and will go back for sure!

 B. had a bacon burger, delicious!

My FIRST Loco Moco! WOW! If you have ever thought of trying Loco Moco, DO IT! It was so fabulous, it is hard to describe. They make it here with their meatloaf. The first bite with a little meatloaf, some crunchy egg white and yolk covered in gravy and I was hooked!

 Lisa had the Vegetarian Lasagna and really loved it, she said the salad was also really good!

Then Me and B. ordered this Banana Pineapple cake for desert, we should have got one to share because neither of us could finish it, it was really, really good! We ended up leaving the leftovers for my brother when we left.

So, while everyday on Maui is a great day because, well, you are on Maui... today took a little turn for us at the end.

While we were at Grandma's waiting for our food I headed out to the car to get my wallet. For some reason Bruce started to look for his wallet too and suddenly he could not find it.  We got a little panicked as he had changed at the black sand beach and he thought now that maybe he had lost it then. We finally decided since he had not used it all day it was probably in the room and we would look when we got there. 

After arriving back "home" we looked and NO WALLET, B. was so upset, he had no idea how he was going to fly home the next day without his ID.

I started calling all around to try and find out what to do. I called the airlines first, they suggested we call the car rental office to see if they had a copy of B.'s license and they also told us to get everything we could find from our trip with his name on it, like receipts, boarding passes, etc.... They said he would have to go through a lot of questions at the airport but that if we had all the documents we could find that it might be okay.

I called Enterprise in Kahului  next, they did not have a photo copy of his license but they did have the license number so I wrote that down. They thought our resort might have a copy of the license and told me to check for that. They also said we should call the police and file a police report.          (A Shout Out to Enterprise! The person I spoke with was VERY helpful)

I called the front desk next and they did not have a copy of the license either, they were very helpful though and were offering to do whatever they could to help.

I called Maui Police next and they said they would be sending an officer to our resort... we were shocked, we thought they would make us come there. The officer was there in a few minutes and came to our door with a security guard who also wanted to see if we needed his help. Once we gave the driver's license number and all our other info to the officer he said there would be no problem at all, he said that in the morning we would just need to  stop in the morning and pick up the police report and then TSA would let us on the flight with no problem. He also said that B. would be fine to drive on the island since we had the report as well.

I guess the main reason I wanted to tell this part of our journey was to maybe help someone else if they lose their ID on Maui.

If we had called the MPD first; we would have avoided a lot of panic, while the airlines meant well they did not know that on Maui the TSA would be happy to just have the police report.

After the officer left B. called and cancelled in CC as well... 

We went to bed very late knowing tomorrow is our last day and we were pretty unsettled. We would call my Brother first thing in the morning and do another once-over on the car just in case.

~

ps... everything turns out okay (don't want to have anyone left worrying until the next report)