An Excellent Maui

Well, we are just now finishing up three days in Maui and they really were a highlight of the trip (at least so far).  We had a great time, starting with a great visit with Katy's brother Hank and his friend Dawn -- they seem to be as happy as clams, and we don't blame them given the place they live.

We started off with one of the best dinners we've ever had at the Haliimaile General Store which, despite its name, is not a general store, but a restaurant, run by Bev Gannon.  Special highlights included Paul's Crab Pizza and Katy's Asian Pear Duck Tostada.  Yum.

Then, it was off to go whale watching in Lahina.  That was a special experience.  It more or less sent chills up and down our spines.  Lahina is an old whaling town on the west coast of the island, and today it makes a living running whale tours.  The humpbacks come here for winter to give birth before going back to Alaska for summer.  Probably the coolest thing we saw was a "competition pod" -- a group of males doing dominance things to each other to win the right to mate with a female.  The breaching is sort of showing off I guess.  And we saw one whale actually flip or roll another one as a way of showing his superiority.  It was totally awe inspiring.  Here's a video of one of the whales waving his pectroal fin at us.

The next day was just as special, in a different way.  We went with Hank to go ziplining through the rain forest canopy.  It was cold.  It was wet and rainy.  And it was scary as shit.  But in the end it was totally exhilirating and thrilling to go racing along a zip line at 30 mph through a rain storm.  It was almost like riding in a tree-lined, rain filled tunnel or something.   After that, however, we were cold and wet and just came back to our rental house to chill for the rest of the day.

And today, we finished up with a trip to the southern beaches .... where the sun was shining and the breeze was warm.  But even here the cold intruded -- the Pacific is remarkably chilly water.  Still and all, after another marvelous meal at Gannons (we both had fish tacos with a cool cilantro drizzle), we came home to pack and get ready for the next part of the trip.   Tomorrow on to Kauai.

A Fun Day on the Big Island

Today was one of those fun days that come along whenever we get to travel together that really just about as good as it gets.  We arrived in Hilo last night and it was raining cats and dogs and kept up all night long.  But then, joy of joys, the morning broke and the sun came out.  So we decided to make a day of it.

We started off at a local diner -- Ken's House of Pancakes -- that was just a hoot.  12 types of pancake; 15 types of omelet, endless coffee and plenty of local color.  We had the papaya and guava juice and the guy at the next table had loco moke (rice, meat, eggs and gravy in a bowl) -- which looked scrumptious.  Next time.

Then it was off on adventure.  We started off at Rainbow Falls, just above Hilo.  With the heavy rains last night it was running heavy and if you look close you can see the rainbows from the fall.

Then we took over Saddle Road -- a 50 mile highway that runs through the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  Unfortunately we couldn't see either summit (clouds) but the terrain we saw was stunning.   The volcanic lava fields were  just overwhelming in their starkness -- it looked like something out of Mordor or Game of Thrones frankly.

Then it was down in to Kona, where we stopped for lunch at the Bite Me Bar and Grill.  Highly, highly recommended.  Indeed, the fresh Ahi taco we ate was tuna that had been caught that very morning and landed a couple of hours before we were served.

After lunch we took a walk on the beach in an area that happened to be a large turtle preserve.  Dozens on turtles wandered the shoreline (albeit something that slow can hardly be said to wander) and enjoyed basking in the sun, as did we.

Then it was back over the saddle to Hilo and we now await the evening reception for the class Paul will be teaching tomorrow.