Happily Mauied

Well, we were up before sunrise and off to catch the dive boat this morning. I got fitted for a heavier wet suit, signed papers and walked down to the harbor to catch the Lahaina Divers Boat.
It was almost an hour ride over to the shores of Lanai for our first dive site. Geared up I took a giant stride into the water...............Burrrrrrrr! Take me back to the Caribbean, this stuff is to cold!
My dive computer was reading 73 degrees, the visibility was about 40 feet with some current....not my idea of a great dive. Didn't see much, not impressed. Got back on the boat to hear others proclaim how great the visibility was.....they need a trip to Cozumel. The second dive was a little better, still cold but the visibility was better.....maybe 60 feet. Saw a huge eel, fish, flounder, etc.
I didn't even take my camera on the second dive. Then after boarding the boat we had a rough 50 minute ride across the water to Lahahina. We did see whales on the way back, really impressive.
Dale picked me up at the dive shop and we headed back to our cottage, ate lunch and then headed out to see more of Maui. Drove to Kihei, Wailea and down to an area were the island experienced the last lava flow in 1790, a pretty desolate landscape. Saw lots of beaches and surfers.
In the morning we are going to the Maui Swap Meet in Kahului, suppose to be the place to go on Saturday mornings. We then have a drive up Haleakala in the afternoon and maybe the Maui Aquarium later in the day.

The Sun'll come out to Maui

Well our road trip to Hana was put on hold, woke up to cloudy, rainy skies and decided to put the trip off for better weather. So after a late breakfast we loaded up our car and headed North with our Maui Revealed Book. We checked out some interesting sites along the way, beaches great for surfing, a big blow hole, a few whales frolicking, and a winding, twisty one lane road. The drive was interesting to say the least, especially on the one lane part with lots of switchbacks...............kinda a big game of chicken. We came down in a little valley and I found a quaint little church in an old Hawaiian village and a lady selling fresh banana bread, taro chips, coconut candy, and macadamia nuts. We stopped, had some samples and got a big bag of the coconut candy....delish! It was raining hard by the time we back to Lahaina and decided that after lunch we needed a nap....touring is hard work!

The weather is suppose to be better tomorrow, I've got a dive trip booked and have to be at the dive shop at 7 am. Hope I don't freeze, renting a heavier wet suit for the 72 degree water.
As you can see from the pic the clouds are still hanging over Lanai and it is cool outside. We are grilling for supper and turning in early.

Wowie in Maui!

Got up this morning and were able to see whales breaching offshore from our lanai....pretty amazing. Later we went grocery shopping......sticker shock from the grocery prices! Picked up some goodies at a farmers market.....sweet corn, Maui gold pineapple, strawberries, carrtos, etc... We stopped at Lahaina Harbor to check on a whale watching trip and a dive trip for this week. After lunch we headed back to Lahaina for our trip out to watch the humpback whales.
We got to see lots of whales, up close and personal. Several swam right under our boat for a real up close look. They dropped a hydrophone in the water and we got to listen to their song, they all sing the same song. We returned to our cottage and grilled some steaks for supper.
Tomorrow we are up early and off to drive the road to Hana. Hana or Bust!

Here Today, Gone to Maui

Here Today, Gone to Maui

We are packed and off tomorrow for our Maui vacation on a Continental flight out of Houston.
Looking forward to a great week at our cottage in Lahaina and some great sightseeing. Hope the eight hour flight isn't to bad.

Grounded

Well our flight to Bryan/College Station tomorrow for a light sport aircraft fly-in is canceled due to high winds........Darn! The winds have been blowing like crazy and Dale thinks the best thing is to stay home tomorrow. He called up there today, talked with some folks that said the winds were crazy, they were glad to just get their planes on the ground in one piece.
Seems like we haven't been flying in so long, the winds just keep blowing....first out of the South and then out of the North. Good Ole Texas Weather!!!

Anniversary Cruise

We booked a cruise on the Adventure of the Seas for February 8 - 15, 2009 to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We flew into San Juan the day before the cruise and stayed at the Tres Palmas Inn. After a good nights rest we boarded the ship around noon, had lunch in the Windjammer and settled into our room....Cabin 2288. Our luggage arrived before dinner, we unpacked, changed clothes and went to dinner and the show. Our first day was spent at sea and we also had the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle followed by a "Cabin Crawl". We had a chance to see a suite one couple had booked.....very nice. Tonight was formal night so we put on our best duds and enjoyed a nice dinner.

Our first stop was in Aruba, our favorite island. We rented a car, drove to some of our favorite spots, visited with friends and had lunch. We did get in some snorkeling, but the water was cloudy and pretty cool. Our next stop was in Curacao where we had booked at excursion with Curacao Actief. Kim picked us up and we had a great day touring Curacao with some really great snorkeling. We even checked out the resort we had booked for our upcoming dive trip in May. Kim showed us all over and gave us a history the island.
The next day was a sea day and we chilled out around the pool most of the day. It was our second formal night and we got dressed up and had a tasty dinner with our tablemates.
St. Maarten was our next stop and we booked an excursion to Orient Beach for a day at the beach with lunch. This is the beach where nudity is allowed and it is not a pretty site. Our lunch at Kakao Restaurant and Bar was very good...Dale had ribs and I had mahai mahai. We got back to the ship in time to hit the hot tub and relax before dinner and the show.
St. Thomas was our port of call for our anniversary...Feb. 14 and we had booked a sailboat for a trip over to St. John. We jumped in a taxi and went to Red Hook to board the boat. Capt. Max was waiting and we raised the sails and headed to St. John. We snorkeled at Caneel Bay and Fish Caye...both were crystal clear with lots of marine life. Capt. Max prepared a light lunch and served a delicious rum punch. We sailed back to Red Hook, caught a taxi and boarded the ship.
We had dinner reservations at Portifinos for our anniversary. The food at Portifinos was amazing, we both had steaks that you could cut with a fork. We left stuffed, headed back to our cabin to pack for the trip home.
We were off the ship early and had booked a tour of El Yunque....the rainforest since our flight didn't leave until 5 pm. Our flight home was long and then we had a two hour drive to get home, we pulled into the driveway around 11 pm.
Our cruise was very good and a perfect way to celebrate our first year of marriage.

Christmas at Sea

We left home early to catch our Southwest flight to Fort Lauderdale and our cruise ship, Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas. The flight went smooth, check in was quick and painless, soon we were checking out our balcony cabin, #8310 and enjoying lunch. We unpacked, explored the ship, showered and dressed for dinner in the main dining room. Our table mates were a family and weren't very talkative. The next day we enjoyed a sea day. Our first port was San Juan, we took in El Moro and Old San Juan with new friends, Bill and Kathleen. In Antigua we enjoyed a sail and snorkel tour, which served a great lunch. Sadly our sail and snorkel tour in St. Thomas with Captain Max was canceled due to high winds. We grabbed a taxi and spent the day at beautiful Megan's Beach, were I enjoyed building a sand sculpture. We had lunch at the Shipwreck Bar, enjoying our $12.00 hamburgers. On St. Kitts we booked a tour with Thedford Grey, a great tour guide and enjoyed a great day seeing the island including Brimstone Hill. Bernard's Tours gave us a tour of the island of St. Maarten, both the Dutch side and French side, including a nude beach....not a pretty sight. I rented a jet ski and had fun riding while Dale enjoyed reading on the beach. I also had the chance to film a large Air France jet landing over my head at Maho Beach.


Our last port was CocoCay in the Bahamas, Dale wasn't feeling great and we didn't get off the ship. I spent the day packing and taking care of Dale.
Christmas Day we exchanged gifts and had a leisure day at sea. Santa even showed up to pass out gifts to the kids on the ship. We changed tables and were seated with three other couples...Bill and Kathleen, Lois and Dave, and Michele and Rob. We enjoyed sharing meals together and lots of laughs, plus our service was top notch.
We took in most of the shows which were good and enjoyed watching the ice skating shows. We attended a "Meet and Mingle" for the Cruise Critic people and a party for the Crown and Anchor Members. Sadly we couldn't find any good dance music and didn't get in any dancing.
New Year's Eve Dale was feeling bad with a terrible head cold and I went to dinner alone. I spent the evening with our table mates and welcomed in the new year at the pool party. We also celebrated my birthday onboard.
We docked back in Fort Lauderdale with about 13 other ships, it was crazy. Our flight to Houston turned into a nightmare with a three hour delay in New Orleans sitting on the plane during a violent thunderstorm. We finally landed and arrived home at 3 in the morning. We now need a vacation to recover from our vacation!!!