I Left on a Jet Plane........but I had to come home!! Day One

Aloha to all my family and TA friends! Yes, at last I am starting my trip reports for our Maui Vacation. About time, huh? Sorry it took so long to get this started, but there is a little thing called "work", kind of a dirty word but a much needed item if you want to continue to take vacations! :-)

I am trying my hand at blogging for the first time, so please bear with me if I make some boo boos. I wanted to blog so I could add pix that we took. I am a real "chatty Cindy" so be prepared for a lot of "chit chat", hee hee!

Well friends, we started our vacation, my hubby Walt, my 80 year old mama whom we took on this trip for her birthday celebration and of course yours truly. We began our journey on Oct 28th, with a flight on Hawaiian Airlines that left the Bay area around 8:00 am and we arrived in Maui around 10:15, actually a little earlier than expected. It was a nonstop flight and the only way to go if you can, in my opinion. Much less hassle at the airport. Yay, who doesn't want less hassles and less airports in these days?

We jumped off that plane with our noses and ears in the air for our first breath of fresh Maui smells and sounds of Aloha! We are never disappointed with that first sight of our favorite island of all! We have always been up in the air about which island we like the best and this trip confirmed that Maui just passed over the Big Island, but it's a very close race!

Surprised Mama with a Lei Greeting

Mom and I stayed with the luggage at the airport while Walt went and got the car. Just a reminder for all of those new friends on TA, do check around on car rental rates because it's true that they do go down usually. We had booked with a corporate rate thru the property management company we booked the condo with and thought we did ohk. I kept reading about check and recheck those rates and I did for quite a while with no big changes, UNTIL the last week or so before we left. I did a quick check on Costco and found I could upgrade 2 car sizes and still saved $185 so it pays to be persistent! Any whoo, Walt was back within 15 minutes. Not sure if he was just excited to get going or the earlier morning flight had something to do with it, probably a bit of both, but we were off and heading to Costco.

We picked up a few essentials, wine, water, a rotisserie chicken, bagels, muffins and headed on up the road to Paia. We iced the chx down and went into Charley's for lunch. I have never been there but mom loved all the Willie Nelson Memorabilia and we had a nice lunch. I had the Reuben, mom a tuna melt and Walt a veggie burger. The waiter was very attentive, and the sandwiches were good, we also had onion rings and they were really good, must be those yummy Maui onions!

Hanging ghost at Charley's

Hi from Charley's

After lunch we headed to Mana Foods cuz Walt just HAD to see the Wall of Chocolate (it was impressive) and I wanted to get some fresh items to take to the condo for snackies. I loved that little store, it reminded me of a store in Huntington Beach where I used to live and shop called Mother's. Great organic store with alot crammed into the small space to peruse! I had to get some eco bags from there so they could be added to my collection of grocery bags back home of course!

Finally... we are heading to the condo. We booked thru Chasen Rainbows, condo number 219 at Hale Kai in Honokowai. It was a fairly smooth transaction. They didn't give us the correct code for the gated pool area and the right wi fi code, but the manager there provided us with them gladly. My other question was that we paid a fee that we thought was a cleaning deposit, for not the cleanest floors, only to find out it wasn't a deposit after all, it was a fee and it was not refunded but I guess that is the way most condos in Maui are. They charged us to "rent" beach towels, but again, no biggie. All in all, it was a good experience.

We have stayed in the Napili area before and liked the neighborhood and we were quite pleased with this small oceanfront condo, as well. The condo itself was a 2 bedroom 2 bath, the one bedroom downstairs was a king bed, the bath being in the hallway. The upstairs had a vaulted type ceiling and that is where the other bedroom was with 2 queen beds and a bath attached. There is no air conditioning but fortunately it was not terribly hot during our stay, but I am pretty sure that I will go for a unit somewhere with air conditioning on the next trip. It would of been nice for sleeping on the warmer nights, or when those female "power surges" show up but there were louvered type windows which we kept open all the time and ceiling fans running as well, so it was comfortable.

The kitchen was very nicely appointed, granite topped counters, an island where the stove/oven was, a nice big fridge with freezer drawers and several dishes, pans and other items needed to make it your home while on island. There is no dining area, 2 bar stools by the counter, but a nice patio set to eat meals at, which is where I preferred to eat anyway. We don't cook much, we did use the BBQ one night, but we ate our breakfasts on the balcony each morning, gazing at Lanai and Molokai right out our door. There is a nice pool in front of the condo with ample lounge chairs, umbrellas and 2 grills which were very rarely used. There is a lovely beach park on one side of the condo and a very small beach on the other side but just a stone wall in front. It is a nice quiet condo. My one kind of complaint, if it is one, is the living room furniture...who puts a leather couch and love seat in your condo on Maui? Seriously?? It was so sticky and clingy.....not my cup of tea, but oh well..........to each his own.

Only condo picture I took

Ya know, when I am on vacation I generally am kind of lazy and sleep in as I can but I just couldn't stay in bed past 7 am while on Maui. I found myself out on the balcony, coffee in hand, watching the waves and clouds over the two islands in front of us painting gorgeous picture ops or the turtles trying to get up on the various rock slabs along the coast and being knocked right back into the waves and a couple days I was even up to see the sun begin to poke it's morning lights. Beautiful......I would never get tired of that scene!

We had intended to have the Costco chicken that night, but since we ate such a late lunch, I just cut up some cheese, fruit and crackers and opened up the wine and we relaxed and called it a night!

I will do the same this day, my friends, and try to figure out how to publish this first report on TA. If I am successful, you will hear about day 2 soon!

ALOHA!!!!!!!!!
Cin