On our flight to Maui
When we first got to Maui we had about a two hour drive through a dense jungle called the road to Hana. It was so gorgeous. The tiny road would wind in and out and Chris kept saying he felt like a race car driver. Every time the road took us outland we could see the ocean, and every time it wound inland we would see beautiful dense jungle and waterfalls. I seriously did not expect Hawaii to look like this. It really looked like some kind of jungle safari, and it was crazy to think that a place could look like this and not have tigers, monkeys, and elephants living there. We made it to our little jungle bungalow in the small town of Hana and then immediately went to sit on a beach :)
We went on this amazing hike and stopped to climb this unreal tree! There were tons of these trees in Hawaii that would have vines hanging from the branches that would eventually reach the ground and then become new roots/trunks. It was really unbelievable. We were in the tree for a while and then when we decided we should get down and keep moving, we were having a hard time figuring out just how to do that. Chris was in the process of scooting to the edge of a branch to try to get down and then some hikers walked by. Chris said "Hey, hows it going?" to them, like this was the most casual situation in the world, and the hikers went on their way, but I busted up laughing. I love this memory.
There were seriously waterfalls everywhere!
Bamboo Jungle
Meditating in the Bamboo Jungle
We were told that usually you can go right up to the waterfall, but we weren't able to cross this river because of all the rain and flooding that had been going on. We were still about a mile from the actual waterfall, but we got soaked. It was crazy to see how much power this water had.
Our little Jungle Bungalow surroundings
We stopped at Hana Farms and had this amazing clay oven pizza and banana bread.
This Pizza was half beef/beets and half banana with pesto. I know that sounds bizarre, but it was seriously so delicious and such a fun thing to try. The flowers on top are edible, so of course we tried that too. Chris thought it was spicy.
When we were finished eating and asked for to go boxes they grabbed some bananas leaves and wrapped our pizza in it.
Black sand beach was gorgeous and one of my absolute favorite things we saw.
After a few night in Hana we took a long drive to the other side of the island so that Chris could golf and we could go on a scuba diving excursion and a luau.
Long drives in Hawaii were not only beautiful but we saw a lot of funny signs like these
ONE LANE LOVE ROAD
FALLING (in love) ROCKS
Golfing on the Kapalua Golf the Plantation Course was a huge highlight for Chris. I had a great view, so I can't complain :)
He's everything. Maybe it's weird that I took all these pictures of Chris…but basically I'm his stalker and I'm obsessed with him. But I think he's ok with it since I'm his wife so… we're good :)
After Chris' Dream day golfing we checked into the Winston Resort Hotel that was right on the beach. These pictures of us are in the lobby.
We went to a Luau called 'The Feast at Lele'. It was so amazing and fun! We sat right on the edge of the ocean and watched traditional hula dances from 4 different Islands while we ate traditional food from these Islands. It was amazing to feel like we experienced so much in such a small period of time!
Chris' favorite drink was called a Mai Tai, and he also really liked the Pina Coladas, but I could drink Lava Flows all day everyday. We loved getting unlimited virgin drinks! We also tried this really yummy salsa with banana and sweet potato chips that we really loved.
Chris told me that his 'Spirit Animal' is a Sea Turtle. He said this whole trip would be a failure to him if we didn't see one. So at the Luau we got a hand carved one as a souvenir with Brower Maui '16 carved on the bottom.
Just hanging out in the area and beach around our hotel was so fun and beautiful!
More pictures of the amazing lobby. There were swans and flamingos in this little pond.
More Mai Tais and Lava Flows
The bird kept climbing up Chris' arm because it didn't like his hat.
We went on a snorkeling excursion. This boat took us out into the ocean a ways and we floated around on pool noodles and floaties while we checked out the ocean life. When we first jumped in, we were both a little freaked out to be out in the ocean like that, but we pulled it together quick, and it turned out to be amazing.
We saw at least 6 sea turtles, so I guess that means our trip was a success!
Our last night in the resort we walked up and down the beach together.
After a few days right in the middle of everything, we headed back to Hana and our little jungle bungalow.
DO NOT FEED THE HIPPIES
Red sand beach had lots a pine trees and reminded me more of something you might see off the Oregon Coast than on a tropical island.
Mauii was amazing. It's always so hard to be away from our sweet babies, but being together in Hawaii was a dream.
Charise and Kyle sent us this picture of Mia sleeping in a room with her cousin Lyla while we were gone.
Rhett hanging out with Dylan
While we were gone Mia told Grandma Kim "Rhett misses daddy. I miss mommy. It's sad."
