Fun and Sun in Maui

Dear Family,friends and followers,

 
We would like to share some of our adventures on the island of Maui. We arrived February 5th, around noon, got our rental car and were on our way, we first got supplies at the local health food store, and then drove to the Maui Nature center to learn about some of the plants and birds that we would see during our visit. A short drive up the road was the Ioa Needle State Park. We walked  up to vista points and crawled through the railing to hike along a trail we saw described in one of the secrets of Maui books. The weather warm, the air was clean and we were ready for whatever we might encounter over the next 10 days.
We headed towards the town of Haiku, where our couchsurfing hosts had a small separate apartment for us to stay. They had been out in their yard prepping for a big Super Bowl party, and invited us to join them with thieir friends for the game and a bon fire afterwards. However, we already had an invitiation with Ashland friends David and Elyse, who were staying on another part of the island about a half hour away. So, Sunday morning we got up early and hit a few sights towards the western beaches, we went bird watching along a boardwalk in a marsh preserve, checked out beaches for swimming and snorkeling later in the week. We had a wonderful time enjoying the Super Bowl with our friends, and afterward went for a sunset walk on a boardwalk along the ocean in front of several large resorts. We checked out fancy pools with tunnels and bridges, and the beautiful little wedding chapel overlooking the ocean, enjoying the live music and sculptures in the resorts.
These are are great days, warm throughout the night. It is truly T-shirt and shorts weather and  no need for sweaters in the evening.
Monday, we circled the northwest portion of the island. We swam along beaches near Black rock and decided we would come back for snorkeling. We stopped at many special spots we were told we should check out by the locals and friends who have been to Maui. Some of the highlights were a blowhole that shoots water up hundreds of feet in the air when the waves come crashing in, and the Olivine pools which are beautiful tide pools on a ledge above the ocean. Perfect for swimming. We had our first experience with papaya and passion fruit at a fruit stand, and ate lunch on a cliff over looking the beautiful expanse of blue and green water before us. Another day was spent travelling up the moutain to Haleakala National Park, an extinct volcantic crater, at 10,000 ft. We did several short hikes from there. We spent a couple of days swimming different beaches and snorkeling from one great spot to the next. This was the first time Rick had ever snorkeled , and my second so it was a wonderful experience, especially in the warm water and sunny weather. The fish and the coral were fantastic.

Another day, we went out on a boat to see the Humpback whales. At one point we had momma and baby whales surrounding the boat on all sides, and watched them breach and jump completely from the water.

We spent several days driving along the road to Hana, which is a famous one lane, winding road that goes down the eastern coastline and wraps around the southern shore. We camped one of the nights and had a YMCA cabin to ourselves , overlooking beautiful grounds and the ocean. We stopped at the Garden of Eden, which is truly that place. Alan Bradbury, an incredible arborist, artist and musician, bought 26 acres that he turned in to trails , so people could walk through a tropical rainforest and identify over 600 plants. We saw cashew trees, several other nut and flowering trees I never knew existed., amongst many other varieties . We spent several hours here wandering the trails, and saw a waterfall and ocean views that was filmed for the movie  "Jurrasic Park." There were many other spots along the  Hana highway; lily ponds, red sand beaches, waterfalls, bamboo forests and small villages amongst lush tropical vegetation. A real highlight was our hike to the Infinity pool overhanging the cliffs above the ocean, high above an area called the 7 sacred pools. We swam in these pools, tiered one above another spilling over to other waterfalls. Rick also swam in a cave with fresh water where he would disappear from my sight but still be above water in a cave with beautiful rocks.

We have now moved to the big island of Hawaii  and will send another blog  to chronicle those activities and adventures.     ALOHA!

Out of the cold

Dear family,friends and followers,
Since I last wrote, we have left the bitter cold and white, snowy scenery of Connecticut, and moved on to Florida. Despite the cold, we did manage to stay warm and cozy with my mother-in-law, Dorothy. We had wonderful evenings, watching slide shows and home movies, playing cards and board games. We celebrated Rick's birthday, and found a contra dance in Mystic,Connecticut, which was a great treat. We managed to sneak out of the Providence airport between the storms and closures to arrive in Springhill, Florida where Rick's brother, John, and Vicki live. John took us to the Homosassa Wildlife Refuge where I saw my first manatees(sea cows) and the birds of Florida. We then took our rental car and toured southern Florida for the next week.

Our first stop was St. Petersburg, which averages 360 days of sunshine each year. Our friends, Randy and Laurie Edwards, put us up for the night and gave us the grand tour of the Saturday Farmers Market, and the best beaches in the area. We also took a bike ride through the neighborhoods including an area with pink streets. A real pleasure was getting to hear Randy's latest CD album that will soon be released. It is an album with meaningful lyrics, bluesy, jazzy, upbeat and moving music. Definitely recommended listening. Here is the link to Randy's website for you to check out. http://www.edwardsanddodge.com/Site/Welcome.html
The next stop was Sanibel Island. Sanibel is home to the Ding Darling Wildlife Reserve. We rented bicycles and rode through the wetlands and around the island. This was an amazing chance to see a large variety of migratory birds and native vegetation. The island is also famous for some of the best seashells washing up on the shore. Our couchsurfing host brought us to a private beach for a several hours. We were able to send several boxes of shells to our grandchildren. It is finally t-shirt weather, and 80 degrees! After a very full day of biking, shelling and bird watching, we headed for Naples, so we could be near to the Everglades. We found some great vegan restaurants along the way(Loving Hut), and found the first health food store that is dedicated to carrying only 100% organic products on their shelves(Food for Thought). We met the store owner and found the store to have wonderful mission and vision statements,setting a wonderful example of sustainability. The next two days were spent in the Everglades. This national park is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the nation. It is a labyrinth of mangroves, waterways, sawgrass marsh dotted with hammocks(trees) and salt prairies. Any of the 1.5 million acres can become swamp land during the rainy season, with an elevation of only 1-8 ft above sea level. Trees and flowers are much the same as those found in Cuba and the West Indies. It is also an area that is home to 600 species of American crocodiles, alligators, snakes(including Pythons), sea turtles, manatees, and bottlenose dolphins. We biked 15 miles through the salt prairies and along the marshes with alligators within a few feet of our bikes. This area is called Shark Valley but should be called alligator valley. It was amazing to be so close to the alligators in their natural setting. I wouldn't want any wandering into my neighborhood but I now have a greater understanding of these amazing creatures. We hiked in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and saw our nephews, Brian and Joey, near Miami. Back north, we spent our last days with John and Vicki at Universal Studios in Orlando. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of Harry Potter's World and the Islands of Adventure and got to feel like kids for the day in this fantasy world.
After a short stop with our friends Larry and Sashi in San Diego, we are now on the island of Maui. Stay tuned......