Wow,
what a couple of days we have had- definitely a roller coaster of emotions for
sure! After a day filled with packing, settling up loose ends and saying our
goodbyes, Jordan and I headed to the airport for 9am with our flight departing
at 12pm. First thing to make note of, as Jordan reminds me, is that Lynsea
(Jordan’s sister) was especially early and ready to drive to Toronto – a rare
occurrence that Lyns is early- she’s got two kiddies to get ready! J
Jordan
and I decided that we would both have copies of all of our documents (just in
case one of us lost our pack or it got stolen). We are walking into the airport
and what do you know, Jordan forgets the documents. Good thing he remembered
them before it was too late! After a quick check-in and tearful goodbyes, we
swiftly were through customs and in the waiting area. Just before we boarded
our plane, we noticed that we had seats that were not together so after asking
a couple to nicely switch us seats, we were asked by one of the flight
attendants if we would mind switching to an exit seat since there was a child
in the seat currently who was not allowed to be sitting there. This was a huge
BONUS for us (especially me since I like to stretch out my legs). After gladly
switching seats we were also informed that because we switched seats, we were
getting either two complimentary alcoholic drinks or meals. Since I have a
tendency to get motion sickness, we decided on the meals which consisted of a
pepperoni pizza (who knew?) and a chicken wrap- delicious! So far, we were
having great luck with everything!
Oh,
I almost forgot- since our connection was in Los Angeles, I was on the
‘celebrity hunt’, determined to spot some celebrities! To my surprise, I walk
onto the plane and sitting in first class was the guy from Gilmore Girls
(Luke). While he is not a big time celebrity (and was the only celebrity we
ended up seeing), I was stoked that I got too see at least one! (Jordan on the
other hand couldn’t have cared less, but did actually suggest that we put on
our sunglasses and pretend we were celebrities in front of TMZ- however, we
didn’t see TMZ either haha).
After
a 20 minutes hike around LAX to find our next boarding location, we decided to
take up my uncle’s suggestion and go to the restaurant (that is a much, much,
much, smaller looking version of the CN Tower) called The Encounter. We only
had an hour for lunch, quickly downed our meals (and a beer each) and were
waiting for our flight to Maui.
This
flight felt much longer- even though both flights were roughly 5 hours. Our
first flight was with Air Canada and was flawless- equipped with our own
personal tv’s with the ability to choose from multiple movies, tv shows, games,
etc. Our second flight, with United, was a blast from the past- equipped with a
whopping 6 tv’s, old school Verizon telephones and seats meant to fit small
children. The lesson learned here- book with Air Canada and never with United.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that the pilot was probably flying one of his
first flights ever as the entire flight was filled with turbulence and uneven
flying (drastically, going from left to right) = worst pilot/flight ever! As
I’m writing this, Jordan reminds me of, as he says in his own, “don’t forget
about ET in the seat next to us with her bright LED book light that practically
lit up the whole plane”.
After
landing and getting our rental vehicle (which was upgraded from a Toyota Yaris
to a Chevy HHR- Bonus!) we found our hostel (Banana Bungalow International Maui
Hostel) and went to bed. Although it was only 10:30 pm Hawaii time, it was 4:30
am back at home and we both had been up for nearly 24 hours and were therefore
totally pooped!
We woke up at 6am thanks to the
crowing (?) of what seemed like 10 roosters and decided to start our day right
away. Since we arrived late at night in Maui, we were unable to see any of the
scenery so when we woke up and walked outside of the hostel staring straight
into a giant set of mountains, both of us were in complete awe. We are so lucky
to be on this trip and I think seeing this scenery really put everything into
perspective for us.
More excited than ever now, we decided to get the ‘show on
the road’. Since our complimentary
breakfast of pancakes at the hostel wasn’t available until 8am we decided to
stop in at a Walgreens to grab a couple of muffins and coffees on our way up to
see Haleakala National Park where a dormant volcano rests at 10, 023 feet. The
drive was absolutely stunning and around every bend (and there were hundreds)
it got even better. The views were absolutely jaw-dropping and we were so happy
we decided to take this drive! However, I must say that going around these
hair-pin bends with no guard rails whatsoever and looking down the cliff to the
10,000 feet below us that we just drove up, certainly did a number on my
nerves!
Since we had such an early start to
our day, we were back down in the town of Kahului by 11am and decided it was
time to grab some lunch and hit the beach! After a delicious meal, we did a bit
of window shopping and decided to try and find a somewhat secluded beach where
the locals swim. We ended up finding the most beautiful beach, with stunning
views of Molokini (a small island off of Maui). We brought our snorkels with us
and certainly made good use of them! On a side note, Jordan looked hilarious in
his as he bought a child’s size since it fit his face better!
By 5pm the sun was starting to go
down and we decided to head to the
(outrageously priced) grocery store to buy some food for dinner but
decided to settle on 4 apples and 5 bananas (all that we could afford)- oh,
plus a bottle of wine and 6 beers- all of which cost, after
applying for the Wailea Discount, $22. Gina, we realized we could 'class it up' a bit and by a corkscrew bottle since Jordan brought the swiss army knife/bottle opener (Thank you!!). We didn’t realize that by applying for
this ‘membership’ (by just giving a phone number) we would receive local
pricing instead of tourist pricing. For example, a tourist price for a bag of
cherries was $10.99 versus a local price of $7.99 (still outrageously
expensive).
More to come in the next few days so
keep posted and hope you enjoyed!
All
our love,
Kikki
& Jojo
