Maui/(Moloka'i) Day 10

We decided to go up to through Lahaina and into Ka'anapali today to go to the beach. First we stopped at Moos McGillicuddy's (in Fred's Mexican restaurant - weird)in Kihei and ate breakfast (I really wanted to eat Banana Pancakes with Coconut syrup at least ONE time while we were here!).

We got up there and looked for good out-of-the-way beaches and it was tough because all there are are HUGE mega-resorts along the whole coast line. We found one beach access road and sat on the beach a while. It was a rocky entrance and windy with sand being flung at us. We decided to leave and head back down through Lahaina and to the beaches south of Lahaina we had seen.

We DID drive through the town of Lahaina, through the little tourist Front Street which was great people watching.

We eventually made our way back to the beach park/camp ground along the highway and pulled in and found a little slice of serenity!

We hadn't been sitting there long when a local walked by with her gaggle of darling little kids and told us that a Hawaiian Monk Seal had beached itself a little ways up the beach.

We hopped up and made our way down there.

It was actually TWO Monk seals and they laid there ALL day... pretty cool!!!

It looks pretty serene, but...
we WERE on a main road.

Kinda reminded me of San Onofre in San Clemente!
D took this from way out in the water.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Staying until almost sunset.

After our lovely day at the beach, we went BACK up to Lahaina and walked down front street, shopping a little. Then we had dinner at Kimo's.

We still had a long drie back down to Wailea afterwards, but it was worth it!

BVI Trip 2010 (Part 2)

Our typical day on the "Cat" looked a little something like this:

Wake up around 8AM.

Get swimsuit & coverup on.

Go up top.

Marvel at the spectacular weather and view.

Lather up with sun block.

Get served a fabulous breakfast at the table with the others. (Unless you sleep later, then they will serve you when you get up.)

Set sail for the morning's location - this would usually be a snorkeling location.

While sailing, lay on the trampolines up front or sit up with the captain... read or just look around and appreciate the beauty.

Arrive, moor, Swim/Snorkel/lay out/read.

Get fed lunch.

Sail to afternoon location.

Arrive, moor, Swim/Snorkel/lay out/read.

This may or may not be the location we would moor for the night... if so, we just stayed there... if not, we would sail to that location at this point.

We would have appetizers around 5:00.

D would maybe nap in the cabin sometime in here while I would maybe swim or read or play cards or talk until dinner.

I would shower every evening when I was SURE I was not going to be swimming any more.

Erin (our chef & first mate) would serve dinner between 7:00-8:30.

We would chat, read, hang out until about 9:00 then go to bed.

I would fall asleep fairly quickly... D would watch a movie on his ipad.

Then we would wake up and do it all over again :)

D - Looking at a book with photos and descriptions of all the fish you would see while snorkeling

Swimming in the deliciously warm water

Eating a late breakfast made by our wonderful Chef/First Mate, Erin.

Enjoying the GORGEOUS weather and sea!

At a 400 year old Rum distillery on Tortola (they still make it the old way, from sugar cane)

Reading in the main room in the evening, waiting for dinner.

Our boat at Jost Van Dyke

Where I spent a lot of the trip, reading (especially when we were sailing)

BVI Trip 2010 (Part 1)

This trip came about it a funny way.

We didn't have a trip planned... there was no trip on the horizon.

With D's new business and him being a one-man-shop, we just didn't see how we coulod make it work.

So I just went online and fantasized. I shopped & planned vacations... and that's when I was bitten by the bug.

"Well, maybe we can do a little vacation... squeeze just a little something in..."

I started looking on our timeshare web site for possible trades. I was looking at the Dominican Republic. I wasn't totally sold, but I was shopping. (At this point, I hadn't even asked D - after all, it wasn't real... it was just a fantasy, right?)

Then, on the timeshare website, a catamaran cruise popped up.

WHAT?!?!?

I didn't even know you could TRADE for something like that!

There was an added cost for "provisioning" since it was all-inclusive.

But how new and exciting and different! What an ADVENTURE!

This was something we had never done before.

I wanted to put it on hold and talk to D and see if we could maybe consider doing it. It was a little touch & go for a few minutes with the representative couldn't find it online -

"It's gone... sorry."

"WHAT????... It was there... I was booking it!"

"Yeah, but it is not there any more."

Thank goodness I am persistent though because I asked her to look to see if there were any other weeks available all year for it. She looked around and said "no" but then "Oh wait, there IS one week available... it is October 16-22".

That was the week I wanted... sheesh!

That is rule #1 - don't give up!

I put it on hold and approached D.

He was concerned about the tight quarters, the other guests (3 other couples), the weather, and numerous other things. I was too.

This WAS a risk.

The question was Was It Worth It?

After discussing and chewing on it for the 24 hour hold time (and talking to Grammie - could she watch the kids?) - we decided to do it.

We booked it!

We added a few additional days onto the end of our itinerary - in case the cruise was a BUST. We looked into which islands might be the best bet for the extra days. (It was between Virgin Gorda, Tortola - where we were flying in & out - St. Joh, but we had been there for 11 days already, and Cooper Island.) We booked our airfare (best deal this time was on www.vayama.com).

And then we counted down the 45 days to "blast off".

I looked on www.tripadvisor.com and Googled comparisons (like Tortola vs. Virgin Gorda).

Everything I read was saying Virgin Gorda was the winner. We had been to Virgin Gorda before, for 2.5 hours on a previous day trip, but hadn't spent any actual time there. I was going back and forth between 2 affordable places to stay on Virgin Gorda... Guavaberry and Mango Bay. Guavaberry was down by The Baths, which seemed like a great location. BUT

* it is waaaaay down at the end of the island, away from everything else

* we had been there before

* we were going again for an afternoon on the catamaran.

So we chose Mango Bay which was more at the midpoint of the island and seemed an easier base from which to explore.

Our flights were expensive but not the peak (which was like $850+ per person). They were also LONG - LAX to Dallas to Puerto Rico to Beef Island (Tortola)... we could definitely see why so many people are baffled when we tell them we are from California... it is mostly East Coasters there... they wonder why we aren't in Hawai'i. (But when you meet the people, see - and feel - the water, and experience the Caribbean, you don't wonder any more :)

We arrived to Beef Island at 9:00PM after a LONG day of travel which started at 4AM. We got eaten ALIVE by mosquitos as we waited to go through customs etc.... what a way to start the trip - ugh! We walked out and told a guy we wanted to go to Nanny Cay (pronounced "Key"). They put our bags in a van and we took off in the dark on an island we had never been to to a destination that was a bit vague to us. This is the norm here and we are used to it, but we thought how scary & foreign this would seem to people who had never done it before or who were not used to traveling. So many people arrive and their resort has sent a car... but we have NEVER done it that way.

The drive to Nanny Cay was long, much longer that I had thought... maybe 45 minutes on curvy, narrow, dark, unfamiliar island roads. Our driver had his wife (girlfriend?) and their toddler in the car too... the baby snuggled quietly on the mom's lap in the front seat and they murmered quietly to themselves as we drove. We arrived at Nanny Cay, which is the marina. There were probably 6-7 Festiva "cats" all docked side-by side. We were greeted and after a little confusion, were put on a boat - the "Annie" - a $770,000 catamaran. Some of the other boats' guests were still awake with music and drinking and partying... but our fellow cruisers were all asleep already (about 10:15PM). We settled in to our tiny little cabin and fell quickly asleep.

D woke we pretty early the next morning and let me know we were the youngest BY FAR on the boat.

Bruce & Judy from MN were in their early 70's... we can only HOPE to be as active and adventurous as them when we are their age! They had both be devastated by the loss of spouses to cancer and reconnected (they had been friends in Jr. high) had married each other just 8 years ago.

Marianne (Cardiology Nurse Practitioner) & Jim (works for "the fed") from Long Island... live SUCH the Long Island life... $100,000+ weddings for each of their girls, etc.

And Harley (forensic psychologist with GREAT stories) & Robin (runs his practice) from Miami (they had a large, black, pet potbellied pig named "Pinky").

Our bed - Yes, we both slept there :)

Our "wet head"... the bathroom IS a shower all in one (check out the drain in the floor)... the sink faucet is the shower faucet.

See D's foot in bottom left corner? He is on the bed!

Getting ready to go snorkeling off the boat at Norman Island on the first day.

Snorkeling.

Sunning

Limin' (relaxing)

Playing Black Jack with Bruce & Judy, Marianne (the dealer), and Harley & Robin.

At The Baths on Virgin Gorda - this was just a day stop... we could come back here for 4 days at the end of our trip.

Climbing through The Baths at Virgin Gorda

Summer's End

This while summer, our weather here in southern CA has been weird.

We did NOT experience evidence of Global Warming, that's for sure! The oceans werefreezingand with that, they brought drizzle, fog, and ugly, socked-in beach days... but lovely, cool in-land days.

We TRIED to go to the beach every wednesday & sunday, but the weather just sometimes did NOT cooperate :(

Now that summer is officially over and the kids are back in school, we are in the midst of a HEAT WAVE - 106 degrees today - UGH! We squeezed in a few post summer beach days!!! (Glorious! - And SUCH a respite from the heat at home! Ahhhhhh!)

Trying to make an "O" for the word "Love"

The gang (and Shelly's shadow, so she could be in in too!)

Smashball silhouettes

Newlywed beach lovers

Its the "summer of Love Love Love" - (B-52's song :)

Maddie had an impromptu "last weekend of summer" sleep over with a few friends. I felt sad that I did not do/allow this for the older boys. Our home space wasn't as conducive, we still had little ones with bedtimes who needed quiet and didn't sleep in, I was more nervous about having to entertain them and keep them happy, I didn't know how to be fun & nice while still reigning them in. I have changed a lot, I am more relaxed (I still need a lot of work, the kids will be quick to point out!), and we put the big, barn door, kooshy carpet, and Comfy Sacs in the room. Much easier and more FUN for all invlived.

Sorry Jade & Lando!

I owe you a sleepover!

Good bye summer...