All too soon we will be packing away the summer clothes, going home and bundling up in layers again. It's been a great break from reality and very definitely a great anniversary celebration. So glad we said, "I do" fifty years ago and every day since!

Today's forecast had been for rain ... when we hear that in Oregon we believe it but the last two weeks here have given us a "wait and see" attitude. Although we have had some rain, for the most part the weather has been perfect and the rain doesn't last long (and it's a warm rain... LOL)

After our normal leisurely coffee time, we went to the church that Karey told us to go to while we're here. The nice thing is that it is within walking distance to where we're staying. Revelation 7 talks about heaven and the different tribes, tongues and nations singing and worshiping Jesus. The services are held in English and Hawaiian and was just a tiny taste of what it will be like someday when Jesus' followers from all over the world will sing His praises.

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Lahuiokalani Ka’ānapali Congregational Church

After church we came back to the condo, grabbed a snack and cold drink and went out to the pool to enjoy some sunshine before the Super Bowl came on. Even though the ocean is choppier today because of the wind, we were able to see some great whale activity. This time we were able to get some pictures of the spouts and one whale breaching.

Whale Viewing

Two spouts - very visible even with the choppy waves

Whale breaching where spout had just been

Culture

Yesterday we spent the day in Lahaina celebrating Chinese New Year. That celebration was continued today at Lahaina Cannery Mall but not before we were able to linger over coffee, enjoy the tropical breezes and have a leisurely lunch.

The Lahaina Cannery Mall has a hula presentation every Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. We wanted to see that so we went early before the Chinese New Year celebration. So worth it! It was mostly kids, the youngest of which was six years old and was Ava-Annie-Claire-Olivia all rolled into one! Needless to say, she stole our hearts. She also stole Rosie's heart (and vice versa).

The Chinese New Year Celebration followed at 2:00. We've never gotten our timing down to be with Dayna and Annie to celebrate but we enjoyed getting just a taste of the festivities surrounding Chinese New Year. We will definitely need to make a trip to Nebraska to celebrate with them sometime!

After the festivities we came back to the condo, fixed something cool to drink, grabbed our books and went up to the pool area. The whales were quite active again but we haven't been able to capture them on camera. The weather is starting to turn here and today has been quite "Voggy" with a cold front coming (Forecast). I guess that's supposed to make it easier to go home and back to reality.

The vog did make for a spectacular bright orange sun. All in all, another great day with more memories shared and new ones made.

Some Pictures and Videos of our Day

Hula Show

More Chinese New Year

Vog and Sun

Delayed Updates

For some reason it's been harder to keep up with the blog on this trip. It must be the sunshine, going out exploring and/or just spending time being lazy. Whatever the reason(s) we'll do our best to catch up today.

We have found Maui to be much more "active" with more tourists than the Big Island or even Kauai. For all our good intentions of just coming and lounging on the beach or by the pool we have found something to see or do just about every day. However, much like at home we love our leisurely mornings having coffee and deciding what the day will hold.

This post may not be in chronological order because our days have blended together. Ahhh ... vacation! Many of our activities seem to revolve around food which then leads to the need to walk off some of the extra calories consumed! Two days in a row we walked over 7 miles; the paths along the beach, stopping to watch the waves and whale watching have continually filled us with awe.

Thanks to the advice of friends who come to Maui, the Maui Revealed book and other brochures we have gone to several great eateries, activities and events.

One of the eateries was The Gazebo Restaurant. We heard that it can be a long wait so we set our alarm (can you believe it?) so we would be there when the restaurant opened at 7:30. We arrived 15 minutes early and there was already a line. It took awhile before we were seated but the pancakes were phenomenal and breakfast was worth the wait.

Feeling the need to walk off  breakfast we went on the Kapalua Coastal Trail.  Between the waves and whale watching it would be one of our suggested "not to be missed" things to do if you're visiting Maui.

After breakfast and our walk, we decided to take a drive up to Honolua Bay lookout (Honolua, Hawaii). We had driven that road when we first got here but it was "drizzly" that day and we didn't get to see much. There were also slides, washouts and roadwork that day. Not that we were hungry after our big breakfast but we had also wanted to try Maui Shrimp Shack and it is generally parked at the lookout.

Another suggestion was to go see the Cliff Diving Ceremony at the Sheraton. It was also suggested to go a bit early for the Happy Hour at Cliff Dive Grill. There was "pre-diving" entertainment which included an explanation of the history of the cliff diving, a hula presentation and Hawaiian music. Through the course of our time there they played the Hawaiian Wedding Song and had us get up and dance. Another very special evening.

When we first arrived in Maui we went to Lahaina to check it out. When we were there we saw that the Lahaina Restoration Foundation was hosting a Chinese New Year Celebration on February 3rd. We spent the yessteraday in Lahaina, ending the day with the Chinese New Year Celebration and the Dragon Dance.

Definitely some fun-filled, memory building kind of days.

Pictures from the past few days

View from the Gazebo Restaurant

Tropical Pancakes and Bacon --- oh yeah!

Love seeing the Koi

Coastal Trail Map

Molokai in the background

Hole in rock ... waves would come through it

Mesmerizing waves

Garey on Kapalua Coastal Trail

The three of us - Kapalua CoastalTrail

Rosie was hoping to snag a good looking male

White, white foam ... looked like soap suds

Building Memories on Maui

Check out wave height upper left corner

Beautiful translucent blue

Can't get enough of the waves

 CHECK OUT THE WAVE PROGRESSION IN THE NEXT PICTURES

First Set of Waves

Second Set of Waves

Better yet ... live action video

Jeff and Rosie at Maui Shrimp Shack ... she's in the pink!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

Cliff Diver at Sunset

Splash at bottom of cliff is diver going into water

Sunset from Cliff Diver Grill

Hawaiian Wedding Song - Celebrating Love

Best part ... kissing the bride!

Look at the size of this tree trunk!

Celebrating Chinese New Year