Headed to Hana

As soon as we got our rental car we took off on the road to Hana.  Hana is only 53 miles from the Kahului Airport, but due to more than 600 curves and 54 one-lane bridges on the way there, it can take up to 3 hours each way.

When we finally got to Hana we stopped at a hotel, quite appropriately named the "Hotel Hana Maui." The hotel is nice, and the rooms (very spendy - $557-$788/night) are set up cottage-style spread out semi-attached to each other around the property.  We were really hungry but after looking at the menu at a restaurant in the Hana Hotel, and being less than impressed with a $17 burger, we drove elsewhere.

We couldn't drive very far because there was a parade and the road (yup, one road in and one road out) was closed so we followed the local signs to a little hole in the wall called Tutu's.  Tutu's is literally a hole in the wall, right near the water, and serves burgers, plate lunches, ice cream and other snackie food; we shared a BBQ pulled pork sandwich.

There wasn't much pork in the sandwich had way too much BBQ sauce, I suppose the best part of the sandwich was the toasted bread.

As we were leaving Hana we stopped for a couple of souvenir pictures!

After a 35 minute drive from Hana we arrived at Oheo Gulch, known for the Seven Sacred Pools.  This area is part of the Haleakala National Park and requires each car pay $10 upon entry for a park pass (good for 3 days) -definitely worth every penny.  After a short and mild "hike" we ended up at a beautiful area just below a waterfall.

The Mister and I sat for a while (he went in for a quick swim) and just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.  Sunshine, a waterfall, and the love of my life - it just doesn't get any better than this!

Wowie for Maui!

This past weekend was the much anticipated weekend on Maui! We flew over on Saturday morning and departed on Sunday night.  In 36 hours we managed to drive around the island, hike a little bit, walk along the beach, and eat at seven restaurants. My posts this week will be dedicated to our Maui adventure!  

{via}

Kaanapali is pretty much a community of hotels, resort shops, and time shares located about 5 minutes from the restaurants and shops of Lahaina's Front Street.  Because of a great deal on Orbitz we stayed at the Westin Maui Resort and Spa in Kaanapali.  When you walk into the Westin you are greeted with a shell lei and the sound of the gushing waterfall in the center of the lobby.  Aside from one grouchy and impersonal woman at the front desk, the rest of the hotel staff was very cheerful and polite. 

{The Mister lounging in front of the waterfall}

Our room was definitely on the small side and our partial ocean view was definitely "partial," but overall the room was nice, clean, and modern.  

{This is a partial barely ocean view room}

There is a nice walking path at the edge of the hotel's property that passes all the Kaanapali properties.  We woke up early on Sunday morning and took a nice walk along the beach.  We saw a lot of people walking, running, and even a few people doing yoga on the (larger) grassy areas.  

A couple of other hotel perks are the the restaurants: Tropica and Ono.  Tropica is an upsacale restaurant just steps from the beach that features a PacRim menu while Ono has a walk up bar a definitely a more relaxed atmosphere, and on Sundays it is the place you will find all football junkies because they show "all games all day!"

{Tropica}

Also at the hotel is an amazing water slide! Unfortunately we didn't have time to go down the water slide but it sure looks (and sounds) like fun!

43,161 and counting...

The Good:  I got courtesy email from Hawaiian Airlines informing me that currently I have 43,161 miles.

The Bad:  The miles expire in two months if I don't redeem or add to them.  

I have a few trips planned next year: Donne's Bachelorette Party and wedding as well as my Bachelorette Party and have been planning on cashing in on my miles at some point during 2011, so I wasn't ready to deplete my miles and definitely couldn't let them expire just yet.  

And so, after a little bit of planning and some schedule rearranging the Mister and I decided to add to my miles and schedule a weekend on MAUI! 

I'm so excited for a lil vacation, just me and my Mister!