Seven Sunsets

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Why we love Hawaii

Cause Dan doesn't work/ we get to spend every minute together.
We get to wear next to nothing.
We get to hang out in the water and swim.
We love to see whales and turtles.
We love sunrise and sunsets.
We miss Mirage and it's Great to be alone together.
We eat and drink: fish, fruit and whatever moves us.
No phone calls and obligations, doting on one anther.
The sound of waves crashing and softly washing all night long is healing.
The temperature is perfect.
We love to explore.

Last Day Saturday

Dan thought we should have put a wallop in this our the final day. I thought, sit on the lanai and just relax, and time will go more slowly. We were both right.
In the morning we took the 3 mile trek from Napili Bay to Kapalua. It was hot and we followed the crests of the ocean; sometimes boardwalk, or rocky and volcanic and even highway. We got our exercise and honed ur appetites. Leftovers again today. We have an intention to share a blackened Mahi fish sandwich, a ceasar and a birthday pineapple martini! All goes as planned.

Easy Does It

The morning meditation was sweet. "Each breath within me, wrapped in blue darkness, awaits the dawn." waking up at 5:00 gives me a few hours before I wake Dano up. Now that I'm 62, I tell him I am from the Senior Center, they provide this wake up service for guests on Maui. He claims I may be from the dementia center. . . .ha!
We head to our beach to read and his morning swim. My book, The Help, is just too good to put down. We need to run to the store for a few things. Mac salad, coffee and ice cube trays. The Surf shack's are cracked. Since Lindsay is absorbing the cost of the screen door repair, it's the least we can do.
The world series game seven starts at 2:00. We settle on the lanai to watch the game. Two red cardinals strut by on the lAwn, and the Cards take the series! An omen?
We have time to take a swim before we head to the Benefit at Maui Brewing Company. The water is warm and I tie on the new bikini, real well. Turns out I am more concerned about loosing my wedding ring than my bikini! Dan says, "Look!" and we are swimming with two turtles.
I shower and prepare for the night out. Dan is doing laundry this week. I go into a slight panic because I never go out after dark, to a new place, intentionally. I share with Dan everything I am afraid of. Being in a dark place, walking into things, feeling crowed, spilling food and drink, not seeing to read the menu, or not being able to see who's talking to me or where they are. He says he understands. As it turns out the cause is more important than my excuses to stay home. Proceeds from tonight's sales support Maui Assistance Dogs for Independent Living.
When we arrive there, these two posters are set at the door.one showa a woman in a wheelchair, holding a white cane, service dog at her side. The caption read, "Courage: It's not the absence of fear, it's about overcoming it." Nelson Mandela

has that right

Then two assistance pups stride by on leash with their trainers. I get a few quick photos. One is named Yogi. He is a white golden lab, they other a yellow five month old male. They will become assistance animals,according to their unique personalities and gifts. Males are more eager to work than females and mature quickly. They evening goes very well and Dan is very attentive. We order burgers and four beers, Par Four, Bikini Blonde, Pineapple Wheat and a Pumpkin Spice. we can't eat or drink all we are served. Our refrigerator is looking bare though as tomorrow is our last day.
Today was a little laid back and once home, we are eager to plan Saturday. A hike sounds like a good start! I am still hoping for a Pineapple Martini.
We have had a super relaxing week, a lot of swimming and a fair amount of sun.
Mahalo for such a beautiful island And good husband.

Lanai

I'll never look at the Island of Lanai the same. Lanai is just a forty five minute ferry ride across the channel from Lahaina. It is remote and luxurious in it's simplicity.
Kauai has it's roosters and whale, Maui, it's sandpipers and turtles, Lanai has it's mynah birds (wild turkeys) and spinner dolphins. We are warned, "Do not swim with the spinner dolphins!"
At the Lanai Landing we board a bus. I am reminded of Lucerne Landing at Field's Point. For ten dollars the bus will climb to 1700 feet along a road lined with Captain Cook (Hook) Pines. At the highest point sits Koele Lodge, a rustic and opulent golf course, built in the 1920s. The grounds are magnificent: manicured croquet courts, koi ponds, an orchid greenhouse, bougainvillea and a pineapple fountain...

Did I mention the wild turkeys that stroll the forty acres?
By eleven we were famished and in need of a beer. We returned to the handsome bar and ordered a Coors light and bruschetta.The chef sends us a bowl of smoked Mac nuts and English walnuts. We are intent on making the noon bus to Lanai City.
It's not more than a mile downhill through the pines again. The road reminds me of the Appian Way outside of Rome.
In Lanai city three thousand people reside in simple homes with corrugated metal roofs. There are no street lights. These folks are mostly of Phillipino descent, and once worked for Dole Pineapple Company. James Dole Park is the town square. The businesses are all facing the park. Our first stop is Dis and Dat. I find a hand carved Koa switch plate for Dan,
with a sea turtle design. The shop keeper is from Eugene, Oregon. The day is overcast and we appreciate the cool mountain air. Walking about our next stop is an funky Art Gallery, where we are tempted... Then I see and mostly feel drawn to a sweet yellow shop. Outside is a basket of bikinis for $15.00! One might say three knit triangles. The trick is to find two in your size that match. These are 'euro' style and 'run small' I am not scared :) I choose one in cocoa brown that has spots within circles, like the head of a dandelion puff, and fall for the design in brown, lilac and red. Sold!
Next bus leaves the Lanai Hotel at one. We are interested in getting to the Manele Bay Resort for lunch and then to the beach for a few hours.

It is Grand! We are mature enough not to be as intimidated as we were at the Princeville Hotel years ago. We are seated just away from the pool and cabanas. Dan orders the hamburger for $21.00 and the Veggie Wrap looks good to me! It is in a large rice paper skin which My teeth are barely sharp enough to pierce .
We use the bath as A changing room and stroll out onto the white sand beach. I thought about sporting the new spotted suit from Lanai City. . . . It's been a fine day of exploring what looks like a lump of green brown and lavender island at sunrise. Someday we will return for a day, packing a lunch and spend all day Oceanside.the Four o'clock ferry takes us back to Lanai arriving at our condo just in time for sunset. The sixth game of the World Series is in the tenth inning. I slip into my euro bikini and we pour a drink. It's been a wonderful day and this is the clincher.
Then for the first time in five day I step into the kitchen and open the fridge! I make a chopped salad of lettuce, cucumber, onion, tomato, pineapple, celery and tomato. We've been eating out each day and this simple meal seems somehow just right after the Lanai adventure.

Mahalo!

Wednesday's Child

Ah, sixty too years
I have a birthday card, a spinach smoothie and a lavender blue ( dilly dilly) sunrise!
Dan and i swim with our turtle and lay lazily on the beach. We find a baby lobster skin that looks like an emerald green and mud, seahorse nightclub singer's dress!
We drive to Hali' Maile  for lunch at the General Store. Bev and Joe Gannon are sitting one seat away!

Wendy is our bartender. She offers three wines, a sauvignon blanc, a chardonnay and a chilled pinot noir. My heart is already set on the Lucy!
Lucy is light, well balanced and the nose is definitely Pinot! I have never had a cold mouthful, which i find refreshing along side the sashimi pizza! Our second course is the Opah Ceasar. Wendy brings samples of a Cilantro jalapeno Margarita which would be delicious with our third 'bite': the blackened Salmon Taco. My hooch drinking days are winding down! It!s taken me four days to get through the white at our Honokowai condo (:
We decline dessert and Wendy sends Dano a note, "Don't Leave!" she has ordered two scoop vanilla with a cocoa shortbread Star! She and Dan embrace me with a sweet, Happy Birthday refrain :)
My calves are still stiff from climbing 'Iao Needle yesterday!
Dan and I have reservations at the Kula Lavender Farm upcountry at 2:30. Our guide Tera looks like Anna. ( the doctor Who delivered her said, " must a been a Laplander in the woodpile!) Anna does look Norwegian- Asian alright.

We enjoy smelling Spanish, French and English lavenders, rosemary and three geraniums: lemon lime, chocolate mint and rose. By the end of our tour we have an herbal bouquet:)and oh! the Owl Protea.! The lavender shortbread sample was out of this world!
We wind our way 'down' through Makawao and Paia, where Dan wants to buy me a swimsuit at Hula Girl:-/ i am too full to stop at Mama's Fish House for a birthday Martini!
Home just in time for a sunset. All day been responding to Facebook Birthday greetings; friends from 18 states and 3 countries represented!
I call Joe in Cottonwood, California because I haven't heard from him. He is happy for the reminder, like me, he often doesn't know what day it is. Ha!
It was an amazing day in Paradise!

Adventure Tuesday

Swimming at the break of day with Honey, seizing the salty! I love catching each swell.
Body like Molokai
Breathe like waves
Mind like clear blue skies.

We hang out collecting shells and then it's time for our 'Iao adventure. Wailuku is a cute town, just over the mountain, or around it in this case. We gaze upon beautiful gardens and streams as we ascend to the sacred rock, once used as a lookout by Mauian warriors.

Lunch is at Saeng's Thai on Vineyard Street. Many paper umbrellas adorn the natural rock walls.
We head home for an afternoon of beach time reading in the hot shade of the lanai. No turtles to adore today. At four we dress for pupus at Napili Beach House and return in time for sunset, which is spectacular!

We notice some life next door. . .and a profile behind the patio shade.
Could it be Mikey?