In the words of Robin…

HOLY WATERFALLS BATMAN!  So…todays adventure is literally (sorry Pastor Ed), beyond words.  We got home, looked at the pictures, and realized that they didn’t even come close to doing justice to what we saw and experienced today.  So, since we know we can’t describe it well, we’ll give you the facts.

We pulled over on the side of the road (way to Hana), snuck across private property, climbed over a barbwire fence, through a bamboo forest, negotiated slippery cliffs, scaled sheer rock faces and swam up streams to get to the absolutely most incredible set of waterfalls and settings ever imagined…at least by us.  I know it sounds a bit dramatic, but doesn’t even describe what actually happened.  Honestly, it was truly amazing, indescribable, and can’t wait to try and tell you all in person.  For now, you’ll have to settle for a couple of our lame pics.

Sunsets…

So on our honeymoon…10 YEARS AGO…we took a picture that many of you have seen of us on a sunset cruise.  It was super cloudy that day, didn’t think it was gonna happen, but at the last minute, we had an incredible sunset.  We’ll, 10 years later, we (God) did it again.  Cloudy all day - very little real sun, and thanks to Ang we had a sunset cruise to go on. Thought we would be skunked for sure, and then BAAM!  Incredible.  God loves us or something!

Hitt’n the road to Hana tomorrow, can’t wait.  Missing our boys like crazy!!!!!  Thank you everyone back home…you all are truly incredible!!

Pupu’s & Pancakes

If we knew one thing when we came to Maui, it was this “GO THEE TO THE GAZEBO FOR THE BEST PANCAKES THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN”. I’m not sure if the picture does it justice, but the island famous macadamia nut pancakes did NOT disappoint (Thank you, Rick and Amber!). Neither Shawn nor I could finish our heaping plates, complete with secret topping. This was coming hard on the heels of last night’s Flaming Pupu’s (Hawaiian for appetizer) the renowned appetizer platter at the Pupu Lounge, down the street from our condo. Does it taste better because of the ocean air, or the amazing view? Frankly, who cares? I’m talking seriously good eats, and y’all know I love my food!

The Goat Adventure

So what was planned as a small adventure to a semi remote snorkeling place turned into a LARGE adventure to a very remote snorkeling place.  We found this little place in our book south of Wailea that required some hiking, but apparently had some of (if not the) best snorkeling on the island.  So we went to go look for it, only to find out it had been completely closed off.  So, we made a new plan that left from the same area, supposedly excellent snorkeling, but required a couple mile hike over a lava field.

Soooo….off we went. Long story short, we (I) didn’t pay as much attention to the map as I should have, and we ended up WAY off the trail literally crawling over lava rock sometimes feet from the ocean cliffs.  We quickly realized we weren’t in Kansas any more toto…but were committed to see it through.  We got jumped by goats a couple of times, but ended up making it to the beach.  It was a beautiful black and white beach, completely empty.  The fish were incredible colors from above, and we could see a turtle from the cliffs, but the waves were way too high to get it.  Suffice it to say…we DIDN’T go back the same way.

Slack’n…

Sorry…slack’n a little bit.  You kind of loose track of time while laying on the beach all day (sorry, didn’t mean to rub that in…mostly)   So, a couple of days ago we drove to the north side of West Maui.  The road was seriously one lane a lot of the time, and has 3 of absolutely the tightest hairpin turns in the world!!  We went to this place called the Olivine Pools.  Incredible!

Yesterday morning we rolled out at 3 something in the AM to watch the sunrise from the summit of Haleakala.  10,000 feet up, crazy cold, but absolutely incredible.

Ready, Set…Relax

WE MADE IT!!  After having Amy’s hair products confiscated because they found out about our plan to take over the plane with a bottle of hair conditioner…we actually made it.  Matter of fact, flights were being cancelled to Hawaii, but somehow ours made it.  In short, we unpacked, took a nap, watched the ocean from our balcony (sorry…Lanai), went for a quick swim in the ocean, and ate some kick’n mexican food.  Life is good.  No pics today…stay tuned.

SO CLOSE

Well…we finally got out of town and made it here to San Fran before flying out at 0′ Dark 30 in the morning.  Leaving our boys was WAY harder than we thought.  (THANK YOU to everyone that is helping to take care of them while gone!!!)  We already miss them like crazy, but we know in the end it was the right thing.  We’ll grab a couple hours of sleep before heading to the airport so we can emotionally cope with the trauma of airport security.  Hoping to get through without getting xrayed or tasered.  Hopefully we’ll be on the ground in Maui just in time for a late lunch.  CRAZY!

…can you pass the pineapple??

Yeah so…by now you all know that Amy and I are heading to Maui this Friday.  UNREAL!!  Still kind of hard to believe.  Anyway…it’s definitely happening…and this is where you can track all of our experiences.  We’re not like blog pro’s (sorry Kurt), but we’ll do our best to keep you in the loop.  

And for those of you wondering…of course that’s me in the picture below!

Check’n it out…

Well, if this works than this is where I’d be writing really interesting thoughts about my incredible fam.

my boys

test for amy

This is a test post from Amy’s account.