we HEART maui!

Ryan and I spent a week in Maui and LOVED it. I think that Maui is now my favorite Hawaiian island. It's landscapes are varied and gorgeous. The ocean is pristine and gentle. Really there are no words.

Unfortunately, we foolishly decided to leave our good camera at home and for the first part of our trip took pictures from our cell phones. BOOOOOO!

A cell phone picture from our lanai. We stayed at the Makena Beach and Golf Resort. It's the first time we've done the resort thing. Quite a luxury and so EXPENSIVE! But there is much to be said for a 1 min walk to one of the best beaches on the island.

We (barely) survived the road to Hana. It started out great. We came upon this trail to the "Twin Falls". But quickly grew tired of the manicured path.

Through the foliage we saw some promising hiking.

We never did make it to the end of the real trail.

We then stopped off at an amazing bamboo forest.

This view is not being properly represented by our cell phone. :( (It was so beautiful I accidentally posted it twice.)

Ryan puzzling over the intricate root system.

We made it to Hana but turned home after that and never made it to the Seven Sacred Pools. All because of a poor choice of lunch at a roadside Thai food stall. Truly disgusting! I marvel that we didn't get violently ill. Funny, but our foul lunch ruined the rest of our day.

There was an amazing sushi restaurant in our hotel. We ate there almost every night. The 1/2 price rolls we delicious and good to the wallet.

This adorable church was just next to our hotel.

Our beach...

We took a trip up to West Maui. One of my favorite days.

Ryan changing into his suit on the side of the road. :) (he doesn't know i took this or posted it, haha)

I REALLY wish we had had a better camera.

The blow hole was being rather shy that day but she did give a little show.

Olivine Pools..... Amazing!

That night we admitted our poor camera choice and bought a little handheld underwater camera. Then celebrated our good decision by having dinner at the Melting Pot. LOVE fondue!

Yes, we are dipping rice crispies, marshmallows, brownies, cheesecake and fruit into chocolate.

A little break during an afternoon rainstorm. There were funnel clouds in Kihei, just 10mins up the road.

It was cloudy the next day too, so we headed south to La Perouse Bay. The lava swath reminded us of the big island.

Goats!

We got back to the resort when it was pouring so we headed down to the beach with a nerf football and had the whole beach to ourselves. So fun!

We saw dolphins and whales playing just offshore everyday. Unfortunately, we didn't have a good enough camera to catch them.

This turtle liked to play in the coral just 10 feet from the shoreline.

Maui has amazing snorkeling! I don't know why I don't just wear this all the time. :)

Our last day on the beach, soaking up every last second of sun.

This boat left from our beach every day to go to Molokini Crater and whale watching. It was rather hysterical to watch some of the tourist load and unload.

Au revoir, Maui! We look forward to a return trip in the (near? hopefully) future.