...And Then Scotty Happened. A Hawaiian Adventure (CHAPTER 32 Added 5/23--THE END)

[Checkers]

What a nice family and a great TR!! Makes me want to hop on a plane tomorrow! Thanks so much for taking us along.

 

[yolie912]

I love your trip report! Let me see if I still have kids? LOL! How many nights were you in Hawaii?

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

What a GREAT last night at Aulani! It's a shame that you didn't enjoy the lazy river and water slides more. I guess you'll have to go back and give it another go!

Now there's a great idea! We want to test these things thoroughly.

The expressions on Scotty's face in those couple pictures was just priceless, I'm sure your kids are going to remember this vacation as the BEST EVER!

I sure hope so! Because otherwise we'd say they were ingrates.

This would be an EXCELLENT baby shower gift from someone.....

We would gladly accept DVC membership.

This was really a liberating experience for all of us. My final words for the kids, "Remember....this is a trial run.....if you do go with this, I might be able to go to the grocery store without you when we get home." Talk about motivation!

This is what you wish for as a parent--that feeling that someday, you'll truly be free and not beholden to the kids' schedule and needs all the time. Let's try not to mess this up by having another baby or something.

True story.

He might not be able to keep a secret, but he's a wise man!! Those fries were AWESOME!!!! As was the sandwich!

Mmmm...BBQ...

Sarah and I found a recipe that looks similar. We're going to try it this weekend. I might end up with gestational diabetes like I did with my last pregnancy.....so we're going to get this splurge in now!!

Mmmmm...chocolate cream pie...

The poor kid!!! It was so funny (and somewhat scary to see your child with the lifeguard!)......and it happened not once....but twice!!

There's never a shortage of Scotty stories.

sounds like a great relaxing day to end your aulani portion of the trip.

I just wish we could have stayed longer.

that dinner sounds really good to eat out in hawaii you need to hit there specials.

Yeah, we took advantage of a lot of happy hours and early-bird specials. That's where traveling from East Coast time helps a bit.

did you try any other of the kona beers there?

I did! But we'll save that story for a later chapter.

 

[afwdwfan]

Already? We have to leave already? Well…that sucks.

Didn't you just get there????

For our first order of business, Julie and I decided to do something we’d never done before:

Sit through a time-share presentation.

Must be one of those pregnancy hormone things...

Ok, it was for DVC, so it wasn’t that bad. And we were solely motivated by greed. They’d placed a card in our room saying we could attend a presentation and receive a $100 gift card for the Aulani gift shop. We figured: well, 1 hour of our time is probably worth $100 in this case, considering we were going to spend it on souvenirs anyway.

Ok, kind of makes sense then.

So we talked with them and decided to let them play the Menehune Trail game…by themselves (insert scary music sting here).

Poor Sarah. I'm not sure what's worse. Leaving her in a tank with sharks or leaving her alone with Scotty and Dave.

Flame away if you must, but we decided to give them some rope as a test run of independence.

I think it seems perfectly fine. Sarah seems responsible, it is Disney property, and besides, they're about to outnumber you 4 to 1 so you're either going to have to give the older ones a little more independence or go absolutely bats#!t crazy.

We found them in the pool area, having an absolute BLAST. They ran up to us and breathlessly updated us on their progress, having completed every single mission in the game. This was a level of enthusiasm for the game we hadn’t seen the previous day.

And that is what it is all about!

Seems that if you reach a certain part of the game, you trigger a waterfall in there that just so happens to drench everyone in that part of the pool. When it was over, the screen on their phone asked: “Do you want to see that again? Y or N.”

Sarah: “I didn’t even wait to see what the boys thought. I just pressed Yes.” Apparently the people in the pool were waving their arms at the cave roof after that, trying to figure out how the waterfall got triggered.

The force is strong with this one.

They also saw a very short line to greet Stitch and, not wanting to disappoint Kathy, took the initiative to go pose with him on their own.

Not only did they have fun and avoid killing each other, they helped you with your TR. Nicely done.

Yes, this was the time and place when we gave the kids the news. In between mouthfuls of appetizers and the lyrics and air-guitaring of “Brown-Eyed Girl”, we told the kids that Mommy was pregnant. “I knew something was up!” said Sarah. I don’t know if that’s really true or not, but the kids were excited.

Well, now your family will always remember the faker when you talk about the moment you told the kids about the baby.

I really thought maybe you might have let them know on the beach when the Facebook picture was taken.

This fell into the Holy @#$%! That’s Good! Category of Deliciousness. In case you were wondering, here’s the scale, from best to worst:

1. Bacon/Dole Whip
2. Holy @#$%! That’s Good!
3. We Are So Coming Back Here
4. I Can’t Complain
5. The Indifference Zone
6. My High School Cafeteria Was Better
7. I’d Rather Eat The Crickets I Caught In My Basement

You did it wrong. I fixed it for you.

I will order this every time I eat at Monkeypod. Which probably won’t be much, but if I lived in Hawaii, I’d weigh 350 lbs. eating this every day.

I will make it a point to eat this pie if I ever get there.

The rule was that we had to take 1 bite and then pass it on around the table.

Was bite size specified? I'm pretty sure I could cram the whole thing in my mouth if I had to.

This next picture makes me sad. Because I miss Hawaii? No. Because I miss the hair I used to have up there

Dave decided to walk along the bottom, so I was content to let him do the work.

They don't call that river lazy for nothin'

This one is the current background screen on my computer.

Certainly not a bad sight to look at everyday.

At one point during our fun, we lost track of Scotty.

So, you're saying Sarah is more responsible than you are?

The lifeguard got a good laugh out of it.

At least until about the third time in the water to pull him out.

That’s not an exaggeration. T-shirts run about $30 - $35 here, and they’re among the cheaper items. Here’s a helpful formula for your souvenir budget: normal price + Hawaii markup + Disney markup = Aulani Mega Sticker Shock.

It was gone in a blur. I wish we’d been able to afford more time, but at the same time I feel like we did well with the time we had.

You really did an awesome job of making the most of your time there. I'm glad that your waitlist came through and you were able to experience Aulani.

Coming Up Next: Over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No! Let the island-hopping begin!

And it ain't over now. Cause when the going gets tough...

The tough get going. Who's with me? Let's gooooo!!!!!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

For $100, I'd do it too! In fact I am mildly annoyed that all I got before actually buying was a $25 gift card. Although I do have to admit at the time (2010 maybe?) I really never thought we'd buy. It was over the phone, guess that's only worth $25

It sure seemed like $100 goes as far in Hawaii as $25 does on the mainland.

WTG Sarah! We got drenched at least once that way and since it happened maybe mid trip we'd had no idea that was part of the game. Then of course, because we didn't do the trail ourselves, we'd watch as we went around the river and try to guess what things were activated by the game. Some of it we could see from our lanai too, which was really fun.

They did a great job with the game. Seemed like there were quite a few spots to shoot water at unsuspecting swimmers in the pool. Which is just genius.

And they will never forget it either. It will remain a strong memory...I think it's why the boys loved the 1st cruise so much.

I agree. That first taste of independence is intoxicating.

That is hysterical! And yes, it is UBER loud inside...it was so much nicer being outside I have to admit.

I wonder if air guitar sounds better out there?

I was so worried you guys wouldn't like it. So glad it didn't disappoint. I swear, we'd be regulars.

Us too! Great place.

Thanks for the shout out!

Just trying to take care of my peeps!

It is. All of that, and maybe more. Our favorite for sure.

Ah yes...that slide can, um, do some interesting things. We will have a story later. Spoiler alert...sort of.

Oooh, this sounds interesting.

ooh! I wonder if that's the same shirt we got Eric....I think though it's the one I wanted to get him, decided the mens small was too big and got him a different but sorta similar one that was a DVC version.

Yep, 3 shirts. Told you. It was crazy, worse than regular Disney. And yep, they've got you.

Navy blue with a light blue turtle design on the one shoulder?

Amazing how expensive things were. But no way were we leaving without being able to show off that we'd stayed there.

That is great news!!! IT is great when they get to that stage.

It's great! Too bad we have to start all over again now.

Yes that is scary and the first thing I usually say when I have to approach a parent with their child is " they are okay" Obviously if they are with me they can see that. No greater panic than a parent in the waterpark who cannot find their child. We always find them, and generally see them with only a description because the parent is in a tizzy.

I hate that pit in the stomach feeling when you don't know where your kid is. Unless we've intentionally left them, of course.

Glad he was having fun and just got wedged.

By the way- Awesome use of the last night at Aulani and for sitting through a presentation and scoring a gift card.

It's tough work, but somebody has to do it!

The question is, who is more motivated? Sadly there will be times they miss going...as then they can't beg for this and that on every aisle. It does speed up things and save money

Now she just has to worry about me doing that when I'm with her.

Those fries are like crack. I had them two days in a row!

Julie was raving about them.

I like the way you plan ahead

Very glad he was ok, it would be scary to see them with the lifeguard!

It's a moment of panic...but then followed by laughter.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Stumbled upon this TR at work a couple of days ago and read it all the way through. Absolutely loved it!!! Imagine my delight when I settled in at the airport to wait for my flight, and there was an update! Love your writing and your sense of humor, and can't wait for more!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

I did! But we'll save that story for a later chapter.

would that be the chapter titled, and thats when i realized bail in hawaii was as pricey as the cost to buy into DVC there.

 

[Poolrat]

It's great! Too bad we have to start all over again now.

Almost put that in there but I didn't want to rub your nose in it.

I hate that pit in the stomach feeling when you don't know where your kid is. Unless we've intentionally left them, of course.

Glad he was having fun and just got wedged.

I know it freaks parents out so I usually go into super calm mode. We have never NOT found a kid, but parents usually don't want to hear
" Haven't lost one yet" so I use that carefully.

Some advice for when they are old enough to be somewhat on their own but not totally on their own. If you can't find them
Look in
the locker rooms or bathrooms - sometimes they just have to go and everyone prefers they use the bathroom.
First Aid- usually this happens - a small scrape and they seek first aid on their own because they can and it makes them feel like they taking care of it on their own. They just don't tell you that where they are heading.
Concession stand - Because swimming makes them hungry and they head over to at least know how much money to beg you for if they don't have any.

That's my PSA for today.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

What a fun last day at Aulani! I agree the $100 gift card is well worth your time and can't hurt to be informed just in case...

So much to do at Aulani itself and the island overall - not to mention the other islands - feel like I should plan to go for a month or more in order to see it all! Seems like you guys planned really well and maximized your time hitting all your must do's (Stacy really needs to make an Aulani video) and getting some quality resort time. Thanks for all of the tips!

Looking forward to more island hopping!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

There you go. He already said he couldn't say NO to a pregnant woman. Maybe this strategy will work. Fingers crossed.

She knows I can't get a DVC membership for her. But if you all want to pool together as a shower gift, I wouldn't stand in the way.

Great wrap up to your Aulani stay. The resort really does sound magical and the slides look fantastic.

It is a wonderful place. I have yet to hear from anyone who didn't love it.

Dinner - wow - now THAT's a burger. And that pie - yummy! I can definitely see why that restaurant is a favorite for Aulani stays.

Burger? Come on, I don't eat burgers 24/7. We went way out of our comfort zones and got a BBQ pork sandwich instead. But yeah, Monkeypod is great.

Loved this chapter Captain! You're really whetting our appetites for the water park fun of Aulani.

Hopefully you'll have enough time that you won't have to worry so much about dividing your time between Aulani and exploring the island.

Giving your kids some independence huh? Hmmm, maybe we should try that with our 13, 16, and 19 year old kids. On second thought, nah.

Seriously though, it sounded like the perfect time to let them do something on their own and it obviously worked out great.

I have a feeling we're going to be asked to be around less and less as time goes on. Good thing Sarah is just about at babysitting age.

Thanks for the Monkeypod's menu recommendations! Oh, and I can totally be there when Julie serves up her rendition of that pie this weekend.

Hmmm...You know, somehow this never got accomplished over the weekend. Obviously this needs to be rectified.

National Lampoon's Animal House

+1

Whoa… WHAT!

O-kaaaay… I can see that.
A Benji can be a useful thing. Not sure how far it will go in a gift shop, but still…

Well, I figured $100/hour is a pretty good pay rate. Wish I made that in my real job.

See… it wasn’t about the C-Note. Y’all were using the opportunity to teach the kids how to handle a little bit of independence.


And that’s exactly what I’ll tell the Child Welfare Inspector.

Uh...yeah, yeah, that's it.

You can’t spoil that which I’ll likely never see.
Carry on.

Never say never.

That is… AWESOME!!!
They could sell that privilege to folks as a prize for sitting through a time-share presentation.

If there was any part of the trail I was bummed to have missed out on, it was this.

I should say so


And that’s exactly what I’ll tell the Child Welfare Inspector.

Good choice.
You need to save that second mortgage stuff for college tuition.

Ugh. Don't remind me.

Frugal?
Sounds more like plain old smarts to me.

Must have been Julie’s decision.

Hey, every once in a while this blind squirrel finds a nut too. But you're probably right to assume it was Julie.

Like you can tell her no to anything…
Besides, she generally makes good choices.

I told her no once. When I woke up later, she was holding a frying pan and I had a big knot on my forehead.

I rest my case.

She usually copies off of my choices at restaurants. True story.

I can see that.
Obviously they were nothing but pure rubbish.

Just terrible. We rode each one as often as we could just trying to get significant data for the TR.

I’ll invest in that business.

We're still working through some legal issues.

Great story.
A video of it might have been AFV worthy.

I wish! We were a day late and a dollar short there.

Ouch…
At Disney you might have gotten only one more though so it not that out of line…

for Disney…

True. I think we were prepared going in for the price gouging. It still hurts, though.

of course at Myrtle Beach you have gotten about twenty
(but then again all of those would have fallen apart the first time you washed them).

You can always trust those Eagles and Wings stores.

Me too sir.
Me too…

Keep playing those lottery tickets!

Or better yet, don't. Put the money in an Aulani account instead.

Germans?

Forget it, he's rolling…

+1

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

What a nice family and a great TR!! Makes me want to hop on a plane tomorrow! Thanks so much for taking us along.

If you are getting plane tickets, can you get an extra one for me?

I love your trip report! Let me see if I still have kids? LOL! How many nights were you in Hawaii?

We were there for about 2.5 weeks total. Lots of exploring still to come. We figured this was our one chance to visit as a family and didn't want to waste it!

Didn't you just get there????

We knew going in that our time there was just going to fly by...and it still flew by. It was so hard to leave.

Must be one of those pregnancy hormone things...

But then I have no excuse.

Ok, kind of makes sense then.

Haven't you always wanted to say you make $100/hour?

Poor Sarah. I'm not sure what's worse. Leaving her in a tank with sharks or leaving her alone with Scotty and Dave.

At least then we could say, "Now you know how we feel."

I think it seems perfectly fine. Sarah seems responsible, it is Disney property, and besides, they're about to outnumber you 4 to 1 so you're either going to have to give the older ones a little more independence or go absolutely bats#!t crazy.

Ain't that the truth! We need their buy-in now so we can leave the baby with them and go out to dinner later.

And that is what it is all about!

The force is strong with this one.

It is. Made me proud to see her make the right choice.

Not only did they have fun and avoid killing each other, they helped you with your TR. Nicely done.

I was impressed at their thoroughness in documenting their actions.

Well, now your family will always remember the faker when you talk about the moment you told the kids about the baby.

It's part of what makes a good story memorable.

I really thought maybe you might have let them know on the beach when the Facebook picture was taken.

That was at the end of the trip, and we couldn't hold out that long. More specifically, I couldn't hold out that long.

You did it wrong. I fixed it for you.

Good catch. Thanks for backing me up.

I will make it a point to eat this pie if I ever get there.

Just make sure to send me a slice. Overnight. In dry ice.

Was bite size specified? I'm pretty sure I could cram the whole thing in my mouth if I had to.

Apparently you're even more devious than Dave is.

They don't call that river lazy for nothin'

Laziness is my spiritual gift.

Certainly not a bad sight to look at everyday.

I need the reminder of why I'm sitting at this desk.

So, you're saying Sarah is more responsible than you are?

Um...yes. Yes, we are.

At least until about the third time in the water to pull him out.

Hey, that's what she's paid for!

You really did an awesome job of making the most of your time there. I'm glad that your waitlist came through and you were able to experience Aulani.

You and me both! Now we just need to figure out how we're going to get back.

And it ain't over now. Cause when the going gets tough...

The tough get going. Who's with me? Let's gooooo!!!!!!!

+1

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Stumbled upon this TR at work a couple of days ago and read it all the way through. Absolutely loved it!!! Imagine my delight when I settled in at the airport to wait for my flight, and there was an update! Love your writing and your sense of humor, and can't wait for more!

aboard! Thanks for your kind words, and I hope you'll stick around and join the conversation!

would that be the chapter titled, and thats when i realized bail in hawaii was as pricey as the cost to buy into DVC there.

Almost put that in there but I didn't want to rub your nose in it.

Hey, it's ok. We're laughing so we don't cry.

I know it freaks parents out so I usually go into super calm mode. We have never NOT found a kid, but parents usually don't want to hear
" Haven't lost one yet" so I use that carefully.

Some advice for when they are old enough to be somewhat on their own but not totally on their own. If you can't find them
Look in
the locker rooms or bathrooms - sometimes they just have to go and everyone prefers they use the bathroom.
First Aid- usually this happens - a small scrape and they seek first aid on their own because they can and it makes them feel like they taking care of it on their own. They just don't tell you that where they are heading.
Concession stand - Because swimming makes them hungry and they head over to at least know how much money to beg you for if they don't have any.

That's my PSA for today.

What a fun last day at Aulani! I agree the $100 gift card is well worth your time and can't hurt to be informed just in case...

As I said above, never say never. Someone could park a Brinks truck on our lawn one morning.

So much to do at Aulani itself and the island overall - not to mention the other islands - feel like I should plan to go for a month or more in order to see it all! Seems like you guys planned really well and maximized your time hitting all your must do's (Stacy really needs to make an Aulani video) and getting some quality resort time. Thanks for all of the tips!

Looking forward to more island hopping!!

That's what Aulani was missing--a Stacy video!!

It takes so long and costs so much to get there, I'd recommend seeing as much as you can. Each island offers something unique.

 

[afwdwfan]

I don't know if you want to do a shameless plug, but I'm going to go ahead and set it up if you want to run with it.


I just started listening to a really interesting podcast today during my lunch. I'm about halfway through it, but there's some guy claiming to be a highway engineer from the East Coast talking about Aulani...

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I don't know if you want to do a shameless plug, but I'm going to go ahead and set it up if you want to run with it.


I just started listening to a really interesting podcast today during my lunch. I'm about halfway through it, but there's some guy claiming to be a highway engineer from the East Coast talking about Aulani...

If you found an interesting one, then I have no idea what podcast you're talking about.

But if you want to kill time with a boring one, I have the one for you!

http://disdads.com/

Honestly, I don't know if you'll learn anything different from the podcast. We spent so much time talking about Aulani that I didn't have much time to discuss the other islands on the trip!

 

[afwdwfan]

Honestly, I don't know if you'll learn anything different from the podcast. We spent so much time talking about Aulani that I didn't have much time to discuss the other islands on the trip!

Good point. It is a lot of the same things we've already learned here, but without having to do the work and actually read it.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Good point. It is a lot of the same things we've already learned here, but without having to do the work and actually read it.

I will have to check it out!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Good point. It is a lot of the same things we've already learned here, but without having to do the work and actually read it.

I will have to check it out!

Uh oh. Now I'm losing readers!

 

[lovin'fl]

GREAT TR!!!! Thanks for sharing. I am dying to get to Aulani. We are east coasters too and have 3 kiddos in HS, so we're not sure when we'll get there. Plus it takes a TON of points so we should start saving them now. How hard is it to book at 7 months out...for Thanksgiving week? How much easier would August be (though not sure I want to leave warm weather here to go to warm weather there...would rather leave chilly weather)? I am guessing Christmas week would be super tough to get at 7 months???

Oh, and congrats on #4 (it's not #4 and #5 is it??? ).

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

GREAT TR!!!! Thanks for sharing. I am dying to get to Aulani. We are east coasters too and have 3 kiddos in HS, so we're not sure when we'll get there. Plus it takes a TON of points so we should start saving them now. How hard is it to book at 7 months out...for Thanksgiving week? How much easier would August be (though not sure I want to leave warm weather here to go to warm weather there...would rather leave chilly weather)? I am guessing Christmas week would be super tough to get at 7 months???

Thanks for reading along!

To be honest, I have no idea how hard it is to book for Thanksgiving week. We got wait-listed at 7 months, and that was for June. But I'm sure that's a somewhat busy travel time for people on a school schedule. An actual DVC owner or someone who lives out there might have a better idea than me.

Oh, and congrats on #4 (it's not #4 and #5 is it??? ).

So far, only one heartbeat has been discovered. I think that's plenty.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Friday, June 21

The moment we'd dreaded was upon us--time to pack up and leave Aulani behind. I knew it would go by quickly, but man, that was fast. Our flight was leaving at roughly 10:00 a.m. so we had to be up fairly early to deal with traffic, return the rental car, get strip-searched at the X-ray line, etc.

So we tried to eat up the rest of our Costco supplies and get everything re-packed for the plane, which was difficult since we now had to bring along one of every item in the Aulani gift shop. Not to mention all of the Aulani pens, stationery, and any other items that weren't bolted down in the room. Thank goodness for the airline rules allowing 1 personal item in addition to the carry-on bag. Our personal items became Aulani gift bags.

We really dragged our feet going out the door. But we couldnt delay it forever. Eventually we packed up the car, left the lot, and took one last look before driving away. I hope we get to see this place again someday.

Traffic wasn't too bad, and we made sure to get off the highway just before the merge with H-2, just like we had when driving to Pearl Harbor. We took Kamehameha Highway the rest of the way to the airport, which allowed us to stop and fill the tank before returning the rental car. Once the car was returned, we caught the shuttle to the airport terminal.

It turned out that the shuttle bus driver was a transplanted Philadelphian. He proudly pointed out his Eagles bobblehead on the dashboard. We told him we were from Delaware and were fellow Eagles fans, and had a great conversation with him on the way to the airport. He told us that his bobblehead gets him into trouble sometimes--at one point, he said he had a couple of Dallas Cowboys fans on his bus who gave him a really hard time about the Eagles. So, he said, he dropped them off at the wrong terminal.



We were flying Hawaiian Airlines to the island of Maui for the next leg of the trip. I'd researched some of the smaller inter-island carriers, such as Island Air, Mokulele Airlines, and Go! Airlines but many of the consumer reviews said they could be somewhat unreliable and said it was worth the extra money to fly Hawaiian. I found that booking early on Hawaiian meant getting some fairly competitive rates as well. They don't follow the typical airline approach of making their best prices available just a couple of months ahead of the travel dates. Instead, Hawaiian's best rates were available several months out, and they slowly raised their prices as they went along.

As a side note, Island Air did offer some good discounts on car rentals through their website, and you can sign up for e-mail offers that occasionally will offer discounts on airfare. And Mokulele was fairly inexpensive, but you also have to be comfortable flying in a 7-seat prop plane. I tend to think this would have been a pretty cool experience. But I had heard stories of flights being cancelled at the last minute, so I didn't pull the trigger. Maybe next time.

Hawaiian does charge bag fees and overweight fees. We went to a self-service kiosk to weigh our bags and found that one was over the limit. The menu gave us two options:
Would you like to: A) check your bag as-is or B) quickly re-pack your bags and weigh again?

We chose option B. No problems that time.

We ended up having a decent wait for our flight. I had a bit of a panic when they announced they may be checking our carry-on bags for size and saw that my duffel didn't fit in the little basket by the gate. I shouldn't have worried, because not only did they not bother checking, but most people on the flight were bringing rolling suitcases large enough to smuggle a baby elephant.

Inter-island flights are a little strange. You take off, and immediately the flight attendants are racing up and down the aisle shoving POG juice in your face as a mid-flight refreshment (most of us were big fans of POG juice, by the way). You barely have enough time to guzzle it down before they're collecting trash and you've begun the final descent. I think the flight to Maui was about 30 minutes from gate-to-gate, not including safety briefings that no one pays attention to anyway.

We had a nice view of the island as we flew over and landed at Kahului Airport a little after 10:30 a.m. As we headed to the baggage claim, we spotted a couple of familiar faces: my aunt and cousin had made the trip to greet us at the airport, leis in hand. It was great to see them, and we were touched that they had made the effort to come see us rather than waiting for us to arrive at the house. They're usually the ones traveling east to see the rest of the family, so I think they were happy to have some visitors making the trip to see them this time around. Hopefully we didn't wear out our welcome.

Our rental car for the island of Maui was a Jeep Compass, again rented via Costco (through Budget). This was our least favorite car from the whole trip, mostly because it was slightly uncomfortable and had a noisy engine that resembled the buzz of a dentist's drill. But still, it did its job getting us from point A to point B.

The island of Maui is basically two mountains connected via a land bridge in between. To the east is Haleakala, a dormant volcano with massive sideslopes rising out of the ocean, and then across the valley to the west is the creatively-named West Maui Mountain range. It does have a Hawaiian name, but I forget what it is and probably can't spell it anyway. According to our guidebook (were now using Maui Revealed), as the island ages it will eventually slide back into the sea, which means the valley will disappear underwater and the mountains will become two separate islands. So you'd better get over there while you still can.

My aunt and cousin have homes in the same neighborhood in the town of Kula, which is on the western slope of Haleakala. There's only one highway up the mountain and it takes about 15-20 minutes to drive to Kula, uphill all the way. Given the protests from our Jeep engine, we weren't sure if it was going to give out. But sure enough, it made the trip and we were soon piling into my aunts house.

Then we did something almost unheard-of on an Oblivious Family Vacation®:

We did absolutely nothing.

After all of the travel, late nights, and hectic running around on Oahu, we were feeling pretty tired. So we decided to take a rest day. We hung out at the house, talked with our relatives, and read books. We had a week to explore Maui, so we could afford to have some downtime. At this point, it was definitely needed.

I don't have a lot of pictures of us doing nothing, so I figured I'd show off our accommodations. My aunt has spent a lot of time working on her garden on the slopes beneath her home, and the effort has paid off with a lot of exotic flowers. I didn't write down their names, so I'll go with my best guess. Maybe Julie will remember.

Here's the home:

And some of the specimens in the garden. First up is the "spindly red-and-orange thing":

And the "fuller red-and-orange thing":

"Reddish-purple flower":

The one item I remember about these plants was that my aunt was angry with my uncle for digging some up and throwing them away when she learned that they sold for $200 at the local garden shop.

Some of my aunt's newest purchases were some hibiscus plants with flowers as big as...well, as big as my daughter's head:

Some kind of orchid? I really should have written this stuff down.

Looking down from the deck:

Lastly, here's the view from my aunt's deck. You can see the West Maui Mountains with the island of Lanai in the background. And no, this did not get old.

And this was the evening's late sun. Unfortunately, we never got a great sunset from here because the mountains were always covered with clouds in the evening:

We had a nice family dinner that evening and would wake up refreshed and ready to start exploring.

Coming Up Next: We're on Maui. In June. Wearing sweatshirts.