Maui Part I

Last winter while Carolyn and I were in NYC our friends Kate and Blake were officially engaged. A short time later Carolyn asked me if I would be interested in attending their wedding on top of a Hawaiian volcano at sunrise. As exciting as the prospect of another Hawaii trip was I had to temper my excitement with cool reason. After all we have already done a lot of traveling this year and our finances these days are pretty tight. The make-it-happen genius of Carolyn soon overcame my flimsy excuses for not taking advantage of a opportunity to do something amazing. With that we were off for a much needed break after the trying GRE's. Kate was one of the members of the famed Bramasole house while attending UCSB. Joining us would be nearly the whole crew including Kelley, Jess, Laura, Liz, and Page. Laura and her boyfriend, and professional adventurist, Scott picked us up at the airport and with that we were turned loose on the island of Maui. To keep costs down we went to costco, getting all the basics to avoid eating at expensive restaurants. Our first order of business was snorkeling at Kaanapali beach near Black Rock before being treated to a beautiful Hawaiian sunset.This was just my second trip with my new digital camera so I went nuts taking almost 1500 photos the entire trip.




The next day, with some friends still arriving, Laura,Scott,Carolyn and I headed for Turtle Beach, rumored to be a fantastic snorkel spot for viewing sea turtles. It was an impressive spot to say the least. We found an entry point into the cove-like area that required us to jump in from a 9 ft cliff. Professional adventurist Scott naturally went first to assess the potential for fatality. Once he popped up safely beaming we one by one jumped into to view the colorful underwater world below. Just before jumping I steadied myself and adjusted my flippers measuring up my leap. From a secret cave within the rock a large shadowy silhouette abruptly jetted out. The clear water and the excited shouts of Scott, Laura, and Carolyn instantly revealed we were in the company of a creature for which the beach was named. He was the first of a few we swam with on that day as we explored the stunningly vibrant coral reefs teaming with yellow tangs, Moorish idols, and puffer fish. I couldn't help thinking of my family and friends at home and how I wish I could share this moment with them. Someday I hope to share this experience with you all, it is more thrilling, colorful, and memorable than you can know.







Next we took a hike in some of Maui's dried lava fields. We had a picnic lunch on the beach before hiking further and stumbling upon a natural infinity pool fed by waves splashing up the vertical rock face rising up out of the pristine ocean.



The day ended with another postcard sunset that we enjoyed from downtown Lahina just blocks from our hotel. The whole crew had arrived now and we enjoyed catching up, reveling in the excitement of being together in Maui.