Kauai and Maui, May 2011

Aloha

This year's trip to Hawaii, we spent a week in Kauai

and a week in Maui. We loved Kauai, as it is known as

the garden isle. We stayed on the east side of the island

and traveled as far north and as far south as we could go.

Kauai is the island of the free roaming

chickens. They are all over the place. We love to snorkel,

so we went to every beach we possibly could find. We really

had a wonderful time.

After listening to the orientation about the island, Gary first took advantage of getting a Hawaiian massage.

That's our condo in the background...it really is in a great spot.

Beautiful poi pond outside the reception area of condo.

Our view from our patio. They did some wind surfing right out front!

The local fruit stand.....mangos, papayas, pineapples and more. Yum

These are the chickens that roam all over the island....

A new meaning to the free range chicken dinners on the local menus.

Recognize those toes? Just relaxing on the patio.

Kilauea Lighthouse is the northernmost point of the main Hawaiian Islands. Built in 1913, it had the largest lens of it's kind and it guided ships heading to and from the Orient. In the 1970's its light was turned off and this landmark was replaced by a low-maintenance light beacon.

We went on a 6 hour snorkeling trip....actually it was more of a boat trip on a catamaran.

Only one stop for snorkeling but along the way, we saw lots of dolphins, turtles and even a whale and her calf, still in the warm waters of Hawaii.


It got a little rough on the way back. Water sprayed over the front of the boat, and I began to feel a little sick due to the rough waters. We got back to the dock just in time....the dramamine really doesn't work well.

The Coconut God......
One of many waterfalls in Kauai.....big rain night before made it muddy.
We went on a tubing expedition while in Kauai. It was actually in an old sugar cane drainage ditch....water looks muddy due to last night's rain. The six wheel drive bus took us through parts of the back country where some movies have been made.
At the base of Kauai's Mount Waialeale, one of the wettest places on the planet, Hawaii visitors can enjoy an unconventional island experience: the pitch black of an unlit stone tunnel. That absolute darkness actually only lasts a moment or two during the mountain tubing expedition, a three-hour activity focused on a lively and highly enjoyable float down the Hanamaulu irrigation ditch.

Built more than a century ago, the four-mile collection of open canals and tunnels brought water from Mount Waialeale's waterfalls and streams to the Lihue Plantation's sugar cane fields.

A must in Hawaii, is the shaved ice. Delicious on a hot day!
On our way to the Tunnel's Beach, there are wet and dry caves to explore.

Spouting Horn is one of Kauai’s natural wonders. Located near Poipu Beach on the island’s south coast, this blowhole can shoot water up to 50 feet into the air when waves crash into it. The water is forced up when the ocean flows under the lava shelf and is shot up through a small opening on the surface. The best times to see this natural phenomenon is during high tide and high surf.

Another hole nearby only makes an eerie groan instead of blowing water. An ancient Hawaiian legend tells that the coastline was once guarded by a giant moo (lizard). This moo ate people who swam or fished here. One day, a man called Liko went swimming here and the moo tried to attack him. Liko managed to swim under the lava shelf and escaped through the blowhole, but the giant moo got stuck in the small opening. The story goes that the moo is still there today, and its cries are of hunger and pain.

Waimea Canyon, on Kauai's West Side, is described as "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific." Although not as big or as old as its Arizona cousin, you won’t encounter anything like this geological wonder in Hawaii. Stretching 14 miles long, one mile wide and more than 3,600 feet deep, the Waimea Canyon Lookout provides panoramic views of crested buttes, rugged crags and deep valley gorges. The grand inland vistas go on for miles.

It's not the Grand Canyon, but pretty impressive.
Interesting bridges in Kauai....many one way bridges.

Great day snorkeling at Kee' Beach. We drove all the way to the end of the road going North. While we were there, it rained..stopped, rained again but still got some great snorkeling in on our last day in Kauai.

First week is over....now off to Maui for more fun. Pretty small plane....hour flight from

Kauai to Maui.
Our condo is located just minutes from Ka'anapali Beach and Lahaina.
Our time share is in the distance. It is a great location with a nice sandy beach out front with some good snorkeling. We saw a huge turtle, lots of fish and just beautiful clear, blue water.

We enjoy the view from our 9th floor balcony overlooking Molokai and Lanai. Where are all the people?

Met our friend, Ted, who lives in Maui part time. He is an avid surfer and wind surfer and also a great guitar player and singer. He plays at different venues in Maui. Ted and another singer entertained us at the Ale House. We hope to see more of Ted in North County playing with his band.
Lots of bananas growing just outside our condo in Maui. (Yes, this picture is correct side up.)
Walking down the streets of Lahaina....Gary looking over Lahaina Harbor. We bought a shirt for a friend from Cheeseburger in Paradise and a few souvenirs while strolling the streets.
This is one of our favorite restaurants on Maui. Up the road from Lahaina, it is right on the beach....great ambience, food and mai tais. It really has the Maui feeling at Aloha Mixed Plate.

Had a great waiter at the Aloha Mixed Plate....he just kept bringing the mai tais. We didn't even have to ask.

This is the beach where Jeff and Danielle will

get married on June 1st. We had to check it out

when we were there. It will be a beautiful setting for them.

The beautiful Honolua Bay. You need to hike down the trail to reach the water, but is worth it.

The family restaurant on Maui. A very unique

restaurant inside with good food. Go "Nutz".

Drove to Paia....this is the spot where the wind

blows for all the wind surfers. The town of Paia

is very quaint with shops for the tourists....last

town as you venture on to the road to Hana.

We, of course, stopped for lunch and some gelato.

We passed on the trip to Hana this time.

The last sunset at Leilani's on Ka'anapali Beach.

It was time to go home the next day.

Quartzite, January 2011

Here we are at Quartzite. Can you find our motorhome?

We had our first experience going to Quartzite, AZ in January. This is a place where all the RVers go to relax and shop at the huge swap meet. Each day we went to a new area to walk around and see "the junk" and then returned each afternoon to happy hour and stories around the campfire. This is Mike and Nancy with their newly purchased hats.
Cathie couldn't resist this peacock for her yard.
Happy hour to begin after a day of shopping... Great fun with great friends.

Mexico Riviera, on the Carnival Splendor

Markay and I are off to the Mexico Riviera on Carnival's Splendor ship.
Our granddaughter graduated from high school in June, so Grandma and

Markay are off to the Mexican Riviera. We left grandpa home to keep up

the chores at home and catch up on his yardwork.

We left from Long Beach and set sail for a seven day, fun filled cruise.

Markay is dressed for the elegant night. We ate almost every night in the dining room. She wasn't too impressed with the dinners but it was fun to get to know our servers who were from Russian and India.
Sunset off the back of the boat--two jacuzzies and the adult pool.
A little windy up on deck eleven--this was just before Markay slipped on the damp deck and fell pretty hard on her wrist and elbow. She was in a lot of pain, and she was taken by wheelchair to the infirmery. Upon an exam, they wrapped her arm and sent her back to the stateroom with ice and ibuprofen. We weren't sure if it was broken, but she thought it was! It turned out to be a bad sprain and we could continue our cruise.
Our first stop was Puerta Vallarta. We took a city tour and did some shopping. Then we stopped for lunch and a swim at the beach. The following day, we were in Mazatlan.

The excursion we originally planned wasn't available but we did see the old part of Mazatlan and the Golden Zone. We had a great lunch watching the parasailers on the beach and, of course, all of the locals selling their wares on the beach. We got real good at saying NO!

Here we are on the boat in Cabo San Lucas getting ready to parasail. We opted to go first out of our group and had a great tandem ride. She had the most fun in Cabo. I think she wants to go back.
Here we are taking off from the back of the boat.....actually that's not us but that is our guide

and the boat.
Our cruise is coming to an end. We have one day of sailing before we return to Long Beach. Markay and I will have great memories of our trip and look forward to more trips together. Grandpa survived on his own but he's happier now that I'm home and back to our routines.

Journey's End

Our journey to Belize has ended. We had a great time and the weather did clear up the last few days. The big rain we had on Wednesday was a tropical depression with 8 inches of rain in one day. It was still quite hot and muggy throughout the week. We are going home with some mosquito bites. They were really bad after the big rain.

The day after the rain was beautiful. We are on the dock waiting for the snorkeling boat to pick us up for the afternoon. This is looking back to the newest addition of the time share. It is not quite completed but includes a very large pool--one of three pools at Captain Morgan's.

The water is beautiful at Amberguis Caye. Our snorkel trip took us to two snorkeling spots--one called Mexico Rocks and the other near the reef. The water was warm and the coral and fish are plentiful.

The catamaran off for a sunset cruise. We later found out that this was a cruise for all the owners of timeshares. Somehow we didn't get word we were suppose to go--oh, well, it was just more eating and drinking and I probably would have been seasick!

This is one of two boats bringing us to the tiny

airport in San Pedro. As you can see in the front part of the boat is everyone's luggage. We were sitting in the back with 3 other people. Loaded to the brim! This is how you travel from the time share to the town of San Pedro.

The other boat with all the other people returning home the same day. They do pack you in! We took a very short walk to San Pedro's airport to board an "8" passenger plane to fly to Belize City. This was smaller than the "12" passenger plane when we arrived. Thank goodness, it is only a 20 minute ride.

We're off to Belize City to finally fly home on a real airplane. See you at home.

Ambergris Caye, Captain Morgan's Resort

Here we are inside our Palapa watching the rain. This is the third day of rain and today and it is really raining. The two previous days we were able to walk on the beach north of us and south of us without getting too wet checking out all the new developments and some of the restaurants. However, today is not a good day to go outside for a walk. It's pouring! It is a good day to catch up with the blog.

The next several pictures are for the benefit of our friends, Dana and Cathie, who are traveling in Europe. They have shared many pictures on their blog of their dining experiences and we wish to do the same.

This is Gary about to enjoy a Belizean lunch made by our tour guide's wife. Chicken, rice and beans, and cole slaw. It was delicious.

Gary, once again, enjoying a Rum Punch on the balcony. It seems appropriate since we are staying at Captain Morgan's.

Last night was Belizean Culture Night which included a large buffet with local artists displaying their wares around the pool. We didn't start with dessert but this is the picture of key lime pie and coconut cake. The main meal included chicken, beef and pork chops with rice, chips and salsa made with pineapple and beans, in addition to plantains.

I'm not sure whose plate this is, but it looks like he went overboard at the buffet!

Gary, in his Cayman Island shirt, enjoying his Belizean dinner.

The open dining room at the resort is very nice. It overlooks the pool and the beach. We have had several dinners here and they have been wonderful. We had snapper and chicken this night.

Everyone needs to experience a "Philly Cheesecake"

sandwich while in Bellize??

Can you guess what this is? Our guide stopped

along side the road to pick this off a tree.

It was a Cashew Tree! The yellow is the fruit that

can be eaten and the nut at the end is the cashew.

No wonder cashews are so expensive. One nut at

a time has to be processed. That's the real cashew

on the right.

Belize, May 2010

After arriving in Belize City, we hopped on this very small prop airplane to fly into San Pedro.

It was a short flight with beautiful views of the Caribbean and the second longest barrier reef.

Gary soon needed to take off long sleeve shirt and long pants to adapt to the hot, humid weather.

We stayed in San Pedro for three days before going to our time share. This was the place our "bug man" back home recommended to us. In fact, we met his wife who was visiting San Pedro the same time we were. It seemed like many of the locals hang out in this area. The next day, we rented a golf cart (the preferred way to travel around the town) to see how the town had changed and to plan our next meals. We drove from one end to the other, stopping at the Palapa Bar and Grill for some refreshments.

We were feeling quite adventurous while driving our golf cart, so we signed up for some Cave Tubing and a tour of some Mayan ruins. We set the alarm very early and took an hour boat ride back to Belize City. We met our personal tour guide and began our adventure. Our guide was a native to the area and had a wealth of information. We walked through the rainforest to get to the area for the float. We saw massive stalactites & stalagmites, bats and a waterfall inside the cave.

After our tubing, we changed clothes and headed to the Cave Tubing Lunch site along side the rode. We had a delicious Belizean lunch ( made by the sister and wife of our tour guide)--then headed down the road to see this Mayan ruin called Xunantunich which means Stone Woman.

There are 132 steps to the top. I'll let you think we climbed them in the heat of the day. We were actually only 10 minutes from Guatemala. After a 12 hour day, we were ready to take a cold shower and then off to the local dinner place.

Saturday morning, we packed our bags and waited for the water taxi to take us to our time share at Captain Morgan on the Amberquis Caye. This is about a 20 minute ride in a small boat loaded with about 10 people and all the luggage. We are a little more isolated here, but golf carts and water taxis are available if you want to go back to San Pedro. There are several restaurants nearby and Captain Morgan has a nice dining experience. It's Belizean night, Tuesday so we will be joining the fun then.

We're hoping to relax a day or two and then perhaps take in a snorkeling trip. Most of the really nice water is further out. As you can see in this picture, it's pretty grassy right on the shoreline. We have two pools and a lovely balcony to enjoy. We plan to do some reading and relaxing.