Thursday, July 8, 2010

The Past Few Days and Now

Today we leave Maui and head to Kauai. We have not visited Kauai and are excited about this new adventure.

Now to catch you up on the last few days. If I had one word to sum it up it would be quiet. We had plans, but as you well know, plans can change. Monday afternoon, as we headed into Kahului, my sweet husband began a sneezing fit. I knew this was not a good sign. We arrived at Bounty Music when two (yes, two) ukuleles were purchased. They are beautiful Koa wood and have a sweet sound. The rest of the day was quiet as he tried to rest/recover.

Tuesday he was able to attend some of the conference in the early morning but quickly realized he just needed to get to bed. We had reservations to eat at Mama's Fish House and then journey up to Haleakala to watch the sunset and see the stars, but it was a no-go.

While my sweet husband rested I rode the trolley to Whaler's Village (a local shopping area). Shopping always cheers me up!! As I headed back on the trolley another beautiful rainbow blessed my presence. My other half was feeling a bit better so we listened to a bit of music by the pool then attended the 8:00 Tour of the Stars that is held on the rooftop of the Hyatt. I must say it was pretty good. Not as good as the Star Gazing tour we had a couple of years ago on Mauna Kea with Reb and Josh AND the guide was certainly not as friendly (I think he may have been a little OCD).

Anyway, we were very fortunate to see two amazing sites. They were both very quick but very AWESOME. One was a meteor, which I have never seen before and the second was the Hubble Space Telescope. Our guide found out the exact time it would be traveling across our Maui sky and the exact location and exactly how long it would last. He was a very precise gentleman and he was accurate on all accounts. Below is a video (use the full screen feature for better viewing). Now all that you will see is a dot going across the sky. It will get brighter then fade but I promise, this is the Hubble Spacecraft.



Saturn. Viewed through my camera through the telescope lens.

 On to Wednesday. Not a good day, at least for one of us. I believe that my sweet husband slept about 18 of the 24 hours. You know, it's really difficult to carry on with some of your plans while the one you love is sick in bed in a hotel room. I really wanted to see this goat farm I had read about so I got in our jeep and on the road I went.

First up, I headed northwest to the West Maui Airport. It is a small facility located up on a hill. I was told I would be able to get some great photos of west Maui, Molokai, Lanai and part of the east side of Maui. Maui, for those of you who don't know, is shaped like a figure 8 lying on its side. The view was awesome.















I continued up the west side for a bit and stopped at Honolua Bay. Again, awesome views!


















Then is was off to the Surfing Goat Dairy. Now that was an interesting ride! Through the city of Kahului and down a semi-paved road into what appeared to be the boonies of Maui. I had to drive by the landfill. These pictures tell it all.


All these plastic bags in the fence and tree branches. UGH!

















Finally, I found it. Great little dairy and I do mean little. The owners bought the land several years ago, cleared it, built a barn then researched about raising goats. Two years ago they were able to purchase goats from the Big Island and so started the dairy. They have about 200 goats that produce the best milk for making goat cheese. I think they are the only goat dairy in Hawaii and they have won several awards! I had several samples and it was the BEST GOAT CHEESE I HAVE EVER TASTED! I am so glad they ship!
Baby goat section. These babies have been recently weened.

Farm cat. Didn't want his picture taken.

This baby goat want his picture taken and some loving.

Goat herding dog.

Dog who thinks he is a goat-herding dog, but isn't.

These youngsters are around 1.

Beautiful face!

Another farm cat.


One view of the dairy.




















































I then stopped at the Maui Ocean Center. This is a local aquarium and was pretty good. I guess when you live in a city with an award-winning aquarium, there is really no comparison. For folks who have not visited an aquarium or don't live close to one, then it is really pretty decent.



















Short drive on Front Street in Lahaina then back to the Hyatt. Read some while the other half as still snoozing, then I woke him up to watch the sunset with me on the beach. It was good for him to get up and out for a bit and the sunset was beautiful. There were some clouds around the sun but it was still amazing.
Kids I didn't know posed for me! They liked the picture!




Little critter watching me!

Resting in the hammock.



























































































Today, the sick one was able to go to his conference. He is feeling much better, but still no appetite and a little wobbly. We have a hour flight over to Kauai at 4:20 p.m. Hopefully we will be sitting out on our new balcony by 7:30ish.

There are lots more pictures from yesterday, so JUST CLICK HERE. And there are some pictures from Tuesday IF YOU CLICK HERE.

More posting later! Aloha!

2 comments:

Rebecca Nelson Edwards said...

I finally looked at your posts - I predicted that your trip would be terrible without us, but didn't think it would as terrible as Dad getting sick and the Cascades being closed! Sorry to jinx you!

Did you remember that Honolua Bay is where we snorkeled on our sea kayaking trip? I am scrapbooking our Hawaii trip right now, while you're there, so I'm less jealous. I made a note of that.

Do you have the blog posts from when we were on the Big Island in 2008? I'm confused about chronology when we were there...

Amy Arnaz said...

Wow! Love the photos, Donna. A perfect vacation.
Amy