Keeping Up With The Nonericks: Maui Part 1

As you know, Ryan and I just got back from a fabulous Maui vacation. A month or so ago we noticed that airfare and hotels were remarkably discounted. In fact, during our visit we read an article in the local paper about how the economy has reduced tourism and hotel bookings by 15% compared to this time last year. Ever the good Samaritans, we were happy to do our part to help Hawaii's economy at this difficult time.

Now let me just get something out of the way. I hate flying. I know it's "the safest way to travel" blah, blah, blah... but deep down, I'm convinced that something terrible is going to happen when I am on a plane. Ryan scoffs and rolls his eyes in the days leading up to a trip when I say horrible things like, "Wouldn't it be crazy if our plane crashed tomorrow?" and "You wouldn't say that if I died in a horrible plane crash." I know that statements like these are irrational and perhaps a little over-the-top. But after this story, you are not likely to judge me so harshly.

We arrived at SeaTac airport on time and with the sun shining over Puget Sound. Usually, I take this as a good omen for safe travel. We boarded, settled in our seats, and took off but things seemed a little strange. For one thing, I wasn't wearing my watch. I always wear a watch so that I can look at the time when we take off and time out 10 minutes of "freak out time" and after that 10 minutes, I relax a little.

Sure enough, I wasn't wearing my watch and couldn't follow my usual take off ritual. At 10,000 feet, we did a weird turn north as if we were returning to Seattle and not going west toward Hawaii. The captain announced that the cabin pressure thingy wasn't working and that going any higher would be dangerous so we had to return to Seattle. Before we could do that, however, we had to circle Puget Sound and burn (a.k.a. dump) fuel to reduce our weight before landing. Imagine an environmentalist who works on recovering Puget Sound and other water issues and the guilt he or she must have felt about releasing fuel into an already struggling ecosystem.

When we landed, emergency crews followed us down the runway (apparently standard procedure) and we waited for a few hours for the problem to be fixed. I tried to stay cool as a cucumber. I took pictures of Ryan with my iPhone. I called a few people and cracked a few jokes. But inside, I was sure that these were my last few minutes on Earth. That's it - game over. Thanks for coming. Peace out, home skillet.

Eventually we took off for the second time. I was too fired up to read, so I enjoyed a couple of movies on the 6 hour flight to Maui. First it was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. "Not too bad", I thought as I reviewed the free movie selections on the video consoles for each individual passenger. Then about three hours in, problems number 2 and 3 struck two poor defenseless travelers from the mainland.

I was watching Slumdog Millionare and felt sick. I stopped the movie, got Ryan's attention, and told him that something wasn't right. A few seconds later I fainted (problem #2) and Ryan was understandably a little worried. When I came to, I still felt sick (problem #3)and reached for the barf bag and threw up.

Let me just make one thing clear: I am not pregnant. I have fainted in the past (the priests at St. Matthew's used to call me "Thumper" because of the sound my head made when it hit the floor during mass) and sometimes my brain needs to recharge. The vomiting thing was a little weird, but I was very worked up and the extra anti-anxiety pills that I took earlier that day without consulting my doctor probably didn't help.

Finally we got to Maui. I was feeling better but both of us were tired. We went to the rental car check-in only to find out that Ryan's driver's license expired on his birthday back in early March. I rented the car, no problem, but Ryan did have to charm the ticket agent when we were leaving Maui and he didn't have valid photo identification.

After the crazy trip to Maui, we relaxed, snorkeled, hiked, explored, slept, ate, and drank for a week. For the first half of the week we stayed in Kihei, a town in south/central Maui. Kihei (pronounced key-hay) is not a resort-ridden town like other parts of the island but it is a popular tourist spot.

In Kihei, we snorkeled, explored parts of western Maui, hiked over a lava flow from 1790, and sat on the beach. Every morning, we ate breakfast at the Kihei Cafe, which we highly recommend (try the french toast with bananas and macadamia nuts and coconut syrup) before heading out for the day. Kihei is in the sunny and dry part of the island, and a couple of Seattlites had to get used to the intensity of the tropic sun that pounded us for 12 hours everyday.

For me, the highlight from the Kihei portion of our trip had to be seeing more than a handful of turtles swimming in the ocean. I think Ryan would agree because he couldn't get enough! Later in the week, he went snorkeling on his own while I sat on the beach. I almost started calling him Jacques Cousteau. In a past or future life, he is destined to host a nature show. I know it!

Later in the week, we braved the Hana Highway and stayed in the much more remote eastern Maui town of Hana. Look for pictures and accounts of that part of the trip in the next day or two. We'll also post pictures from our snorkeling adventures once we get them from the developer.

In the meantime, here are some images from Kihei. Enjoy!