3 months at home, then Maui 2023 – Jan 3 – Mar 1

3 boring, cold months in Michigan 

October through January seemed like an eternity, doing work around the house, living with cold gray weather and fitting in regular doctor, dentist and other appointments.  Though Dave’s business was busy with holiday sales, we were mostly bored. Looking forward to Maui was how we survived it without losing our minds. I did fit in a 3-week painting class at the local art center, as well as the reorganization of our spare bedroom to make it a studio.  I did some painting, listend to many history poscasts and started a timeline of all of my travels.  I also managed to sort through and shred several years worth of old documents that I previously never got around to. Reviewing old credit card statements, I was able to fill in some gaps in travel timeline.

It was quite gratifying to review all of the cool places I have been to so far. I have been to roughly 31 countries, including 4 territories (It’s an estimate as I took several cruises and don’t recall exact itineraries). Since I met Dave, we have always taken multiple trips every year. 2001 was an epic year with 5 amazing trips – Feb  -Oahu/Kauai/Maui, July – Breckenridge, Sept – Telluride, Oct – Key West, Nov – Maui. We did this all while I was working 55+ hours per week and taking MBA classes at night. I remember being very tired….

Maui

It was great to return to Maui, as always. We had more windy and rainy days, than we did last year, but there was plenty of sun.

Going through life, it is clear that nothing stays the same. Change is pretty much constant. We have noticed that on an island, that is a high-end resort area, the rate of change seems to be far greater.  People change jobs and move more frequently. We know of more people dying, than on the mainland, especially young people. Many of the older people we know, no longer go to Maui. Many full-time residents leave the island. Inflation seems greater. What remains the same is the beautiful scenery, the warm weather, constant whale sightings during whale season and how happy we are to be there.

We often reflect on how we are very grateful that we had the foresight and resolve to figure out how to buy a place there, when we could. If we hadn’t, we would not be able to afford to spend much time there, now.

Two months seemed to pass very quickly. Though I’m always sad to leave, we have new camping adventures ahead.

View from Pu’u KeKa’a (aka Black Rock). It’s my favorite stop on my morning walk or run. My happy place!
A 100-year-old rubber fig trees at the Royal Lahaina Resort. One of my favorite trees on Maui.
Rainy sunset over the pool
Honokowai Beach Park
We see rainbows nearly every morning from ou lanai. The surf break is named “rainbows”
A monk seal, napping on the beach
A typical evening, watching the sunset from our lanai
Morning view of Lanai, from the beach walk
View of a whale breaching from our lanai
Live music by Wilmont, Greg and the band at the Ka’anapali Shores
View of Lanai and Molokai at sunset
Harry Troupe, the Jimi Hendrix of Maui, playing at the Kaanapali Beach Club. We have known Harry and have been listening to him play for about 20 years.
Honolua Bay, one of the top snorkeling and surf locations on Maui.
Slushie loves his souveniers from Maui!. He now has a hat like mine and a koa wood fish hook like Dave’s.