Winter in Maui

We left for Maui right after New Years (1/3/2020) and returned to Portland 2/20/2020.  Almost seven weeks!  It wasn't seeming as long as it used to before we made friends there.  Kai Makani was truly starting to feel like a second home (only warmer).  In addition to having visit from mainland friends, Earl and I were having a grandchild visit for the first time completely on her own*.  The airlines consider passengers 14 and over "independent travelers"—yay!

Too close to whales

In addition to the tropical flora there, Maui also has amazing wildlife.  We have white egrets in our complex.  They're less obtrusive than the Pooping Pigeons (that we can see anyway).  But we also saw a rare, endangered monk seal basking in the sun. Local conservationists were quick to tape off a wide area to keep nosy tourists at bay. Snorkelers, divers, and swimmers usually see plenty of turtles and fish.  The humpback whales winter in Hawaii to give birth.  Capturing whales on camera is tricky.  Earl learned to be patient, pay attention, and listen for the "slap" (whale tails on the water surface).  Whale mothers are pretty protective of their babies.  Even well intentioned paddlers can get fined for getting too close, not to mention pissing off a mother whale.

Maui is a
photographer's dream

Our friends, Shannon & Philip, arrived for a brief visit the first part of January. They brought their daughter and spent their time exploring, snorkeling, photographing, and enjoying the local fauna. 

Shannon Mid January 
Tokyo airport 

They were having to cut their visit short because the window was closing on a substitute trip to Asia, having had to cancel last year. I wondered if the virus in Wuhan, China was going to impact them, but Shannon & Philip didn't feel that it would affect U.S. tourists.  Always adventurous travelers, they weren't put off by the "masks in airport" requirement. 

After they left, we moved on to our "not do much" routine (sleep, yoga, read, eat).  It turned out to be fortuitous, as Earl felt a bit under the weather—nothing major, probably a low grade flu bug, but so unlike him 🧐 Hmm.... 

Mopeds, Food & Drinks, 
the 3 amigos

Ed and Tony came next.  Ed had usually come with his wife, but this time, she elected to stay In Portland to care for their new puppy.  If ever there was an ideal tourist in Maui, it was his buddy Tony, the original water guy.  Although always up for anything, I think he would've been happy if we had dropped him in the ocean for two weeks.  Ed was very familiar with Maui, so he and Tony rented mopeds for the week rather than a car. That was their transportation and they went everywhere with them.  

14 year old Zoe

Zoe, our second grandchild came last. At 14, she was no longer a child dependent on adults for a vacation agenda.  Up for anything, she also had plans of her own.  Earl and I were welcome to join, but if not, she was good to go alone. For the first time, she and Grandpa attended Fudge University (really). They took an instructional class which included making their own fudge.  At least she came home with candy and not a t-shirt emblazoned with FU.  She hiked, walked and paddle boarded by herself. It was a far cry from the visit when she was a toddler.  

Toddler Zoe

Because she is blessed with beautiful porcelain skin, I lived in mortal fear of sending her home with a sunburn.  I knew she was old enough to put her own sunscreen on, but I remember a time when amount of sun exposure had nothing to do with maturity.  I nagged and, to her credit, she kept any eye rolling well hidden.  

Zoe had gone for her daily beach walk, when I got a text from a Kai Makani neighbor whose condo borders the walking path to the beach.

Neighbor: "I just saw a young lady with the palest legs I have ever seen.  Is that your granddaughter?" 

"Yes, that's Zoe.  Both she and her younger sister have the same fair skin.  The good news for me as an overprotective grandmother, is that she's not a sunbather, wears a hat, sun shirts and uses sunscreen".

The lesson:  Not knowing that the COVID–19 pandemic would turn the world upside down in less than a month, we didn't appreciate how fortunate we were to have almost seven weeks in paradise before the barn door closed.  20–20 hindsight 🧐 Hmm.... 

*Previous posts: Out of the Mouths of Babes