Hawaii, 2010

WEDNESDAY

Arrived around noon. Got a car. Drove to Condo rental office and then to condo. Moved in. Went to the grocery store and got food, tacky beach towels, cheap sunglasses, Hana Bay Rum, and POG. A passion fruit, orange and guava juice that is very popular on the island. Back to the house and got grocery’s settled. Donna and Kim showed up and it was cocktail hour until our walk to the beach at sunset. Mango Absolute with POG. Hana Bay rum on ice and with the POG. Our first sunset at Kamaloe Beach Park was lovely. It was nice to get wet in water that was not too cold. No shells anywhere. Was a bit bummed about that. The girls ate at Fred’s Mexican Restaurant. I had Dos XX Amber. The three amigos went swimming in the pool and I put my foot up for a bit.

THURSDAY

Lazy morning..... watching the sun come up and looking out at the islands and the water and what sounds like rain that comes when palm fronds rub against each other in the wind. We had such great ocean views. Breakfast at Kehei Caffee. Local dish called a Loco Moco. It was a mound of fried rice with spam and peppers topped by a burger patty and two sunny side eggs. That whole thing was topped by brown gravy, Amazing. I will try and recreate it at home.

Made a stop at an outdoor craft market for fresh fruit. Bananas that were fat, small, and mild tasting. Very good stuff. Drove to Pa’ia. Very surprised that so much of the west side of the island is desert. Very dry and looking like New Mexico. Pa’ia is a sleepy little surf town with as many galleries and tacky beach stores as in Florida. Lunch at Cafe Mombo. Great Kailua Pork salad with dabs of tropical salsa and a light chile mayo dressing. Jenn had a burger she really liked and the fries that came with said burger were fabulous. Made reservations at Boss Frog’s for Friday’s snorkel adventure at Molokini Crater. Rented an underwater camera for the week. Used it once on the dive trip. Bought sun hats that we left at the condo for the folks who come after us.

FRIDAY

Early morning departure from the marina. When we got on board there was ultra fresh pineapple, melon, grapes, strawberries, mini muffins, pastry, and drinks waiting. Pretty good stuff, especially the pineapple. Not a long trip out to the reef but a nice boat ride all the same. By the time we got to Molokini there were at least a hundred people in the water. Most of the fish were staying down at the bottom and out of the way of the crazy splashing horde. Did see nice coral, some fish and got better pictures than when we were in the Bahamas. Headed to what they call Turtle Town next. Saw turtles, but again, all the splashing beasts kept them at the bottom. When they did come up for air, all the big men people splashed around too much and scared them back to the depths. But, I can now say I have seen a Green Sea Turtle in the ocean. Very interesting creatures.
Cocktails and lunch on the boat ride back to the harbor. Spent the evening at the condo eating cereal and being lazy. We were never night owls on this trip.

SATURDAY

Drove up the coast to Lahaina. The drive itself was worth the trip. Surfers, waves, azure ocean, paddle boarders, flowers, and a view of Molakai. Lahaina actually reminds me of Key West. Same kind of architecture. Food that day wasn’t the best. Stopped at Aloha Mixed Grill. I had coconut shrimp and caesar salad. The shrimp got left in the fryer too long and nothing more than an an average salad. Jenn had the Kailua pork grilled cheese. Too salty said she. I had what is now my favorite beer. Big Swell IPA made right on Maui. Also some called Bikini Blonde. Drove home thinking we would have dinner at Spago at the Four Seasons Resort, but nothing on the menu spoke to either one of us and we ended up with burgers from McDonalds and the best gelato ever. We found this place called Ono Gelato. Great flavors but my favorite turned out the be the Lilikoi Quark. A goat milk gelato with passion fruit. Amazing stuff. We both liked Sandy Beach. A peanut butter gelato with something that looked like sand and tasted like heaven on top. We ate a lot of it while we were there.

SUNDAY

A long one. The Road To Hana is the “don’t miss adventure” on the island according to locals. It took eight hours to drive (round trip) about a hundred miles. Lots of twists and turns in the road. Nearly 50 one lane bridges, and lots of 10 MPH speed zones. And then there is the time you take to check out what the locals are selling and stop for photo opportunities around every corner.

The east side of the island is far different than where we stayed in Kehei. It is what I had expected to see the minute I got off the plane. That scene from Blue Hawaii in which Elvis Presley’s character drives to empty beaches, and through vast fields of pineapples surrounded by green lushness in every direction. The west (desert) side of the island gets about 10 inches of rain a year while the road to Hana gets nearly 83 in the same time period. It was so lush. Bananas, passion fruit, berries, limes and who knows what else growing by the side of the road and free for the picking. Amazing flowers and bamboo forests that looked, from a distance, like giant buds of weed. There was rugged coastline, picturesque little villages, plenty of road side stands for coconut and island takes on a bunch of different kinds of food. My favorite that day was coconut fresh out of the shell. It was sweet, soft, buttery, and amazing. Never had anything like it.

Second favorite, the Kailua pork taco. Flavorful meat covered with coleslaw, black beans and salsa. Wanted to try another kind but the first one was so big I had to pass.

Third favorite food of the day was a Maui Gold pineapple all cut up and cleaned by the woman working the Huelo Farm’s stand. People receive room and board for work on the farm. They learn organic techniques to take away with them. Ain’t nothing wrong with having a beautiful place to live for a time as well.

MONDAY

Quiet day at the condo, enjoying the view. Movies..... with our new favorite crack. It’s Mauna Loa Milk Chocolate Toffee Macadamias. We did the last bits of laundry, cleaned up the condo, and did shopping for fish and more gelato. Donna and Kim came to dinner and I whipped up a meal that would have been $45 a plate in a restaurant for about $60 for the four of us.

The menu included:

Sesame and coconut crusted Ohno cooked on the grill. The fish was swimming that morning. Dips in the pool between turns of the fish!

A salsa made from passion fruit, mango, tomato, sweet maui onion, pineapple, the smallest bell peppers I’ve ever seen, a pinch of salt, and some of that passion orange guava juice. No heat or cilantro.

Little Romaine lettuce boats with Hana farm fresh cherry tomatoes and cucumbers in them. I drizzled them with a mix of this fabulous spice mix of sesame, herbs and toasted coconut, added a touch of mayo, a bit of soy sauce, a very small bit of salt and pepper, and EVOO. Too good to be just made up in my head like that.

Simple grilled, young, tender asparagus with oil, and S&P. The produce on the island is amazing!

Jenn was in charge of boiling the wild and white rice. Pretty good stuff.

Dessert was provided by Ono Gelato. Cheesecake, Sandy Beach, and goat milk and passion fruit. Swimming and cocktails at the pool followed dinner.

TUESDAY

Last half day in paradise. Packing, getting coconuts, a necklace for me, and macadamia nut Hershey’s kisses for a cupcake jenn wants to make. We tried to find these shortbread cookies we love but no luck. Got toffee macs in chocolate (aka crack) instead. Returned the rental car, went through a long check in at the airport. Agricultural screening for whatever it is that you can’t bring back to the mainland. A huge line at the baggage counter, same at security. We took our last hour sitting outside the gate looking at the green mountains.

The flight back to Portland was uneventful but uncomfortable. We paid extra for bulkhead seats but coach is still the pack them in like sardine section. The extra 8 inches of leg room, and no row in front of us was nice. Funny thing is Hawaiian still provides a meal in flight. On the way out it was a killer crustless spinach quiche and an tasty blueberry muffin. On the way back it was chicken pasta with mushrooms and a pretty good piece of chocolate cherry cake.

WEDNESDAY

It is good to be home. To have slept in my own bed, played with the dog, and cooked my favorite breakfast of just laid this morning over easy eggs on buttered toast topped with fresh from the garden tomato slices.

Time to rest and recharge and get on with my life post chemo.