June 15-23 2025
Darrin and I got to go to Maui, Hawaii with his parents! We went for our neices wedding and got to do some relaxing and exploring while we were there. It was a glorious trip!
First full day in Maui and boy did we fit a lot in!
-woke up at 3:00 am to go to Haleakala for the sunrise. Mom and Dad Simon decided they'd sit this one out. We drove up and got a perfect spot just under the summit (the summit was full). We arrived just before 5am and there were already beautiful colors in the sky. We watched in awe until 5:40 when the sun peeked out. It was very cold but we came prepared with three blankets from our condo and it wasn't too bad. After the sunrise we went to the summit and stopped at overlooks on our way back to the condo.
-went to breakfast at IHOP with Mom and Dad, then to Costco for grocery shopping for the week.
-2.5 hour nap😴!
-boogie boarding at the beach right outside our hotel for a couple hours. Dad, Darrin and I had a great time catching some great waves at a really soft sand beach.
-made dinner (Cesar salad, rotisserie chicken, sweet potato fries and mango
-played a few rounds of rummikub before we couldn’t stay awake another minute.
Day 2
Road to Hana:
*Twin falls (saw three different waterfalls-swam under two of them which was so much fun and so beautiful!
*Waikamoi Ridge Trail (nice little hike with tons of trees roots for hiking on the trail)
*Ke'anae Arboretum
*Upper Waikani Falls (ran out and snapped a pic-gorgeous falls!)
*Pua'a Kaa State Wayside Park (swam and went under the waterfall-colder than the last two but so refreshing and fun!)
Just up the road there was a pullout on the right (not sure what it's called) and across the street there was a hidden gem of a lava tube which was so cool and only took about 5 min.
*Hana Lava tube ($15/person huge lava tube to explore bigger than any we've seen)
*Pipiwai trail and the seven sacred pools (black sand beach with beautiful pools and views)
Highlights were swimming under three of the waterfalls and climbing down to the black sand beach at the seven sacred pools plus the two lava tubes and gorgeous lookouts! Brought lunch with us. Not overly crowded. A bit of rain here and there not bad. Ripe mangos and guava fallen from trees EVERYWHERE alongside the roast. You could smell it rotting while driving with all the windows up. Tried to stop and get any but as soon as they hit the ground there's bugs all in them.
Day 3
West Maui loop today.
-Tried to snorkel coral reef like we did with Wes and Jenica years ago but the waves were way too crazy. It's a windy day!
-Darrin went boogie boarding for a short time but even though the waves were big they were hard to catch.
-Black rock beach was amazing. Darrin, Dad and I went snorkeling for a long time and saw 3 turtles, tons of coral and fish, a HUMONGOUS school of fish buffet than we've ever seen and a really large, fat needle fish. The water was really clear too. Darrin jumped off a small cliff and we watched others jump off from quite high. Chilled on the beach for a bit before heading back out.
-Nakalele blowhole. So much fun to go explore and get sprayed by the blow holes.
-Lookouts (lots of beautiful lookouts)
-Shave ice
-Ho'okipa Beach to see the turtles coming in and Darrin went out boogie boarding
Day 4
-Maui tropical plantation which was 9 minutes from our condo. Really beautiful property we walked around for free and we paid $25 each for the tram tour which was fun. They took us around to all the different plants they grow on their plantation, then did a coconut husking demonstration. We got to try the inside ball in the coconut (I've never seen or tried these! Kind of a spongey texture. She described it as tasting like coconut cotton candy and it wasn't too far off) the tour guide was hilarious.
-Mo 'Ono Hawaiʻi Acai Bowls (recommended by the tour guide and they didn't disappoint!)
-Went shopping. One of the shops was called Maui ocean art and gifts. It was awesome! So many amazing shells, coral and artifacts. Really incredible things we've never seen or heard of and the owner was all about telling us about it all.
-Dinner at a BBQ food truck which was yummy!
Day 5
-Wedding rehearsal
-Wedding brunch
-La Perouse Bay (kaone o io) (really pretty beaches, a hike we did and lava rock everywhere)
-Hoapili trail and more kaone o io further down. Snorkeling here-really pretty coral and fish
-Makena landing park (went snorkeling again-saw a really big stingray swim by (maybe 2.5 feet wide and 5-6 feet long?), a starfish, a large puffer fish, an EEL!, tons and tons of "collector urchins" (after googling and using chat gpt I found this out-Dark body, often purplish or reddish brown.They cover themselves with bits of shell, coral, algae, and debris—a behavior called "camouflaging". They're smoother looking than the long-spined urchins and tend to be rounder or more dome-shaped. They do this to protect themselves), and the CORAL was SO BEAUTIFUL and COLORFUL (greens, blues, purples, reds and oranges!) and then when coming out we talked to a local and she told us about a cove turtles like to hang out in (we thought they'd be in the water but there were 5 up on the rocky shore!
Day 6
What a BEAUTIFUL WEDDING!!
-Ceremony (goodness I should have brought a box of tissues -it was just so stunning! What a dedicated, intentional couple they are-cannot wait to see their beautiful lives play out ❤️)
-swap meet by the airport, did a little shopping
-smaller swap meet in keihe and I got a beautiful sterling silver opal ring
-Nap time
-The reception-it was PERFECT! The most gorgeous sunset, yummy drinks, appetizers and dinner (very fancy), then cake, and dancing dancing dancing. It was SO hot though dancing but so much fun!
-Send-off ❤️
Day 7
-church
-Long walk on the beach outside our hotel-brown sugar sand-ultra soft and the beach just goes on and on and on
-Darrin went snorkeling while I journaled
-5 rounds of rummikub and our ice cream bars
Day 8
Last day in Maui. We fly home tonight on a red eye flight.
-Mini golfing
-Bumper boats
-Second course for mini golfing
-Shave ice
-Walked around tjmaxx
-Went to see Lilo and stitch in the theatre (really cute and especially fun that we saw it in Hawaii)
-Dinner at a Thai restaurant near the theater
Things I want to remember from this trip:
-Ice cream bars and rummikub almost every night with Mom and Dad
-pomelo fruit picking outside the hotel and eating lots (tastes like grapefruit but sweeter)
-the sounds of waves crashing right out our window while sleeping and during the day since we didn't have AC at our condo
-the STARS were beautiful
-the feeling of floating under waterfalls and feeling not a care in the world
-getting to hear family history stories from Mom and Dad Simon including their love story and asking Mom Simon their honest opinion about when Darrin asked me to marry him after only 2.5 and her response was "really? I don't think I knew that but I'm sure I figured-one less mouth to feed and you seemed to just fit right in" 🤣
-Moms hearing aid miraculously getting found under the seat cushion (had to take it apart) when she thought she lost it at a stop in the road to Hana
-getting to go to haleakala and a long walk on the beach just the two of us
-how thoughtful it was for a stranger to take a picture of Darrin and I when we didn't know and come up to us to get our contact info to send us the beautiful picture
-how beautiful Jenna and Seth's vows were and how breathtaking the sunset was at their reception and dancing to celebrate their union.
