our final day

well today is our final day here on the island, and we plan to spend it relaxing at the beach, pool, and here in the condo. looking back on this years visit to maui, i can honestly say that it has been one the best trip so far to the island, but i am ready to depart and return to my own bed and a room that i dont have to share. our flight tomorrow departs at 1215 pm and we return to lax at 815 pm.

so, what did we do yesterday as the final family still on the island? we traveled to the west side of the island, a part that we had never before seen. though we didnt travel completely around the west end (we wernt quite ready for another windy road experience after our hana trip last week...one windy road is enough for a few months), we did travel the the 'iao valley... a place that we had never been before. it was really cool, and very pretty. the valley is famous for its 'iao needle which served as a watch tower for the native hawaiians back in the day. today, its a park with lots of visitors and locals alike. what made the park great was that there was very little walking involved to see the needle. i had always pictured the needle as being in a remote location that was only accessible via a long hike... but after a few thundered feet of walking down a paved path, we were there.

the 'iao needle...


looking back down the valley...the airport in at the
low point of the two mountains...

after we left the valley, we traveled down a coastal road into some previously uncharted areas of maui for us. we stopped to take this photo before we decided we didnt want to venture down a windy road.



overall it was about a 3 hour excursion, with a few stops along the way. when we got back to the condo i took a nap and then we headed back out around 5 o'clock our time (8 o'clock for all you so cal readers). we ended up back in the same area that we had traveled to earlier that morning...we went to a mall by the airport that was way nicer than the mall that we had gone to the other night (sunday) to see "license to wed". our mission, to grab a pizza at costco, and see the new fantastic 4. it was a very entertaining movie and was overall a good evening. we returned around 930 and i turned in around 10.

well, so that it! today is just a chill day of relaxing and putting the final touches on my tan (ha!). see everyone back in the oc soon!

Aloha!