Mele Kalikie Maka = Merry Christmas in Hawaiian = our trip was way too much fun

So. Christy, Jen and I bolted out of town for 9 days once the musical was over. We went to Lanai for awhile, then Maui for 3 days. It pretty much rocked any vacation I've ever had (seeing I've never been on a real vacation like this before - and no, work doesn't count). I posted way too many pictures, because it was difficult to pick through all 283. So I chose the ones that would best describe our time, although there's no way to describe the relaxation and beauty and "friend time" we experienced.




We just landed in Lanai and I was so pumped that we all ran around in circles and jumped around. (This is where my Superwoman powers kicked in.)






This is Manele Bay, the beach we hung out at most of our time in Lanai. We body surfed (tried, anyway), snorkeled (again, we tried), and got tan!






Jen and Christy got famous with their body surfing skills. They're legends among the locals.





We hung out at the Four Seasons resort a lot too. This is the view from the pool area.





One morning we got up at 5:30am, and 4x4'd to the top of the island where we watched the sun rise over Maui.





It was perfect.





All the main roads are lined with these pine trees. They aren't indigenous to Lanai, but someone brought them in, in order to get more rain on the island and add to the water table. On this road there was this one pine tree someone had decorated with ornaments. An enigma.





Our last full day on Lanai, we tried to go surfing. After driving about an hour on the roughest dirt roads you can imagine, a tree had fallen in the way & we couldn't go any further. So we turned around and went to Shipwreck Beach instead.





Enter Shipwreck Beach. The real, live shipwreck is in the background. The arrow is there to direct teams from that reality show "Amazing Race". Apparently they were filming an episode that weekend.





On Saturday we took the ferry over to Maui, and made the windy drive up to Hana. Once we got up in the higher altitudes, it began to rain sideways. We stopped at a roadside market to get some coffee & fresh fruit, and stretch our legs.





The sign speaks for itself. And we didn't stay away.





These blow holes are amazing. We walked out onto the rocks and stood right next to where these huge waves break against the rock. At some points the wave would break and would splash 100' up in the air, all the while we're only like 3 feet away. The wind would (usually) blow the wave right past us. It was such a rush to feel the power of the water. The last wave the came drenched us.





This is the landscape at the Seven Sacred Pools.





We rented a condo in Hana. Our bedroom door opened up to a big deck that overlooked the ocean and a black sand beach.





Near the end of our trip, we came down the mountain and stayed at the Westin in Kaanapali. The Cline's were there, and it was so cool to spend time with them. This is our last night in Hawaii.



Merry Christmas, everyone!