Maui is for Lovers

Remember that one time I went to Hawaii?

I. Loved. It.

In no particular order, I loved these things the best:

1. The weather -- sometimes it rained in the morning, but mostly, it was sunny and a little cloudy. Never really too hot, never too cold. Always lovely. Sometimes breezy. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.
2. The views -- The ocean. The sunsets. The sunrise. The trees. The flora and fauna. 
3. The food -- Fish! (In particularly, Mama's Fish House. Pricey. But totally worth it. Twice.)
4. The drives -- Road to Hana is awesome. So much that we did it three times. Sort of... more like, we attempted it, turned around, attempted it, somehow started at the beginning again, and then finally made it. After that, any time we had to go on Hana Highway, we considered it an attempt. By the 15th time, we were total pros. But I loved the twists and turns. The waterfalls. The bridges! The dirt road. The random picture adventures. The secreted beaches.
5. The beaches -- need I say more? Every one of the beaches had their own appeal for different reasons. We visited at least seven different beaches, including: The Black Sand Beach, Koki Beach, Makena Beach, which were all my favorites. I loved the sand under my feet (except, as sand does, it gets everywhere) and the waves (unless they were knocking me over) and the sunsets on the beach, the people watching, and the reading on the beach! (I could do that everyday, for forever.)
6. The sun -- It kept me warm and it didn't burn me. And despite what people say, I'm at least one shade darker than when I left. (As long as you don't look at my legs.)
7. The diversity -- Between the beaches and the jungles, everything was so so so great.
8. The hidden gems -- We stumbled upon Koki Beach on accident. We also discovered a charming little garden highlighting the different cultures that populate Hawaii today. We went off-roading into a giant field of sugar cane, which was a little scary and not very advisable in our economy car, but totally awesome until we stumbled across a few other people.
9. The solitude -- There were a few times when I felt like I could be on the island all by myself and I LOVED it.
10. The hike -- We hiked the Papawai trail, which takes you through a bamboo forest and up to a giant waterfall (which we didn't quite reach). The bamboo is awesome. The mosquitoes are not awesome. Next time I go, I'm going fully prepared for more hiking.
11. The sunrise -- We were awake for it twice (crazy, right?). Once we were driving. And once, we were in Haleakala Crater National Park, watching from near the summit. It was breathtaking, mostly because we were freezing. 
12. The time change -- It is not as awesome coming back to Utah, but I loved that we were going to bed no later than 10 p.m., and waking up and going out and seeing things. It was very productive. I think it almost inspired me to change my ways. Almost.
13. Banyan trees.
14. Luau dancers -- Listen, those boys might have been no more than 18 years old, but they were attractive. And they had washboard abs, and more importantly, massive, muscley thighs. And fantastic smiles. And weren't half-bad dancers, either. Swoooooooooon. 
15. Our condo -- It was in a great location (Lahaina), two comfortable beds for Megan and me, an excellent shower with plenty of hot water, and was stocked with all the equipment we needed: body boards, snorkel gear (which we never used), beach chairs, beach towels, etc. etc. It was a great opportunity to stay in so nice a place for so inexpensively. 
16. And I almost forgot, my very favorite thing: NO BRA -- that's right. No bra. When you are spending the majority of the day in a swimsuit, there's just no use for it. I think I wore a bra three out of the eight days we were there. Magical. Seriously.

I didn't think there could be a list of things that I didn't like about my trip But there were a few things that I am glad to know:

1. Maui is not the place for single people, except for all of the reasons listed above. Just note that while attending the luau, the submarine adventure, on the road to Hana, or literally anywhere you go on the island, you will run into newlyweds, couples celebrating their anniversaries, couples, old couples, gay couples, and more couples. Everywhere. Maui is for lovers. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that someone thought that Megan and I were somehow...involved. However, we were not there on our honeymoon. 
2. Mosquitoes. I hate them. 
3. The grumpy guy at the luau is not interested in answering questions, he wants to drop off your drink in .00001 second because he has other tables to serve and wants tips, not to be friendly. He was the worst. And as I chatted with my seat mate on the plane, she complained that the locals are not very friendly. I didn't really interact with many locals, but if that guy was any way to gauge  she was probably right. 
4. That's it. Did you think this list would be long? I was in MAUI!! Of course it isn't long.

And now, the reason you are reading this post:

We took a lot of self portraits.

The beaches were amazing.

The sunsets were a perfect way to end the days' activities.

Loved everything about the road to Hana.

We are fun.