Hawaiian Highlights

I can't believe we have been back from Hawaii for over a week! Things are so BUSY when you get back from vacation. I definitely wanted to write a post about our trip before I start to forget some of my favorite things.

Our trip to Maui in 2009 was my favorite vacation ever, so I was really excited to go back and see some of my favorite things, as well as go on new adventures. This trip ended up being quite different from the last time we were on Maui - partly because we stayed quite a distance from where we had been before, and partly because we ended up just RELAXING more, instead of hiking, etc. Which was fine with me - even though I LOVED the hikes we went on last time, it was nice to lay low.

Here's a list of some highlights (in no particular order):

1. Half Marathon. The second day we were there I ran a half marathon. I have a goal to do a half marathon in every state, so since there was a race going on while we were there, I thought I couldn't pass it up. Is a half marathon exactly what I want to be doing while on vacation? NO WAY. Am I glad I did it? YES! It was a beautiful run along the ocean while watching the whales play and the sun rise. It was well organized and I met some nice runners. The funniest moment was when I was stretching my calf against a speed limit sign and another runner yelled out to me "way to hold up that sign!"
2. Hotel. We stayed at the Ritz Carleton which was AMAZING. The pools were immaculate, the staff was overly hospitable, the ocean was beautiful, the food was crazy good. We spent a lot of time by the pool - so much so that toward the end of our stay the pool staff gave us a free cabana (usually around $300/day) for a day - complete with a couch, flat screen TV, music, ceiling fans, etc. The timing couldn't have been better since I had a fever that day and couldn't really be out in the sun. An amazing blessing to enjoy the cabana!
3. Food. Staying in a somewhat more touristy part of the island allowed us to try out many new restaurants....which were AWESOME! Personal favorites were Merimans ("chocolate purse dessert") and The Gazebo (can you say macadamia nut white chocolate chip pancakes with coconut syrup?!?!?!.......we went there twice!)
4. Friends. My sister was at a conference, so there were quite a few people we knew at the resort. It was fun to run into people at the pool to chat. We also got to know some friends-of-friends, in one of those "small world" situations, which was super fun. Let alone the fact that our group of six that traveled together was the GREATEST - so many laughs. I did MUCH less reading on this trip than any vacation ever - mostly because I did so much talking around the pool with friends! (but also because the book I was reading took digesting - but that's another post)
5. Zip Lining. In the west Maui mountains with a view of the ocean. Amazing. The longest zip line was 1100 feet!

All in all, it was a great, great, great vacation. It came at the perfect time when things were extremely stressful at work. What a blessing to have fun travel friends and to have the means and ability to see the world!