Here Comes The Sun

Up at 3am, showered, long pants and hooded sweatshirts and out the door.  Headed to Haleakala for sunrise.  3:05 am, went back to the hotel and picked up Sonja.

Now, the GPS said the parking lot at the summit was only 18 miles away from our hotel and we could expect to reach our destination in an hour and forty-eight minutes!  We found out why.  Never got above 15 mph with the twisty, turny road in the dark.

Reaching the summit,  we found out we weren't the only brave fools out there.  The ranger said there were only 2 parking spots left.  We got one of them and trekked up to the lookout.  We thought we had prepared, brought warm enough clothes but ohhhh no.  It was damn cold.  After days in the 80's, when you get hit with low 40's, well let's just say that well digger had nothing on us.

We stood there shivering along with several other people.  Couldn't see them because it was dark, but could hear their teeth chattering and occasionally someone would say something in a foreign language.

But then it began to happen.    Exciting, right?  

Little by little, the sky began to come alive.

Me and my closest friends from who knows where were frantically snapping pictures as if we were witnessing the birth of earth.

But when you think about it, this same thing has happened every day of our lives and now we're getting all ga-ga about it?

But the magic happened.  Enjoy.

Sonja and I both decided at this very moment to join Scientology.

Or we could go whale watching.

Check Kapalua Off The Bucket List

If you're a golfer, there are certain golf courses that you want to play in your lifetime.   Of course Augusta National is at the top of everyone's list, but 99.9% of us will never have the opportunity.  Pebble Beach is there, Sawgrass and Pinehurst.  I've been fortunate to play a couple of courses that qualify as "bucket list" courses.  The Old Course at St. Andrews and Chambers Bay.  Today, I added a third...  Kapalua.

Kapalua is the course that the pros hold their first tournament of the year, every year and it is called the tournament of champions because the only participants are those that have won a tournament during the previous year.

A local breakfast at the Home Maid Cafe for another meal of starch with a side of starch topped with starch...  and we were ready to hit the course.

Did I mention they eat a lot of starch here?

Kapalua is on the northwest side of the island and we had to pass through Lahaina on the way.  Once you get north of Lahaina, the scenery changes from tourist shops everywhere to really, really, really rich homes.  If an average home here is close to $1m, then these are close to 8 figures.

As we pulled into the course, the excitement began to build for me.   Not sure if Sonja has golfed long enough to fully appreciate today but I know she could feel my adrenaline beginning to rise.

We had a little over an hour so we hit the driving range and the putting green.  In planning the trip, Sonja had begged out of playing here primarily due to the cost.  This was a round over $300 and so she was just going to ride along.  She did hit a couple of balls on the range and did some putting with me.  Looking over at her putting balls, and I just thought "to hell with it".  She deserves to check one off her bucket list too.  Shoved the credit card in her hand and pointed her to the clubhouse to get going.  

Best decision made all day....  she had a ball!

The course met all my expectations.  It was stunningly beautiful, the views were out of a story book, the whales were breaching in the waters, and, oh yeah, I played pretty well too!

A few of the pics from Kapalua Plantation Course.

So, how do you top off a day at Kapalua?  Well, a Hawaiian luau of course!  It had been at least four hours since I'd had any starch and my body was beginning to feel weak.

Tomorrow, we're up at 3am to catch the sunrise on Haleakala.  Aloha!  (sounded just like a local, didn't I?)

The Best Way To See Maui

Maui in a car is a fun road trip.  Maui on a motorcycle is an awesome road trip!

We rented a  bike from Eagle Rider in Lahaina and the counter guy was the happiest soul on earth.  Every adjective out of his mouth was either awesome or fabulous.   After a quick once-over on the bike, a twist of the throttle and down the road I went.  A quick u-turn to go back and pick up Sonja and we were off.

 Heading north towards Kapalua, our plan was to go around the northern part of the island and follow the coast all the way to Hana.

We weren't 30 minutes into the ride before we had to stop and start taking pictures.  The scenery just north of Kapalua is spectacular.

 But what was amazing was as soon as we got around the north tip of the island,  the road went from two lanes to a single twisty-turny road up the mountain.  My eyes were focused on the road while Sonja was on the back of the bike snapping pictures at everything.

  

Oh, where do I start?

We woke up late.  Had an 8am tee time at Kahili Golf Club and all of a sudden it was 6am and we hadn't even begun to stir.  Island time my ass, I've got a tee time!

Race to the showers, grab the car keys and head for the door.  Got to the car and oops, went back in and woke up Sonja.  I guess I am a little obsessed with golf.

We hit Starbucks for coffees and breakfast sandwiches which were sure to provide some lovely island heartburn throughout the day and headed to Kahili.

When we were on Maui about 20 years ago, I don't remember if this course was here or not.  It's right next door to King Kamehameha Golf Club which I like writing just to see if spell check can figure it out or not.  20 years ago, King Kamehameha was called Grand Waikapu (gotcha spell check) which John and I played.  It's now a private course, but I can always say it was where I scored my first eagle.

The course is on the side of a mountain and so it features very strong winds and you never get a level lie.  The ball is either above your feet, below your feet or somewhere in the trees.

And the wildlife is lovely.  They have these creatures running around that look like some sort of weasel but I'm no animal expert.

But I do know what a snail looks like and they have the biggest damn snails I've ever seen in my life.  No exaggeration, this thing was at least six inches long!

Now if we were in China or Vietnam, this would have been lunch, but in Hawaii it's just an obstacle to a good golf shot.







Once again, the views were extraordinary.  Enjoy the pics.

After golf, we were starving and we headed to Laihana and 800 Grindz.  A local restaurant with local food and local attitude.  As we pulled in to park, an elderly man comes up to tell me that it is "permit only" and that I have to park across the street.  Hmmm.  Then we go up to the restaurant and walk in and the kid says "Sign in, no seats."   Hmmm.  We sign in and step outside to wait.

Hmmm.  I can fake elderly.  Sonja can you fake pregnant?

Once we got in the food was good ol' local Hawaiian.  I had the Moco which is simply white rice with a couple of hamburger patties on it.  Two eggs on top of that and brown gravy poured over all of it.

Trust me, I felt pregnant after eating that!







Our plans were to go to the Lao State Park but once we got there we found that the road was closed and I was too tired to drive around the road block just for a photo op.  But that's where the Gods were shining on us.  Because if we hadn't been turned back, we wouldn't have found this teeny, tiny little place that made the best malasadas and served the hot out of the oven.  Oh goodness me, these were amazing.

I find it interesting that some folks come to Hawaii for anything other than golf.  But I guess there is other parts of this island that are worth seeing than a fully bunkered green.  And for that, we headed to the Maui Tropical Plantation.  I thought the only reason to go there would be to get a t-shirt for Abby.  Was I in for a surprise.

Enjoy.

Tomorrow, it's off to my big day....  Kapalua baby!