Vacation in Maui

A bit of a heads up, this is a photo-heavy post. I took over 2500 pictures while we were in Hawaii, and I had a really hard time narrowing it down to get just a few to post here!

After the AFBF convention on Oahu, we flew over to Maui for a few days of just plain vacation. We drove to the north side of the island and saw some wonderful waves crashing in over the rocks.

There was even a cattle pasture with a beautiful ocean view. Hubby Doc says he is going to require this kind of a view from all his farm calls from now on. I think we’re going to see a decrease in our cattle clients…

We took a submarine tour of some of the coral reefs just off the island. This was a school of fish… I know the guy told us what they were called, but I completely forgot. They reminded me of the fish in “Finding Nemo,” and that’s all I’ve got. Marine biologist, I am not.

While we didn’t do any official whale watching, we did see some humpback whales on the ferry out to the submarine. They were a bit far away, but I think I still got a decent shot. From the moving boat.

Our hotel did a cliff dive ceremony every evening at sunset. Three guys went out on the black cliffs, lighting torches on their way. They threw flowers into the ocean, and then dived in after them. Again, I know they told us the significance of all of this, but darn it, I just can’t remember. (Good thing I took photos… Should have done some audio recording, too!)

There were plenty of these fruity rum drinks all over the island… Maybe this is why I’m having a hard time coming up with the details…?

There was no shortage of beautiful sunsets.

Seriously, does it get any better than this?

Oh, right, sunrise.

Granted, this is not typically my favorite time of day. But we got up ridiculously early (I’m talking 2:00am here) to go on a tour to see the sunrise. At 10,000 feet above sea level.

No, that is not a typo. Ten thousand feet.

It was early, and cold, and windy. But boy, was it worth it.

At 10,000 feet at the top of the volcano, sunrise lasts for over an hour. The sky starts with these fantastic oranges and reds, and changes to blues and greens.

You would swear you are looking over the ocean, but you’re really looking over the cloud bank that is sitting inside the volcanic crater.

After an hour of Crayola-colors, the sun just barely starts to peek over the horizon.

And less than three minutes later, it’s there, in all it’s glory.

And while the sun came up, one of the park rangers sang a hauntingly beautiful greeting. It was definitely an amazing experience, and one I would do again. Even though it was insanely early in the morning.

I had some time to sleep on the beach that afternoon, and that made the day perfect.