This week I reminisce about our last weekend on Maui, we fly home to Portland, visit with friends and family, buy supplies for our trip, and see Freezepop live.
Photos:
Hana
Europe 2007: Aug 19 - Aug 25
Wed. 08-22-07 -- Over Pacific Ocean
My first entry in what will be my journal of my European adventure. However, I don't actually fly to London for one more week... Anyway, I'm on a plane right now flying back to Portland where I'll be for the next week. The last two days have been insanely busy trying to get ready for moving away from Maui. We spent Monday and Tuesday (our first two weekdays of our jobless lives) packing everything up so we could ship it all back to Portland. Today we had to get up before 7 am so that we could finish all of the final tasks before our flight at 3pm. We worked non-stop for those 8+ hours... I could imagine better last days on Maui! But we ended up getting everything finished with absolutely perfect timing.
A quick rundown of all we accomplished: rode my bike over to Luke's to drop it off, packed up the last few boxes, took those boxes to the post office, got lunch at Subway, cleaned the entire apartment, weighed our luggage and shifted contents until all bags were under the weight, -- I was interrupted mid list by our airplane dinner. It was ravioli which tasted all right, but wasn't enough food. I'm still hungry! Ok, back to the list... -- drove to the airport to check our bags, drove to the pier to drop our Jeep off to be shipped, took a cab back to the airport, got through security with all of our carry-on bags (2 convertible suitcases/backpacks that we're taking to Europe, my old backpack, our new laptop bag, and our winter coats). Whew! We got to the gate right as they started boarding. Once we were on the airplane, I finally could relax for the first time in the last 3 days! Now we're 3 hours into the flight (we watched 4 episodes of Arrested Development on the laptop) and I figured it was time to break in this journal!
That just about sums up the last 3 days of work, but our last weekend on Maui (before most of the work) was GREAT! A bunch of us (Kara, me, James, Maria, Brooke, Russell, Ish, & Kelsey) went camping out at Kipahulu (out on the Hana side of the island). We set up our tents in a killer spot right next to the sea cliffs, under a tree, far away from anyone else in the campground. It was perfect, we could be as loud as we wanted and there was no one around to complain! In the mornings, we'd get up and sit on the cliffs and watch the waves crash against the rocks.
Driving out to Hana on Friday was a lot of fun too. We stopped at a waterfall, hit Keanae point to watch the big waves, and went off road a bit for some 4x4ing. We took this very muddy path down to a secluded beach where we got out and played with some kids. Then we decided to brave it and ford the river (no oxen died, and no one died of dysentery). We got to the camp around 5pm or so and set up camp.
That night we had steaks and sautéed mushrooms for dinner (yum!) and played celebrities with some pencils & index cards we bought on the way out. We used Russell's cell phone as a timer which worked perfectly. The first game Maria & I won by a landslide. The second game Maria & Russell crushed everyone else. Go Maria! Halfway through the first game, it started pouring down rain so we ran into our tent and continued playing there. 10 or 20 minutes later it had stopped raining so we moved back outside and sat in wet chairs. While we were playing a large centipede ran into our camp. We all freaked (Jake: "Centipede, feet up, feet up!" Maria stands up on her chair. Brooke: "Don't stand up, you'll fall!" Everyone: "Kill it James, kill it!") James grabbed his Swiss Army knife and sliced it into centipieces and Maria came down from her chair. Eventually we went to sleep but it was kind of a restless night. The rain & wind on our tent made lots of noise!!
On Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast (bagels & leftover steak). Ish & Kelsey were going to drive out from Kihei and meet us, so we decided to go on a hike while we waited for them to arrive. We hiked up to Waimoku Falls which Kara & I had never done before. The hike had lots to see along the way, lots of smaller falls, a cool overgrown water cavern, a couple of bridges over some of the falls, and a boardwalk through a bamboo forest. But the final waterfall was definitely the best of all the sights, it was absolutely incredible! The water ran straight down a rock wall for hundreds and hundreds of feet, it was literally breathtaking.
Right when we got back to camp, Ish & Kelsey showed up. Perfect timing!! They set up their tent and we all hung out for a while. Then we decided to go out to Hamoa Beach for a while and do some boogie boarding. Ish & Kelsey wanted to stop by Charles Lindberg's grave first though, so we stopped to check it out. The waves at Homoa were big as usual. Kara ended up getting hurt, but the rest of us escaped unscathed!
That night we had brats for dinner and then just hung out & chatted late into the night. At one point, we went for a little walk away from the campground so that we could look at the stars. We were able to see so many stars, it was really awesome!
Next morning we tore down camp and headed out to Venus Pool. This is one of Kara's and my favorite places on the island! We jumped off rocks and swam in the water for a while and we took some pictures (we had never taken our camera down there before). Our final stop before the long drive home was Waianapanapa Park. We walked down to the fresh water caves & then looked down on the black sand beach. We got a cool group photo by putting the camera on the Jeep and setting the timer. After the photo, we piled back into our cars and drove home. Russell & I were driving and we drove kind of fast and crazy all the way back, it was fun! We got home around 4:30 or so and I was so tired that I laid down for a "nap." I ended up pretty much sleeping through the night! Best last weekend on Maui EVER!
Thu. 08-23-07 -- Portland, Oregon
Our first day in Portland, and it was nice. The weather was very pleasant; I wore jeans for the first time in months! This morning we got up and headed down to DMV to get new tags for my Ford Tempo. Unfortunately they wouldn't give them to me because I couldn't prove that I'm an Oregon resident. We were going to meet Dave & Micah for lunch, but we had some time to kill, so we went over to the Mall 205 Target. Ahhh... it was so nice to be in a Target again!! At noon we drove over to the 205 McMenamin's and had a yummy lunch with Dave & Micah. I was happy to get my hands on some Hammerhead again!
After lunch Kara & I headed over to Cindy's to hang out. Tiffany, Miya, & Caleb came over and we played around for a few hours. Eventually we ended up at Monica's house after a short detour at Billy's place. Kara & Monica headed over to Michelle's house, and I went back to Billy's to hang out with Billy & Kalin. Playing with B & K was just like old times. We hit the Grocery Outlet for some snacks, then played games & joked around.
Fri. 08-24-07 -- Portland, Oregon
Today Kara & I went shopping for supplies for our big trip. We bought tons of stuff: toiletries, watches, coats, packing cubes, a bag lock, camping cutlery, etc, etc, etc. The grand total came to (EEK!) over $400!!! The item I'm most happy about buying is my very first Swiss Army Knife! We had to go to three different G.I. Joe's to track down the right one, but it was worth it! I always wanted one when I was a kid, and now I finally have one!!
We went out to dinner with Kara's family at Sweet Tomatoes. Afterward we went to T.J. & Michelle's for a while to play with the new baby. Then back to my parents' house for the night where we chatted. A low key day, but shopping made the quickly approaching trip feel real for the first time!
Sat. 08-25-07 -- Portland, Oregon
Today we visited our old church, had Indian Food for lunch, took a nap, hung out at Dave's with him, Micah & Kayle, went out to dinner at Gustav's, and finally saw Freezepop at Ground Kontrol! It's 2:24am, so I'm not going to go into it now, but this evening deserves a full recap. Until tomorrow morning!
