Our busy spring was rounded out by a wonderful family vacation to Maui. It all started with the thought of taking a trip with Phil before all our chaos begins this fall. The idea was then made even better when the entire Wiktor/Case clan was able to come as well. Thanks to Bill and Elaine’s awesome timeshare the whole family enjoyed a wonderful Hawaiian vacation with our favorite local tour guide, Carolyn, who was living on the island at the time.

We stayed on the west side of the island along Kaanapali Shores – a beautiful stretch of beach lined with hotels and a boardwalk. During our week vacation we were able to see a lot of the beautiful sights Maui has to offer including strolling historic Front Street in Lahaina, hiking Iao Valley, a snorkel excursion, strolling south Maui, hiking to the blow hole on the west Maui loop and driving and exploring the Hana Highway.

The Hana Highway was one of our favorite parts of the trip. It’s a 68 mile road filled with hairpin turns and bridges, many of which are only one lane, that takes you along Maui’s northeastern coast. All along the highway are beautiful waterfalls, scenic overlooks and lush rainforests.

We explored some of the popular attractions along the highway including Hookipa Beach Park, a world famous windsurfing spot. We also stopped to stretch our legs on the black-sand beach at Honomanu Bay County Beach Park. For lunch we had a nice picnic at Puaa Kaa State Wayside Park, a lovely park with one of the highway’s popular waterfalls. Carolyn, Gabe and Phil took advantage of the location and decided to partake in some cliff jumping. Unfortunately, said cliff jumping resulted in a lost wedding band. We had snorkel gear in the car and Phil spent most of our lunch break searching for his ring to no avail. Maybe some tourist will be lucky enough to find it one day! Our last stop on the Hana Highway, and my favorite, was Waianapanapa State Park. With bright green leaves to contrast the aqua blue water, the views were hard to beat.

It was great to spend the week together as a family seeing the sights, soaking up the views, enjoying some Hawaiian delicacies and simply relaxing. Thanks again to Bill, Elaine and our hostess with the mostess, Carolyn for a great vacation!