The Valley Island

Each of the Hawaiian islands has a nickname -- Hawaii is the Big Island, Molokai is the Friendly Island, Kauai is the Garden Island, and Maui is the Valley Island. Today was horseback riding through some beautiful country inland from Lahaina with fantastic views of one of the valleys on the island. Yesterday Dad, Grandmama, Amy, and Jennifer arrived at the ranch for their ride, only to discover that there had been some miscommunication between Expedia and the ranch. The ranch had them scheduled for an evening ride, and didn't have anybody listed for today. After several phone calls between Dad, the ranch scheduler, and the Expedia contact, they worked it out for Amy and Jennifer to ride in the last two open slots, and Dad and Grandmama would come today. Dad was actually going to ride both days (he loves horses), but in the end had to settle for just once.



Now, most people don't think of horseback riding when they think of Hawaii, but this is our fourth ride on Maui, and it is a great activity. The weather is great, the company is wonderful, the scenery is fantastic, and oh yeah -- you get to ride a horse. :) I've ridden horses maybe a couple dozen times, and always enjoy it. Today was no different. Besides Dad and I, Chris, Brett, and Grandmama rode today. On this ride we stopped at a little Hale at the mouth of a spectacular valley for snacks and any questions we wanted to ask.



The last trip to Maui my horse (Rascal) was pretty stubborn. This time, however, Pua was great. The ride back was just as relaxing as the ride in, and other than picking up plenty of red Hawaiian soil on our pants and shoes, the trip was completely without incident.

On the Saturday morning we went to the airport, I realized the one thing I had forgotten was the charger for my razor. I figured I could only shave a handful of times before the battery was dead, and that I had better choose wisely. Obviously I shaved on Sunday, but haven't since. By this morning I was quite hairy, and so spent 9 precious minutes of battery time remedying the situation.

Jennifer wanted some tanning time, so I took the boys down to the Whaler Village to work on our photo scavenger hunt (sponsored by Chris and Cassi). All three were very well behaved, and took particular interest in the Whaler Museum. Even though I have wandered the shops at the Whaler Village countless times, I had never been to the museum before. It's out of the way on the third floor -- no other shops or attractions. We watched part of a movie on the history of whaling, then wandered through the various exhibits. Nathan and Benjamin enjoyed it so much they were disappointed when it was time to leave!




Tonight was our date night, so Chris came over after the boys were in bed (and basically asleep), and Jennifer and I went back to the Whaler Village to browse the shops. Over Memorial Day weekend, we repainted our bedroom a nice tropical blue (Spanish Bluebell), and we want a tropical theme to the room. Nothing obnoxious, just a nice relaxing retreat for the master bedroom. So the goal for tonight was to browse for things we could take home with us. Of course there was plenty we would have liked to purchase, but most of it was pretty expensive. We'll probably end up with one fairly nice decoration and several smaller more economical ones. It may not seem to most as the most glamorous or romantic of dates, but with so much to do and see each day, I really enjoy just wandering around holding hands with Jennifer.