All Because of Avocados: Aloha...part 2

Hawaii -The Next Couple of Days
This is going to be a trilogy...so one more to follow.

The next day was Monday and we wanted to spend as much time at the beach as possible. In the morning, Steve, Danny, and I packed up our stuff and head out to snorkel. The rest of the people were a little snorkeled out. So, we three headed down the street and found a free parking spot (there were only about 8 of them) and we were lucky to get the last one. As we walked to the beach, we ended up at a place that I had actually stayed at before and it was one of my favorite places. It is a beach in front of the Sheraton Maui. When I worked at Living Scriptures we had stayed at that hotel and spent a lot of time at that beach.

Before we snorkeled, we spent some time body surfing. (Okay, mostly Danny and Steve did a little...but I hate having sand in my swimming suit so I just bounce up and down on the waves.) He would ride the wave up on shore and then it would bring him back in the water. Pretty funny to watch.

After a little bit of that we decided to put on the snorkel gear and head out. It was great place for snorkeling, but it was a windy day so the water was a little murky. But we still saw lots of fish and even a turtle. The turtle was really cool to see. He wasn't over by were the other fish were. Someone else had found him and announce the turtle was there. So we booked it over to see him. But because the water was a little murky it was hard to keep track of him. There were a couple of times you wouldn't know where he had gone and all of a sudden you were right on top of him! Anyway, it was so fun and it made me want a snorkeling beach in my backyard.

This is the beach we were at...so pretty!
Check out how blue the water is!

The Turtle

After a few hours at the beach, we headed back to the hotel to eat lunch. The rest of the clan were hanging out at the pool, so we headed down there to swim at the pool for a little bit. Finally, I was turning a little red, so we went back to the room and showered. After we were ready, we all went to walk around town. Danny had a good description of the town of Lahaina, it's like Jackson Hole on the beach. There are tons of stores to walk through. Any sort of Hawaiian nick knack you'd want, you could buy there. After walking for a little while we went to dinner at a place called Kimo's. Mine was YUMMY! However, Danny had something he was allergic too and his throat was itchy and he said that it was like he was eat bee's....I am not medical expert, but that's probably not a good thing. Anyway, after he stopped eating and he felt better. We aren't sure what it was from or caused it...but we are thinking maybe ginger?

The view from Kimo's

The next day was the last day for Danny's family. They want to spend a little more time at the beach, which was fine with us. Everyone wanted to go boogie boarding, someone had left a couple in the room they were staying in. They knew about a good place for boogie boarding, so we got pack up and headed there. Once we got there and set everything up, we realized that it wasn't a good place for boogie boarding that day. We then packed everything back up and headed to a different snorkeling beach.

This beach was fun. We found a good spot on the grass under the palm tree...but we were a little nervous a coconut would land on our head! This beach had good snorkeling. The only problem was that the coral started really close to the beach, which made it a little complicated to get into the water. We hung out there for a while, then Danny's family left to go pack and check out. Danny and I stayed longer and ate lunch there and we went out snorkeling a few times. We then decided we needed a break from the sun.

The 2nd snorkel beach

The palm tree

What a beach hottie

One thing on our "must do while we are in Hawaii" list was a luau. I have been to Hawaii a couple of times and never had been to one. We called around and found one that we could go to that night. It was a blast. They gave us a lei as we walked in...my first one the whole trip. Then we sat and there was a Hawaiian band that played the pre-show. There is a ceremony where they pull the pig out of the ground, then we ate. It was an all you can eat buffet. They had salads, chicken, pork (yummy), steak, fish, rolls, and poi. Poi is this really gross thing that Hawaii's used to eat. It is a purplish color, kind of looks like pudding and tastes nasty! I just tried a tiny bit, but Danny gave it a good chance. After dinner they did their program and ended with the fire dance. It was fun...highly recommended.

Me getting laid

The pig pit

Finding the pig

You can see the oinker

The sunset

The dancers

The fire dance

The dancers

Another thing on Danny's "must do in Hawaii" list was to go surfing. I have always wanted to surf too, in fact it's been on my bucket list but deep down I was a little scared. The next morning we woke up and walked down to the stores and where there were a few surf schools. We went to one and decided to check out some more, just because. The next one we went to we decided just to sign him up. As we were paying, the lady asked if I wanted to do it and she told us she would knock $15 off both of our fees if I did. Okay fine...I knew that if I didn't I would be kicking myself. We ran back to the hotel to get in our beach gear and went back. We were in a big class, so there were three instructors. Brada was the head instructor. They give you some instructions in the shop, then take you down to the beach and give more instructions with the boards, then you surf. Easy enough....right?

4 Steps to Surf (there are really actually 5, but they kept saying 4)

1. Paddle

2. Push up

3. Pull your knee forward

4. Stomp your back foot

5. Stand up and surf

We paddled our boards over to the surfing area. My plan was to watch for a little bit and maybe going out. But Brada had another plan. As soon as I made it to the surf area he pulled me and another girl out. The next thing I knew he was yelling paddle and I was off. HOLY COW! What was I doing? I got up for a brief moment. Danny did awesome. He popped up the first time and pretty much every time. He actually went out to the "big" waves. I liked the tiny waves. I had a harder time. I started over thinking the whole process, but every once in awhile would get up. Luckily there are some photo's to prove it.

Aloha!!
(rash guards are not flattering)

Us listening studiously...
because if we mess up, they are laughing at us.

Check out our form...beautiful!

This is one of the first ones, the wave ran out on him.

One of my many crashes!

And another one...

This is step number 3...pull my knee forward

Standing...check out that big wave I am riding!

Ta da!

Look at his focus!

Almost there

He got it.

Awesome!!

We were having a fun time. Danny was out in the big waves and I was just chillin' on the bunny waves. I hadn't seen Danny for a while...which was fine because then he wouldn't see me just hanging out on the side. But then I saw him riding his board on his belly...I was wondering why he didn't stand up. He rode the wave all the way to shore. He stood up and turned around and I just saw blood by his eye. He kept splashing it with water, wiping it, and smiling and waving at me. Oh great, I thought he lost his eye ball or something. I hurried to shore...which is hard when you are attached to a board and in water and a little panicked. As I got closer I realized it wasn't his eye, but he had a cut above his eye brow. He haad caught a wave and rode it, crashed and when he was trying to get situated the next wave came and knocked his board into his head. We booked it back to the shop...accompanied by Brada, took off all of their surfing stuff and went to the medical center that was about a block away. Brada escorted us there...he decided to ride his bike. When we got there we realized that we needed the insurance card. Our hotel was a couple of blocks away, so I ran back to get it. Then when I got back to the doctor's office the lady behind the desk was so rude. The bleeding was mostly under control, so we decided to go somewhere else. We walked to where we thought one was, but couldn't find it. We ran into some fire fighters that helped us find a place. We went there, they took us right back, cleaned him, and glued him up. They must have gold or something in the glue...because that is some expensive stuff!!