...a cold day for a ski



THE ROUTE:  Stormy Lake Overlook to a lake without a name.  Then we followed the outlet for a while.
DISTANCE:  4.2 miles RT

After skiing about half a mile, Mrs. Huffy got cold feet.  She stopped along the edge of Stormy Lake to place toe warmers in her ski boots.

Applying the adhesive toe warmers to socks.

Mrs. huffy follows a snowmachine trail across a small lake near Stormy Lake.

On our way back to the truck we stopped for a snack/hydration break near the bear bait station.  Our fingers and toes were frozen before we left.

Mrs. Huffy tries to bite into a frozen solid Luna Bar.

It has been cold around these parts lately and today was no exception.  Mrs. Huffy puts a limit of minus 10 on her outdoor adventures, so when I looked at the thermometer this morning and it only read minus 7, I said, "Let's go skiing!"

We loaded our gear and Gabby in the truck and headed for Stormy Lake in Capt Cook State Park.  We parked at the overlook and walked down the road to the gate across the entrance to the swim beach.  We broke trail through some very deep snow and made our way to the edge of the lake where we skied onto a groomed snowmachine trail which we followed for the remainder of our adventure.

The snowmachine trail took us along the edge of Stormy Lake to a small pond we explored last fall that has a bear bait station located on its perimeter.  We skied onto and across the pond to the outlet and then another half mile or so beyond that.  There were many types of animal tracks crossing and following the trail and we had fun speculating which kinds of animals had made them.

After a while we decided it was time to turn back.  We skied back to the bear bait station where we stopped for a snack and water.  After a few minutes our fingers and toes were stinging from the cold.  We hurriedly placed gloves back on our fingers and warmed up quickly after we started skiing again.

Upon arriving at the truck I turned on the engine and blasted the heater.  Gabby curled up in the back seat and we drove for home.  It had been a beautiful day albeit...a cold day for a ski.

...the food of Maui

Emily and a fruity drink at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

The entire crew at i'os restaurant where we dined in the open air.

Laura's dinner plate at i'os.

Emily and some steamed crab legs.

Emily with a fancy ice cream dessert.

After driving to Hana we stopped for food on our way back to the condo on Christmas Eve.

There are many restaurants on Maui and we made it a point to sample a few of them.  From the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, i'os, and Leilani's, we ate some great food in unique restaurants all of which had open air flowing through them.  In fact, we ate outside under the stars at i'os--on December 22nd no less!  All of the meals were eaten on Hawaiian time (meaning there was no sense of urgency).  We talked and laughed as we waited for plates of fanciful food to be delivered which we would 'ooh' and 'aah' over before delving in with fork and knife.  It was fun and we very much enjoyed...the food of Maui.

...Coconut Glen's Big Dumb Coconut Stand

Laura and Emily pose at the sign for Coconut Glen's Big Dumb Coconut Stand.

The initial whack with the machete must be accurate, swift, and powerful to go through the center of the coconut.  Note the pile of coconut shells previously opened on the right hand side of the photo.  There were lots of them.

This is the point where the statement, "I enjoy working with a machete," was made.

More machete work.

Precision machete work.

Extracting the coconut pulp.

This is what a opened coconut looks like.

Emily took the first drink of coconut juice.

Laura tries drinking from a coconut.

Mrs. Huffy had some coconut juice, too.

The opening from which the coconut juice is poured.

On our way down the highway to Hana we saw several coconut stands.  Emily was very excited to drink from a coconut so we decided to stop at one called: Coconut Glen's Big Dumb Coconut Stand.  How could we resist?

We knew we were in for an experience when the lady in charge of the stand said she was from the stars.  And she meant it.  She said she was originally from Orion, but changed her mind when she saw how beautiful Pleiades was when she was looking out the window one night.  So, now she is certain she is from Pleiades instead.  These days she lives in Hawaii and has been working at the stand for about a year.  She also keeps a garden.  Then she told the crowd that she likes working at the coconut stand because, "I enjoy working with a machete."  She was very effective using it to chop and cut open coconuts.  She would deftly cut an opening in the end of each coconut to drink the juice from, then, once the juice was gone, give it a good whack splitting it in half in order to extract the pulp.  It was quite the show and we enjoyed it very much.  In fact, we hung around for the cutting and whacking of several coconuts for other customers just to watch the machete work and listen to the comments. 

Finally, we made our way back to the car where we relived our experience over and over as we continued our drive to Hana.  Stars, machetes, and coconuts.  You can find them all at...Coconut Glen's Big Dumb Coconut Stand.

...the highway to Hana

Traffic congestion on the narrow highway to Hana, Hawaii.

One of over 60 one lane bridges on the highway to Hana.

Fields of taro along the road.

Hasegawa General Store in Hana.  It was sort of the equivalent of M&M Market in Nikiski.  A laid back place with a little bit of everything.

Laura stands on the volcanic black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa Park.

Emily at the entrance of a lava cave that leads down to the water.

Laura and others at the end of the lava cave near the water.

Laura at the opening near the end of the lava cave where the water came in.

The crowd at the black sand beach when we exited the lava cave on our way back.

Laura and Mrs. Huffy with one of the numerous waterfalls along the road to Hana.

If you drive to Hana--hold on to the steering wheel.  There are over 600 turns on the narrow twisting road which makes for great excitement if you like to drive.  And, I do.

So, I was filled with tremendous anticipation as we left our condo and made our way across the island to the start of the Hana Highway just past Pa'ia.  I think the experience would have been enhanced had we been driving a convertible, but the Mazda 3 rental car did just fine.  Mrs. Huffy was the navigator and read from the guide book as we rounded corner after corner and crossed bridge after bridge.  Laura listened to her iPod in the backseat and Emily either napped, looked out the window, or asked question after question.  I steered into the turns, pressed the gas, crunched the brakes and enjoyed what can only be described as driving nirvana.  We made many stops along the way to look at waterfalls and various other points of interest.  We had hoped to hike to Waikani Falls, but a No Trespassing" sign thwarted our plans (we later found out that such signs are often placed by an irrigation company that has no authority to do so).

One noteworthy stop was at Coconut Glen's Big Dumb Coconut Stand where we drank from a freshly harvested coconut.  It was such a momentous stop that I intend to detail it in its entirety in a subsequent post, hence I won't divulge much about it here.  Check back regularly for that story.

Upon our arrival in Hana we went to Hasegawa's General Store.  It's the Hawaiian equivalent to M&M Market here in Nikiski and it serves as a catch-all store and social meeting place for residents.    We enjoyed looking around and used the ATM before we left to visit the black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa Park.

The beach at Wai'anapanapa Park is about 100 feet wide and, according to the literature, was formed when lava flowed into the sea nearby.  As we were standing there looking around we saw an entrance to a tunnel through which people were coming and going.  We followed it for a short distance to an opening where the waves from the ocean were washing in and out.  We took some photos and marvelled at the water moving through the opening before turning back and following the tunnel back to the beach were a number of tourists had arrived.

We walked through the remainder of the park and eventually made our way back to the rental car and onto the road for our return trip.  We stopped less on our way back which made for some twisting and turning driving and tremendous fun on my part.  As we neared Pa'ia we stopped at Momma's Fish House only to find that we would have a very long wait if we wanted to dine there (it was Christmas Eve and everyone was out celebrating), so we continued to Lahaina where we had a wonderful dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company.

After dinner we returned to the condo, parked the Mazda 3, and collapsed into a world of dreams of driving (a convertible) on...the highway to Hana.



...snorkeling amongst sea turtles

Laura peers into the lens of the underwater camera.

Our first sea turtle of the morning.

Snorkelers legs dangle below the surface of the ocean as a sea turtle swims past.

Mrs. Huffy in her snorkeling gear.

Grandma and Grandpa aboard the Quicksilver II.

The Quicksilver II at anchor while snorkelers swim about the ocean looking for fish and sea turtles.

Kirsten takes a breather while snorkeling.

An underwater scene.

Keith snorkels below the surface.

We boarded the Quicksilver II at 7:30 AM, for a trip to Molokini where we planned to spend the morning snorkeling.  The trip started on rolling waves as we spotted whales spouting and their tails far in the distance.  Before long the boat was splashing through bigger waves and when we arrived at Molokini there weren't any other boats in what is the most popular snorkeling destination for Maui visitors.  We were "blown out" as our captain said, so off we went to find an area protected from the wind.  Once we arrived we were unable to find a solid anchor, so off we went to a third location.

Solidly anchored, snorkelers geared up and jumped off the boat into the briny sea.  Within minutes we were just feet away from a large sea turtle which seemed to be just as interested in us as we were in it.  It was a surreal experience and we took photos with the underwater camera we had rented for the day.  Eventually the turtle drifted away and we swam around looking for fish and more sea turtles.  We didn't have to go far.  Fish darted below us and turtles would just appeared out of nowhere.  It was difficult to fathom there were so many of them.

After an hour we boarded the boat and made way for another snorkeling location.  We were back in the water in no time and once again turtles were in abundance.  We snorkeled for about 45 minutes before the water began to get rough.  The captain had us climb back aboard and we went on a short boat tour before returning to the harbor in heavy seas.  It was just after 1:00 PM, and we were back on shore filled with the happy memories of...snorkeling amongst the sea turtles

...Emily's Luau

Members of the audience went on stage to learn the hula.

Emily performs the hula with the instructor on stage.

A dancer with bulging eyes and a huge tongue which was used to intimidate enemies in days past.

Dancers perform on stage.

The fire dancer takes the stage.

A slow exposure captures the fire trail.

More fire dancers.

After the luau dancers lined the exit allowing for photos to be taken with them.

Emily poses with one of the dancers after the luau.

More than anything else, Emily wanted to go to a luau during our trip to Maui.  So we got reservations to attend one on our first full day in Maui.  Then, the morning of the event I received a phone call from Jennifer saying the luau had been canceled due to inclement weather...in Maui!  We all got a good laugh out of that.  It was a bit windy and there were some occasional rain showers, but it was above freezing.  Go figure.

At any rate, we rescheduled for the next evening which meant our luau would follow our Haleakala sunrise/biking adventure, which you might recall started at 1:30 AM.  Made for a big day.

We arrived a few minutes early and received shell necklaces while we waited in line.  When we got to our seats we were greeted by a man with a big tray of fruity Hawaiian drinks and it wasn't long before Master of Ceremonies, Warren Miliani, took the stage and the show began.  The roasted pig was brought out and lifted into the air for all to see while the band played Hawaiian music.  Warren soon asked all the people wanting to learn how to perform the hula to come up on stage. Emily jumped right up and made her way through the crowd to a spot right next to the instructor.  It was her dream come true and she was ecstatic!

We went through the food line next where we piled our plates with pulled pork (of course), mahi mahi, and other Hawaiian foods.  Then, I was lucky enough to sit next to a man from Missouri who asked if I knew Sarah Palin.  I told him I didn't, which he couldn't believe because he thought everybody in Alaska knew everybody and so on.  He had lots of ideas about politics which he was more than happy to share.

Luckily, it wasn't long before the show began in earnest and we watched as dancers performed traditional Hawaiian dances as Warren interpreted their meaning for us.  He said the movement of the dancers hands was very important as they told the story being conveyed by the dance.

Then it was time for the fire dancers.  Evidently fire dancing is not traditionally Hawaiian.  It was performed on other Polynesian islands and eventually made its way to Hawaii--mostly for entertainment at tourist luaus.  In any event, we were looking forward to this and watched as the fire dancers twirled fire batons and threw them into the air.  It was great!

All too soon the show was over and we made our way to the exit.  Along the way many of the dancers waited to greet the crowd and Emily got her photo taken with several of them. It was a great evening and we were glad we attended...Emily's Luau.