Hawai'i pt. 1
We've been in Hawaii for about 5 days now and finally got our first internet connection. The flight to Hawaii wasn't as terrible as I was thinking it would be; Devon was reasonably amused for most of it, and we mercifully got a row to ourselves so she was able to climb on the seats with only moderate inconvenience to the other passengers. (I say this, of course, not being in the seats behind us when she would climb up and wave her arms and say, "Baby, baby!" to the people with the little baby behind us.) The flight to Maui, on the other hand, was quite hellish. It was so crowded that we couldn't sit together, so for half of the 30 minute flight, Devon was screaming, "Dadda, Dadda!" at the top of her lungs -- and because it was very short, the seat belt light was on the whole time, so she couldn't go down the aisle and see Walt. Note to self: arrive early for inter-island flights and make sure that we have lots of snacks and they're not scheduled during nap time.
We stayed at a total dump near the airport the first night, its only amenity being that it was close to the airport so we could find it quickly after the flight and then leave early for the drive to Hana the next day. I booked two nights at the state park at Wai'anapanapa, which has cabins for rent on the park property. I think I had visions of the last trip that Walt and I took here, where we went hiking through Haleakala and stayed in these terrific, rustic park cabins with wood burning stoves and the like. These cabins (which aren't meant for hikers -- they do have sheets and towels and such) are downright primitive -- or maybe it's the fact, as Walt keeps mentioning, that we're middle-aged. The location in the park is fabulous, but the cabins are very spare and feature "prison lighting" (bare bulbs), ratty sheets and towels and loads of bugs. It also put us on a funny schedule, since once the sun goes down, there's not much to do at a state park; so we started to go to bed really early and get up really early as well.
The park has a lovely black sand beach, though, and when we got there initially, Devon and Walt spent time running around in the surf.
This is not a swimming beach, however -- there are big signs everywhere warning of strong currents and riptides, and even more alarming, jellyfish and man o' war. It was fine for dabbling, but it was no place to swim; I could feel the strength of the current just standing up to my knees in the water.
The next day we drove farther down the Hana Highway to the Seven Sacred Pools, which apparently aren't sacred at all: the name was cooked up as a marketing ploy to lure tourists.
The pools themselves are beautiful -- natural pools carved out of rock and fed by mountain streams that tumble down through waterfalls all the way to the ocean. The water in these pools was actually quite cold, but Devon insisted on swimming anyway. We ended up going through to a second pool (carrying and swimming with Devon) to watch the waterfall. She wanted to go under the waterfall after she saw a man do it, but we had to draw the line at that. Later in the afternoon we found a beautiful beach a mile or so out of town. It was a nice crescent of sand that had enough wave action to do some light bodysurfing but also had a gentle drop, so Devon could run around in the surf. The big advantage from my standpoint was that it was ringed by palm and tamarind trees, so I could actually sit in the shade but still enjoy the beach. Lovely.
On the way back from Hana, which is an extremely slow, winding road that has many single lane bridges (so we had to stop at yield signs and make sure no one was coming before we drove onto the bridge), Devon got carsick. I couldn't really blame her, since when I sat in the back with her the motion was so much that I felt like I was going to be sick. I've no doubt we'll be blackballed by the rental company, since even now the car still stinks. We did enough clean up to move on and make it to Wailea (our next stop), but just today we laundered the car seat cover, making trips in the car at least bearable now.
We splurged on a resort in Wailea, and it's been a really nice antidote to the "rustic" places we stayed in earlier. I've never stayed in a resort before, but I can see the appeal, especially for families. These resorts are set up so you never have to leave -- there is a pool on site and it's also right on the beach, so we can walk from our room to the beach. This place has a wonderful kiddie beach: the water is much warmer here than in Hana, so it's easy for Devon to spend a lot of time in the water; and it's a gradual slope from the beach deep into the water, which means there's very little wave action. The south side of the beach has some rocks that also provide good snorkeling -- so Devon can run around in the surf while Walt and I tag-team snorkle. The only downside has been the same as the upside; you never really have to leave, so in order to see more of Maui (or eat something other than mediocre hotel food), we need to make an effort to get out.
Devon has been a little fussy about eating on this trip, so that's driven us to get out more than we might have (e.g. we lured her into eating breakfast by promising a bagel with cream cheese, a good ploy since she ate almost an entire bagel herself). I think this trip has been alternatingly really fun and very stressful for her. She loves the beach and has insisted on spending every day at the beach. But she also asks at least once a day to go home. I think it's hard for her to be away from her standard routine and outside of the regular people she sees normally. The beach is fun, but when she's tired or hungry, she wants to go back to the familiar. Walt and I were discussing this, and I think in retrospect this vacation is probably a bit too long. Two weeks away probably seems like an eternity for a two year old. She's been enjoying herself, though, and so have we -- although I can see why some people go to Hawaii without their kids. I brought a book that I've been trying to finish for a couple of weeks now and thought I'd plow through it; today was the first day I opened it since we got here!
We stayed at a total dump near the airport the first night, its only amenity being that it was close to the airport so we could find it quickly after the flight and then leave early for the drive to Hana the next day. I booked two nights at the state park at Wai'anapanapa, which has cabins for rent on the park property. I think I had visions of the last trip that Walt and I took here, where we went hiking through Haleakala and stayed in these terrific, rustic park cabins with wood burning stoves and the like. These cabins (which aren't meant for hikers -- they do have sheets and towels and such) are downright primitive -- or maybe it's the fact, as Walt keeps mentioning, that we're middle-aged. The location in the park is fabulous, but the cabins are very spare and feature "prison lighting" (bare bulbs), ratty sheets and towels and loads of bugs. It also put us on a funny schedule, since once the sun goes down, there's not much to do at a state park; so we started to go to bed really early and get up really early as well.
The park has a lovely black sand beach, though, and when we got there initially, Devon and Walt spent time running around in the surf.
This is not a swimming beach, however -- there are big signs everywhere warning of strong currents and riptides, and even more alarming, jellyfish and man o' war. It was fine for dabbling, but it was no place to swim; I could feel the strength of the current just standing up to my knees in the water.The next day we drove farther down the Hana Highway to the Seven Sacred Pools, which apparently aren't sacred at all: the name was cooked up as a marketing ploy to lure tourists.
The pools themselves are beautiful -- natural pools carved out of rock and fed by mountain streams that tumble down through waterfalls all the way to the ocean. The water in these pools was actually quite cold, but Devon insisted on swimming anyway. We ended up going through to a second pool (carrying and swimming with Devon) to watch the waterfall. She wanted to go under the waterfall after she saw a man do it, but we had to draw the line at that. Later in the afternoon we found a beautiful beach a mile or so out of town. It was a nice crescent of sand that had enough wave action to do some light bodysurfing but also had a gentle drop, so Devon could run around in the surf. The big advantage from my standpoint was that it was ringed by palm and tamarind trees, so I could actually sit in the shade but still enjoy the beach. Lovely.On the way back from Hana, which is an extremely slow, winding road that has many single lane bridges (so we had to stop at yield signs and make sure no one was coming before we drove onto the bridge), Devon got carsick. I couldn't really blame her, since when I sat in the back with her the motion was so much that I felt like I was going to be sick. I've no doubt we'll be blackballed by the rental company, since even now the car still stinks. We did enough clean up to move on and make it to Wailea (our next stop), but just today we laundered the car seat cover, making trips in the car at least bearable now.
We splurged on a resort in Wailea, and it's been a really nice antidote to the "rustic" places we stayed in earlier. I've never stayed in a resort before, but I can see the appeal, especially for families. These resorts are set up so you never have to leave -- there is a pool on site and it's also right on the beach, so we can walk from our room to the beach. This place has a wonderful kiddie beach: the water is much warmer here than in Hana, so it's easy for Devon to spend a lot of time in the water; and it's a gradual slope from the beach deep into the water, which means there's very little wave action. The south side of the beach has some rocks that also provide good snorkeling -- so Devon can run around in the surf while Walt and I tag-team snorkle. The only downside has been the same as the upside; you never really have to leave, so in order to see more of Maui (or eat something other than mediocre hotel food), we need to make an effort to get out.
Devon has been a little fussy about eating on this trip, so that's driven us to get out more than we might have (e.g. we lured her into eating breakfast by promising a bagel with cream cheese, a good ploy since she ate almost an entire bagel herself). I think this trip has been alternatingly really fun and very stressful for her. She loves the beach and has insisted on spending every day at the beach. But she also asks at least once a day to go home. I think it's hard for her to be away from her standard routine and outside of the regular people she sees normally. The beach is fun, but when she's tired or hungry, she wants to go back to the familiar. Walt and I were discussing this, and I think in retrospect this vacation is probably a bit too long. Two weeks away probably seems like an eternity for a two year old. She's been enjoying herself, though, and so have we -- although I can see why some people go to Hawaii without their kids. I brought a book that I've been trying to finish for a couple of weeks now and thought I'd plow through it; today was the first day I opened it since we got here!
posted by Devon Szalva at
11:12 PM
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