Maui!

This week was pretty exciting because Gavin and I flew over to Maui to meet my parents! My dad had a work trip there and my mom decided to tag along. Gav and I are trying to make it to all seven Hawaiian Islands together and Maui makes our 5th one together! 

We were rushing to the airport from work and on our way our friend Kassidy told us that the mask mandate on airplanes was lifted just a few hours ago. WHATTTTT. So when Gavin and I got to the airport we were looking around to see if Hawaii was going to allow us to fly mask free! But all we could see were the same old "practice social distancing signs" and mask mandate signs. It didn't seem like anyone at the airport was aware of the big change. Till we saw a man in a cowboy hat walking around mask free. When we saw him we quickly tucked our masks into our pockets and went on our way. We were almost to the gate when a family in front of us turned around and saw us without our masks on. He said "raw dawg it now" and gave us all a fist punch and shaka. Gavin and I were so confused at what he meant but ended up joking about raw dawgen it the whole time in Maui! 

                                      

Once we landed we picked up our rental car and headed to Lahina to meet my parents at the hotel. Gavin and I were impressed by the nice three-lane highways, the variety of restaurants, and the nightlife that was happening. The roads were busy for being so late on an Island. 

When we got to the hotel we went right to bed which ended up taking an hour. My mom was making us laugh so hard. She kept making my dad get up over and over again. She would be too hot so he would turn the thermostat down. Right, when he got back into bed she comment actually I'm cold now. My dad would get back up and fix the thermostat. Then there was a random light on that my dad was trying to block with a pillow then she needed more pillows and it just went on and on. I could hardly breathe I was laughing so hard. 

The next morning my dad went straight to his meetings. So Gavin my mom and I had the whole day to explore Maui! We went out to breakfast and after shopped at a Ross right across the street. My mom found a polka dot shirt that looked like the pattern on a dalmatian. I found some red pants that I can wear at work while working in the sun to protect my legs and Gavin found some navy dress pants that he is going to wear for Dart's wedding in June! Ross was a success. 

We stayed in Lahina which was a beautiful area and it's cool because from this side of the Island you can see Molokai and Lanai! They both are super close to Maui.

After we headed to Ioa state park to look at the mountains and follow the stream. The internet hyped this place up way more than what it actually was. The mountains were very beautiful as they are steep and full of lush think green plants. I was excited to hike around and see what there was but really only this walk took us to a lookout over the parking lot. Pretty, but I would have loved to see the view without the parking lot. 

After we took a snack break at some local food trucks. We got some yummy acai and enjoyed the food truck vibe. Gavin and I split an extra-large acai bowl probably one of the biggest acai bowls I have ever seen. 

We headed to the beach where we saw a turtle and surf lessons happening. Then we walked around some cute shops and got some souvenirs. Gavin and I got a coconut that said "Just Maui'd" perfect for the new couple. My mom got a cute turtle that would remind her of the turtle we saw on the beach. 

We then took another snack break and got some delish salads before heading up Haleakala (house of the sun) the volcano for sunset. 

We weren't sure what to expect but we started at the bottom of the mountain in a neighborhood that slowly faded into huge arm land with cows roaming the road. As we got high we were in the clouds and the terrain started looking like mars. There was the red and brown volcanic-looking rock that made us feel like we were on Mars. It was amazing! Once we got to the top we were above the clouds. 

We decided that we wanted to hike all the way to the top to watch the sunrise. The air was crisp as we saw on the rocks watching the sun fall underneath the clouds. I was surprised at how many people were up there to watch the sunset. 

After we drove down to Aysia and Camerons where we saw the cute shack that they live in. And when I say shack I mean shack. One of the walls in the house is the neighbor's fence. The sealing is a mixture of tin sheets and boards. They don't have any windows so Cameron was showing us how he can just stick his hand outside the house and it's outside. My mom could not believe what they made out of the shack. She talked about it the whole way home. 

The next day we took the long drive to Hana! Maui is known for a couple of things one of them is the slow windy road that goes all way around the Island. This road has waterfalls coming off them that you can pull off and swim in. I wasn't sure if my mom was more impressed beauty of the plants and greenery or the cars that looked like they exploded 40 years ago and have been left to be abandoned. 

We were also shocked by all the banana bread for sale signs. I guess Maui is known for its banana bread. It sounded like everywhere was sold out when pulled into places. People were looking quite disappointed knowing they drove for 5 hours for no bread. When we on the other hand were driving to see the black sand beach at the very end of the road. 

When we pulled up to the black sand beach an irritated teenage girl turned us away because we didn't have a ticket to park. She wouldn't even let us ask questions. We were really disappointed after because we drove pretty much all day to see the black sand beach and were upset that we didn't get tickets. Gavin tried to cheer us up by flying the drone over the beach. While doing so my dad found tickets online. I guess if you are a local you can get them whenever! 

Off we went to the black sand beach where we saw turtles and walked along the cliffs. It was beautiful and sunny and sure felt good to stretch our legs. Gavin carried me on his back all the way up the mountain! 

We didn't stay long at the beach because we had to get back to the airport. We slowly made the 2-hour

drive back. We stopped at the food trucks one last time where my mom surprised us with the last loaf of banana bread at the shop. 

We loved Maui and spending time with my parents! Always a fast trip but we sure laughed and laughed a whole bunch. Maui we love you! 

Married Life

Being married is wonderful! Gavin is the most supportive person ever and our lives have just meshed so perfectly together. It feels so normal to be living together. I have had several people text or call me asking how the wedding went and how it is living with Gavin. In all honestly, I tell them it's the best thing ever!! Nothing has ever felt so normal and so right. We laugh all the time and absolutely love being on our tiny island. 

One of the greatest things about being married is that we have our own space. OUR OWN SPACE. We love making breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. We love having our own fridge, kitchen, and bedroom it feels like a dream. 

We didn't have much of a honeymoon because Gavin went back to work on Friday. We just jumped right back into reality and it's been the best. I feel like we are both the best at making things work. We have different schedules sometimes but that doesn't stop us from doing all the fun crazy things we can. 

We have been rocking climbing, to the beach, shopping, running, and visiting the North Shore. We enjoy watching some crazy shows, working out, and all the fun things. We just love being together. 

My cousin Sam bought us a helicopter ride for our wedding gift. So we were able to see the island from the air. Gavin and I didn't know what to expect because we had never been in a helicopter before. We rode with two other couples. The first couple was super fun. They are grandparents and travel the world together. So we had fun swapping stories about different countries. They were celebrating their 30th anniversary. We liked them! The other couple was party poopers. They were old and grumpy and wanted everything to be their way.  

We called them the party poopers because during the ride the pilot was telling us about the different movies that have been filmed on Kauai. As we flew over these scenes theme music would play from the movies. Gavin and I were loving music and this part of the experience. We were dancing and just embracing the scenery and enjoying the music. When the old couple in the front tells the pilot to turn it off. We were quite sad after hearing that. He also kept telling her to go faster which was super annoying because this was a scenic ride. This means we go slow so we can really enjoy what we are looking at. But all he wanted to do was go faster. Non the less we still had a great time. Seeing my new home from the air was just breathtaking. I feel so blessed and so lucky to live here. 

We have only been married a couple of weeks and I have loved every second of it. Eternity with Gavin is going to be AMAZING!