More Maui

Let's pick up where we left off, shall we?  That would be Wednesday morning.

Dampa left around 8:30am.  "Goodbye, Penny!  I'll miss you!"  (Another guest who left that morning gave the innertube to Penny.  She loved it!)

 While Dampa went to the airport, Damma took a glass class.

I'd purchased an ornament from Kim at the Westin on Sunday, and found out that she has open studio glass classes M-F.  In 3 hours, you make a project.  I LOVE glass.  I've always thought I'd like to work with glass, but thought the expense of trying it out would be prohibitive.  If you're in Maui, and want to play with glass, give Kim a call!

 This is what my project looked like before going into the kiln.

 This is what it looks like fused and finished.

 My impression of Maui is blue sea, some surf, dark sand, palm trees, and another island across the water.  Now to figure out a way to display it!

After the class, I walked down Front St. in Lahaina, to experience the giant banyan tree.  It fills the block, so there is no way to capture it completely on camera.

 John the Baptist was there on the corner, reminiscent of Berkeley.  He was proclaiming from his open Bible, "You have known prosperity!  You will know want!"   hmmm.  A prophet?

 The view of the ocean.  The contrast of the sea and the black rocks is stunning.

 It was then back to the hotel, where it looked like a storm was gathering.  It wasn't.

 Weather didn't bother Penny.  She wanted to go in the pool.

Every late afternoon, swarms of mynah birds would descend upon a couple of trees at the hotel.  Chattering, screeching, squawking, squealing, there were literally thousands of them, partying every night, all night long.  They were not far from our room, and we had prime seats for each nightly concert.  Party on, birds!

 Needless to say, sleep was tough when the birds were partying.  Good thing the lobby Starbucks opened at 5:30am.

 Thursday's sunrise was the most spectacular sky I saw during the entire week.

 Once the sun was up, we were ready for our last day on Maui.

 We breakfasted a second time at Cheeseburger in Paradise.  I loved the decor.  It is so...random.

The waitress did not give us any hint that she was ready to snap the picture.

 Last look at the ocean from Lahaina...

 I spotted this most unusual bird.  It looked like a cardinal, but only the head was bright red.  Click on it to really see it.

After breakfast, the girls walked Front St., and the guys went to Wailuku, in search of a ukulele.  We then met up in Kihei, at Pita Paradise.  I have to say that Maui looks an awful lot like CA, only you can see the ocean from everywhere.

Don't you agree?  Doesn't this remind you of Pacheco Pass?

 I mean, they've even got the wind farm!

 Okay, so we don't have sugar cane growing in CA.  My bad.

 After lunch, we swapped groups, and SIL took me to this place.   What a treat!  It's very small, but they had a nice selection of Hawaiian fabrics.  I'd hoped to get a kit, to make a large Hawaiian quilt, but the only kits they had were for pillows.  I don't need any more pillows.

I don't need any more fabric either, but that didn't stop me.

 I managed to get a picture of the sugar cane smoke stacks on the trip back to Lahaina. 

 When the rest of our group returned, I was treated to a short musical interlude.

 Look what they did in the lobby while we were gone!

 And the next thing you know, it was time to say, "Aloha."  (This is my daughter, not me.)

The week was over, the alarm rang at 3:30am, and it was time to begin the journey home.  By 9:30pm, I was home again, home again, jiggity jig.

And that's a wrap.