Category Archives: Travel

Whales From Shore

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Everybody said I’d be able to see whales from shore in February and they weren’t kidding. I found my turn off but there weren’t any surfers there today but I was able to drive down much further.

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I found a little surfboard memorial. I guess its like the crosses on the side of the road. Somebody died there. A surfer didn’t return.

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As I turned away something caught my eye. I’d swear I saw a huge splash but there were a lot of white caps so after watching for a few minutes I went back to the car. As I was turning around I saw it again only this time I was looking right toward it. Right after the splash was a blow! I decided the first one was probably a whale too. By the time I’d driven up the dirt road I’d seen 2 more. Cars were lining up along the road and people were running around with binoculars.

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A bit too crowded for my taste I headed on up the road looking for pull offs where I could either find scenery or a view of the ocean for whales.

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Everywhere there were people lined up. Pull outs were full of cars. Some regular visitors I spoke with said they had never seen it like this.

From the shore you glimpse the whale but its more the splash that catches your eye. There’s not much to photograph at that distance.

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I figured I’d continue on a bit. I wanted to try to locate the park Sandy and I found in November. I know it was on the Road to Hana but I don’t recall it being very far along it. I have no desire to drive the bad parts of that road; single lanes, no room to pull off, massive cliffs. No thank you.

 

D.T. Fleming Beach Park

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The sun came back out after that pretty amazing rain storm. Wind and torrential rains and five minutes later, sunshine. Wow!

Since the day looked to be a good one, I took off north on Rt 30. I wanted to see if any surfers were out. If there were rip tides it would probably be quiet but it was worth taking a look.

I wasn’t sure I’d remember the exact turn off so when I spotted a left I took it. Immediately I knew this wasn’t the one. This was a paved road. The one I was looking for is a pretty rugged dirt road.

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I decided to see where this road went before I turned around. The sign said D.T. Fleming Beach Park, voted best beach in 2006. There was a rest room and maybe a bath house for changing???Also a life guard stand.

The beach seemed pretty popular. More and more people were coming while I was there. I suppose once the weather lifted everyone headed for the beach. You could see the weather was still very unsettled as rain squalls passed in the distance.

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I was surprised that so many children were there. Don’t they have school?

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The beach was certainly a pretty little beach. I found myself thinking that if these kids could handle the surf  here maybe I could too.

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I’ll have to think about it after I get my whale picture.

Ka’anapali Shores 2017

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It took forever at the Budget Car rental. At the last minute I decided to rent a GPS because I wouldn’t have a co pilot to read a map. I told the rental agent I had been very unhappy with it the last time I rented and he promised to make sure it was up to date.

By the time I left the counter to locate my car it was full dark and starting to rain. Lovely. My favorite kind of weather for driving in an unfamiliar area! (NOT)

My first problem came when there was no car in B 70, my parking spot. I checked the whole row, and no SUV that matched my agreement. So luggage and I traipsed back to the rental counter. The agent was very sorry. It had been a busy day so he assigned me another vehicle.

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This one is E something. It was right where we could see it. A nice white SUV. (I’d asked for an economy car as it was just me but they were all out so I got the SUV upgrade for free).

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I loaded up and plugged in the GPS only to discover that on all the paperwork I had with me for the stay, not one had the address for Ka’anapali Shores. I tried searching in the GPS for the resort. Nothing. I tried Ka’anapali Beach club, nope. I knew if I could just get from the rental lot to the highway I’d be fine so I entered Maui Ocean Center. Bingo.

The car they gave me is brand new with a keyless start. I adjusted the seat and mirrors and hit start. The AC came on, the dash lit up but I didn’t go anyplace. I shut it off and tried again. Same thing so back to the counter I went. The agent told me to stand by and he’d send someone to help. Sure enough a couple of minutes later an older woman came jogging over. As soon as I told her the problem she said “Step on the Brake”. I told her I had so she said “Step Harder”. So I did and guess what, engine noise. It purrs LOL.

Now I was ready to head out. Except for one thing. Although the GPS said it had the directions, it just took me in  circle and I ended right back at Budget instead of passing the Maui Ocean center. I began to wonder if I’d ever get to the resort. By now I’m tired and getting frustrated. My sense of fun and adventure is rapidly deserting me. All I want is to get to the timeshare and hit the bed. I haven’t had a meal all day (eat a Snickers-you aren’t yourself when you’re hungry) so I took matters into my own hands.

I followed the signs out of the lot and as soon as I spotted a sign for Lahaina I started following those. 30 minutes later I was at the front desk being told my suite was in the pent house.

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I didn’t care, just give me a bed!

The Third Leg

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As I mentioned yesterday, there were 3 legs to my journey to Maui. We almost missed the this connection but American Airlines held our plane for us. I had upgraded my  seat for this leg and it wasn’t a full flight so I had the aisle in a very roomy seat and my row mate had the window. The middle seat was empty.

There was quite a bit of turbulence so the seat belt sign stayed on the whole 6 hours.

Somewhere over the Pacific the pilot came on from the flight deck to announce the Superbowl was 7 to 0 Falcons. Not what I wanted to hear.

I went back to my book and a bit later he announced that the score at halftime was 16 – 0, Falcons. There were a few cheers at that but still pretty subdued. I hung on to hope. After all, Belichick hadn’t gotten them into the locker room yet. No further announcements were made.

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My phone alerts me to the results of the Pat’s games but I’d turned it off on the plane. Putting it in Airplane mode just sucks down the battery.  Flying into Maui at 6:15 Hawaiian time was quite a sight. The sun was setting and the clouds were rimed in pink. I think its the first time I’ve been to Hawaii when I didn’t land in the dark!

As soon as we touched down and the flight crew gave the ok to use cell phones I powered up. The very first alert I got was “Pat’s Win”.

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Brady & Belichick did it again. You have to admit these come from behind wins are pretty amazing. So many teams would have given up; choked.

What a great feeling…I’m landing in one of the most beautiful places on earth at sunset after a last minute connection save and getting news that my team just pulled out a great win.

Baggage claim, Maui

Baggage claim, Maui

I strolled through the open air terminal to baggage claim felling pretty darn good about everything!

 

 

My Superbowl Sunday

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I want to thank everyone who reads and follows my posts. You kept your comments positive. I don’t agree with the”trash Talking” world we live in. I was very into sports in high school, even a cheerleader, and the golden rule was always to support our team but treat our opponent’s with respect. Win or lose, be a good sport!

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So let me tell you a little about my experience yesterday. There were 3 legs to my journey to Maui. The first leg was Providence RI to Charlotte, NC. There were a lot of Patriots shirts, hats and T’s to show support for the big day.

I didn’t think much about it. In New England we wear sports team jerseys every day. Its just what we do. Anyway once we landed in Charlotte after an on time and very pleasant flight, the flight attendants announced (as a joke, I hope) that they were now “kicking all of the Pat’s Fans off the plane, Go Falcons!” I’m not sure if that was in good taste but I thought it pretty humorous and I didn’t see anyone take it the wrong way. It all depends on how you say things.

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Between the Concourses at Charlotte Airport. Love the rocking chairs

Between the Concourses at Charlotte Airport. Love the rocking chairs

Leg number two was a nail biter. The plane coming in was delayed. They never said why but American Gate attendants did their best to keep us updated and once the plane did arrive they hustled us on board as fast as possible. Apparently quite a few people, myself included, had tight connections. Once on board and sealed up we started to taxi to the run way, then stopped. I bet we sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes or more, at least it seemed that way.

 

The crowd waiting to hear news of our delayed flight

The crowd waiting to hear news of our delayed flight

As if to make up for the delay, our flight crew gave us a travelogue all along the way. “We’re flying over the Mississippi, look now the Rocky mountains are coming up, You can see Santa Fe. There’s Albuquerque to the left. Looks like  plenty of snow for the skiers in the mountains.” The one thing they didn’t say was what time we’d land.

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Finally there was Phoenix! The cabin crew asked everyone to let off passengers with connecting flights first. Luckily we landed at Gate 23 and our departing flight to Maui was Gate 24. Same concourse, just “across the way”.

Myself and my fellow passengers to Maui (7 of us) raced to the gate. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 2:45 Mountain time. It was 2:55 when we landed. Many thanks to American Airlines. They held the plane for us!

Now for the cynical side comment…It was probably cheaper to hold the plane than to put 7 of us up for the night and rebook the next day…or option two, ship us to San Francisco and then look for a connecting flight to Maui. In any case, Thanks American! Nice job!