Oceanside Oasis - Maui 2022

Dave and I have a goal to visit as many National Parks as we can.  So when we found out we were going to Maui, naturally we needed to visit Haleakala National Park.  Joe had really wanted to "see" a volcano and this would get us as close to one as possible.  My niece, Dorothy, had just returned from Maui and she had told me about the app GyPSy.  I had downloaded it and I downloaded the drive to Haleakala volcano.  It was a very cool app and we loved listening to the narration and the story about the island Maui on our way up the mountain. This curvy road (think Yosemite) and narrow road (think Million Dollar Highway) had these unique parts to it where it narrows to one way only.  Thank God the GyPSy app narration would alert us that this was coming up.  You  basically have to stop and let one car come from the other direction and then you go.  Yikes.  There is also a very popular bike ride on this road.  Or should I say bike fly or ...

  View from my room 4 A.M.  that's the time I woke up this morning.  Hawaii is 4 hours earlier than home; so 4 am seems fitting.  I made sure I did my daily Wordle puzzle and then I got to unpacking.  It was still dark out so I couldn't see the ocean, but I could hear it.  One of the perks of the trip and for being a Centurion dealer (sell Hunter Douglas exclusively) was a gift of Maui Jim sunglasses for both Dave and I.  We had actually received this gift a few years ago on a Bermuda cruise so this time we picked out glasses for Jess and Joe (our kids).  Ben, Dave, and I would have needed to add prescription lenses to them to make them workable for us, but Jess and Joe don't.  These were the ones we could choose from. Maui Jim Sunglasses Off to breakfast with Hunter Douglas.  They have a  breakfast set up for us each day.  I met a lady at breakfast who had traveled from New Jersey.  She said she was in bed at 5:30 p.m. la...

 We were traveling from all parts of the US to Maui.  Jessica left the earliest from Roanoke, VA, but ended up sitting on her plane for 2 hours before it took off for Maui.  Dave, Ben and I had a 6 am flight (but Ben and I were up since 3 am) to Dallas and then we flew Dallas to Maui.  Joe and McKenzie had the easiest flight - direct Denver to Maui.  Only their intended plane needed engine repair.  They spent all day at the Denver airport and got on a plane 7 hours later.  United brought a plane in from San Francisco.  William and Crystal made it from Charleston to SLC, but then were delayed in SLC.  The trick is to stay calm - which we all did - we're on vacation!  Presently Midnight mountain time but 8:00 p.m. Hawaii time, we are all here except Joe and McKenzie. \ Now, I recently returned from Jessica's defense of her dissertation!  Go Jess!  What I didn't write about nor do I wish to dwell on, is I had some old health ailme...

WOW! 2022 already. January of 2020 Dave and I had the entire year planned out with travel. Ben had just graduated high school early in December and Dave and I were ready to go! Little did we know what was to come.   Life has changed in many ways these past two years, but that is not what this post is about. Every year with Hunter Douglas we have the opportunity to hit a sales goal and "win" a trip. They have different levels of trips. Over the years, we didn't care much about winning the trips because I was "that" mom who didn't want her kids staying with "sitters." As the kids have gotten older, we've taken a few of these trips as we have won them. One was a cruise to Bermuda. And one was a trip to Munich.   Two years ago, we said, "Let's try for Maui." It was the highest level trip. We had never tried for the highest level trip. Thing is if you don't make it, they don't let you slide down a level. You just ...