09/16/08
I recently got back from my favorite place on earth...Maui. I was fortunate to be born and raised in the state of Hawaii, spending my first seven years in Hawaii Kai on the island of Oahu, then moving to Maui until I graduated from high school. My husband Matt was born and raised on Maui.
In my opinion, it's a magical island, with so many different climates and ecosystems flourishing in one place. You can go from cool cactus country to dry, sunny beach to misty rainforest, all within one day -- it's pretty incredible. And don't even get me started on the fantastic food, music and people throughout the Aloha State.
We packed in all of the above on this visit -- ate mangos, papayas, bananas, lilikois (all hand-picked, not store-bought), kalua pork, teri beef, sushi, sashimi, ahi & tako poke, poi, lomi salmon, musubi, mochi, cracked seed...all my favorites.
We listened to local tunes, visited family and friends, and cruised to almost every corner of the island. Now, if you are familiar with Maui, you will appreciate the upcoming list of towns and communities we visited over our nine days...BUT if all that food I just mentioned had you perplexed, then these next names may have you even more mind-boggled: here it goes -- we went from Kahului to Kula to Haliimaile to Haiku to Ma'alaea to Polipoli to Hana to Kihei, back up to Kula, then onto Ka'anapali, Kapalua and Lahaina, to Wailea, then one more trip to Haliimaile, Kula and finally the airport in Kahului.
Sorry if that was a jumble of words for some of you...but for those who know the island, you realize a lot of those places are not too close together...and some are only accessible via very curvy roads! Anyway, it was a wonderful trip, and although I can never get my fill of the food , music, friends or places there, I'm happy to know there are at least reminders of the islands here in Bend. In fact, the Hawaiian musical duo Cecilio & Kapono will be playing at the Athletic Club on September 24th, and I am SO excited to be there! (My mom is even driving up from Reno for the concert!) I've also learned about some luau fundraisers and other "local kine" events around here, so it's nice to know I can enjoy a taste of Hawaii here in Central Oregon!
Aloha!
