FINALLY....the Hawaii post.

Alright....My posting habits lately have been less than ideal, BUT (and I expect zero sympathy here) coming back from the Hawaiian islands and readjusting to the Eastern time zone has been a bit of a bitch this go around. Maybe it's because Kim and I are getting older...slowly but surely. Or maybe it has something to do with a little lady named Reese that we missed very badly while we were gone. Whatever the case....on Wednesday night, I finally can manage a little time to share our vacation.

This was our third amazing trip to the Hawaiian islands and all are thanks to the terrific company that I work for. When we meet sales goals and things go right....the company awards you with time and money to take a trip. I've been fortunate enough to win this trip 4 times and 3 of the 4 times....we've hit the islands. First, Oahu...what an amazing island. Full of bustle....full of life....but AMAZING sights to see everywhere you turn. Sure...there is a sense of commercialized hokey pokey but Oahu simply amazed us and we wanted more. After taking a cruise to the Caribbean the next year...we couldn't stand it....we had to go back. The second time, Maui. The locals say "Maui No Ko Oi" which essentially means that Maui....is the best. Not very metropolitan...Great scenery....nice hotels.....Country (if Hawaii can be country) but not too removed from civilization. Think of it this way....Atlanta = Oahu. It seems that the locals literally can't stand the entire island unless that's home. Maui = Adairsville and Barnsley Gardens. You have enough conveniences to make it great...but no big cities on the water like Waikiki or Honolulu.

That was five years ago. Since that time, the economy crashed and buying boats or recreational ANYTHING took a dive and incentive trips were out the door. Until this year! Our group had been dragging in the doldrums of goals. Literally half or less than what we used to be, but finally things turned around enough, goals dropped to the reality of the day, and we hit it. Kim and I debated on what to do. We had already booked the Vail trip just by saving dollars so we didn't want to ski with this trip. We froze our tails off skiing so we didn't want to do an Alaskan cruise with this trip. And finally we knew that future vacations would be Reese centered type Disney World-ish vacations for a bit....so why not splurge one last time. These pics....are our splurge. Maui is TRULY No Ko Oi.


The grounds at the Sheraton Maui....

Our room is the first floor....the last one on the left. Closest to the beach!

 

Looking for a waterfall on the road to Hana!

All I could see was bamboo forests.

 Black sand beaches!

Shave ice....Kim says she doesn't like it.

A little tired of my sunset photo taking....to be honest, it was cool that night.

Kaanapali Beach

Cool beach access.

This will be part one....I'll load more pics shortly!!