Category Archives: food

returning…

24 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

at the airport in Kahului by eight pm…

returned the car, after driving around the airport a few times, lol..

waited with many others for the check-in to open… then discovered that both of our checked bags were overweight so had to reorganize right there at the front of the line…

got on our plane just before midnight and my daughter got this shot of the sunrise…

and then as the day progressed we got a few different pictures out the airplane windows…

landed in Vancouver, went through customs and were driven by shuttle to the connecting gate… just got there in time for our flight to Winnipeg…

arrived just before 2, glad to be home… my daughter hopped back on a plane around six pm and after a stopover in Toronto will be home after midnight…

been one long day… gonna get some rest… good to be home…

Maui, day fourteen…

24 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

great final day on the island… after breakfast and a song by the chickens and rooster, we went snorkelling at a lovely beach where I saw lots of fish, although no turtles… I did have a little issue with the rocks as I came out of the water and have a small cut and bruise on a finger;-(…

got a final photo of our car which got us around splendidly…

from there we checked out of the hotel and went and had lunch under the banyan tree… it was lovely…

we drove across the island to the heliport close to the airport and finally had our helicopter ride… such beautiful views everywhere we looked…

picked up some chocolate and headed to the airport where we are now waiting to board our flight…

connection…

23 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by in business, family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

over the last few weeks I’ve been paying close attention to the customer service displayed in the various businesses we’ve been in…

I must say that the service provided has certainly affected which place we actually left our money, lol…

some restaurant staff were so courteous and quick to solve issues almost before they happened… others clearly were too busy or didn’t bother to take the time to connect… the tip meter went up or down based on those interactions;-)…

when we were in retail stores we were drawn in when the staff would connect with us in some way… in these tourist towns it must get boring, but watching the way that many of these employees/owners responded was very telling…

often if there were two people working in the store they appeared to ignore the customers as they would be busy getting paperwork done, restocking or visiting with one another…

we had the most fun in the stores where we were greeted pleasantly and they shared stories with us… those were usually the places where we made purchases…

one particular example of great customer service took place yesterday at Surfside Wood Fired Pizza… Caroline, the owner, was welcoming guests and taking orders when we arrived after paddle boarding… I asked if they had hot tea, and like many restaurants she advised that they didn’t… but after a few seconds she mentioned that she could make me a cup, as they do use tea for their iced tea… a little thing, but it sure made my day… after she delivered the tea and a delicious version of cinnamon buns, she stopped by a few times to see how we were doing… and the Goofy Bread was delicious…

hearing pleasant greetings or receiving welcoming smiles goes a long way to engaging with a customer;-)…

Maui, day thirteen…

23 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

our last full day in paradise… and it lived up to its reputation…

we were up rather early and walked along the sand and then over to the banyan tree...

because it was so early there were very few people around… just a few street folk who we had seen on each of our excursions there… it was nice to see them there as they were just quietly going about their business, not harassing any visitors, but clearly appreciating the specialness of the space…

the space has that sacred feeling which reminds me of a forest of trees on Vancouver Island… it is located right on the edge of the highway but when you step into Cathedral Grove you feel enveloped by a sense of mystery and peace…

I felt that each time we have been at the banyan tree, but especially this morning…

we both walked along gently touching the trunks… there are sixteen in total for this one tree…

sadly, over the years individuals have carved names and signs into the various trunks, but I barely see that… just the majesty…

what an amazing piece of creation…

Maui, day twelve…

22 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

interesting day…

started early with breakfast of hard boiled eggs and mini eggs (from the Easter bunny) before leaving to drive across the island to the airport…

we stopped at the little cafe next to where we are staying to get hot chocolate and tea for the drive… what we received was iced chocolate and black tea without milk and sweetener…

we arrived at the heliport in ample time for our flight and got all the way to the exit door when we were told that the video equipment wasn’t working so we would need to wait while it was repaired… we waited for an hour, finally got into the helicopter… took off and immediately returned to the pad as a light was on that shouldn’t have been… then they cancelled the flight and rebooked us for a few days later, sigh…

we did spend a lovely afternoon in a sister facility to our hotel where we lay by the pool and enjoyed slushy drinks…

we walked along the Main Street in Lahaina and had appetizers at two different places for our supper… at the second one, I dumped my water glass all over the table… our wait person said “sh*t happens”… kind of felt it covered much of the day’s activities, lol…

ended the evening listening to the waves and watching the stars…

Maui, day eleven…

21 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

well, another moving day… we left the lovely garden of the Gingerbread Airbnb and went up the island to Lahaina…

we hadn’t been this way before so it was all new…

I cannot say enough about The Snorkel Store… besides providing our snorkel gear, chairs, umbrella and cooler, they have arranged tours and provided all kinds of answers to the many questions we have had… every single staff person has been personable and helpful… excellent customer service;-)…

they also provide a snorkelling report by email daily which really helps to decide which beach to go to…

I started following them on Instagram a few months ago… @thesnorkelstore

if you are going to visit Maui, you should check them out…

Maui, day nine…

19 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

today is my birthday…

how amazing to be in such a beautiful place to celebrate…

we started out early this morning to get to the paddle board place by seven, as the water is calmer first thing… my daughter had a great time out on the water and I read and beach-combed… she saw many turtles and fish while she was out there…

we sat on the beach and relaxed for a while and then put on our new dresses (in the bathroom at the beach) and headed to The Mill House for lunch… I’ve been following them on Instagram for quite some time so was excited to get to eat there…

another visitor at The Mill House offered to take our picture and had us move here and there until she got just the shot she wanted, lol…

the food was very tasty and besides the restaurant there were gardens, ponds, zip lines, a farm tour and a few shops… we had a lovely wander around enjoying the beauty… especially enjoyed feeding the ducks, little turtles and fish in the ponds…

what a treat…

shortly after we arrived in Maui, I picked up this amethyst as my birthday present… it is gorgeous…

there were lots of birthday messages, some coming at four in the morning as friends weren’t aware of the time difference, lol…

it is lovely to be feted on your special day…

here is a picture that my daughter took of our AirBnB host Eve, who is also an April 18 birthday person… how cool is that;-)…

Maui, day eight…

18 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

today we swam with the turtles…

before that we watched surfers and paddle boarders as small and large groups went into the water to try their skills…

then we drove to another beach which had been recommended by a few different people who we had asked about snorkelling…

as we were getting into the water people were already pointing out a good sized turtle that was right there…

I tried using the flippers, but they didn’t help much so I ditched them… I was just happy to have another opportunity to snorkel…

and then the turtles started showing up as I was checking out the various fish swimming below me…

I swam along beside one for a few minutes before it headed off in a different direction… at one point I watched two of them swimming together… they are much more graceful in the water…

what a gift;-)…

of course there are no photos as we tend to leave everything in the car when we snorkel… I’ve been told my phone is waterproof but this doesn’t seem like the time to test it, lol…

here is a shot of the beach where this magic happened;-)…

what a wonderFULL time we are having…

Maui, day seven…

17 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

do you like my new shirt and sunglasses…

picked up the shirt because we both got sunburned on Saturday, so we’ve been slathered in after-burn lotion since then…

the shirt has sun protection built right in…

we had sunscreen on, and were under an umbrella, but apparently, even then you can burn…

since then we’ve been wearing long sleeves, lol…

tomorrow I think I can wear something a bit more appropriate for the weather, but when we go swimming will wear the shirt…

we are hearing lots about the negative effects of sunscreen, so wearing the shirt in the water is good for the ocean, and us;-)…