aloHA!

We arrived at 8:00 pm, and by the time we remembered which rental car company we'd used, got squared away, and made it to the condo, it was 10:00 pm, which was 2:00 am for our bodies. Still, with the warm night, the excitement of upgrading to a convertible Mustang, the fun of being in HAWAII, and the roomie we discovered upon walking in, we didn't go to bed for a few hours.

The view from the lanai. The beach is just to the left (brown water from sugar cane runoff, but who cares?! IT'S A BEACH!), the road immediately before the beach, and the green lushness was everywhere. I did a bunch of BSF homework on the table on the lanai, sipping a pina colada, of course!

Our roomie! I named him "Kevin," and when I told Blake about him during a phone call, I could instantly tell the kid was NOT LISTENING to me.
A: We have a roommate here at the condo! He's a little lizard, and I named him Kevin.
B: What? You had my baby brother there in Hawaii and named him Kevin?
A: WHAT?! For crying out loud kid: Pay attention to me!

The enormous banyan tree in Lahaina, on the other side of Maui from us (we stayed in north Kihei). It's one tree and covers over an entire city block. None of what you see is even the main trunk - they are just roots it sends down to anchor and support itself.

Things I cannot even grow indoors in Montana grow wild here. It was crazy to this gardener.

We didn't take many pictures until Friday (we arrived Wednesday). The piggy we're going to eat at the luau is under all that sand, and had been roasting all day. It was very tasty.

This was one of the only "ugly dude" carvings I liked. It was not for sale.

All of these were. We brought home almost zero souvenirs though, and what we did bring was mostly food!

Cool grass folding dude. He worked so quickly I was afraid he was going to give himself a grass cut (those are the worst).

One of his creations.

They handed out tuberoses. Over the left ear if you're married, right ear if you're single.

Sailboats fascinate me. I have almost no desire to ever be on one, but they are just so cool.

When you tip the bartender yourself (and generously) instead of using the servers, they double up the booze in your tasty drinks. I could still barely taste it, which was just fine with me.

Three days in, the first picture of both of us in Hawaii. PROOF! We were there together. This is one of perhaps four total. Neither Rob nor I are fond of being in photos, unfortunately.

They hand out an orchid lei to everyone that attends the luau. I cannot imagine how many orchids they go through each night.

Pre-dinner dancing and percussive entertainment.

Shake your tail feather!

Sunsets on the beach are just spectacular...

... and both Rob and I got some great shots...

... see?

The Old Lahaina Luau was great. The dancers seem to truly enjoy what they're doing, and the story-telling was fun and informative. This dancer represents Pele, the fire and volcano goddess.

Videos of luau dancing to follow.