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Grandma said we had to have Tasaka Guri Guri which is a sherbet ice cream. It was really good! We visited the first United States Post Office and saw box 292 which is actually grandmas’ old mailbox number! Historic old, beautiful mailboxes! Adorable photo of grandma sitting on the beach. Oh, and I don’t care how good everyone says Krispy Kreme or Dunkin doughnuts are, the doughnuts from Safeway here on Maui are the best doughnuts I’ve ever had! The mangoes here are by far tastier than I’ve ever tasted before! We were blessed because Thelma, Lena, and Betty supplied with fresh mangoes from their trees! We thank them so much!

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Went to ‘Iao National Park yesterday for JW’s birthday. He ran ahead of us and disappeared for about 20 minutes. No cell phones worked. Prayed that he wasn’t 15 years old stupid and fallen off of the ravine somewhere. He survived, another praise God moment on vacation. He loves to hike, so I told him I would take him on more adventures because I like to hike too.

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So this is where papa Bill grew up, it is the house on the right, & the casita on the left was added on years later. The beach is across the street! You can see them as they walk down from the street.In the picture that everyone is in is in front of his elementary school.

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Walking along the side of the park in Lahaina. Had to stop for some Dole Whip, but the person at the register couldn’t understand what I was asking for, so we walked away with all of this, $28 later! Hope & JW were given Hawaiian names by Auntie Momi. This is tradition.

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Made it to the beach a bit. This one was sandy and so nice. Not like the rocky beach where I ripped me toenail off. Now I have to get a fake toenail when I go back to Vegas. Big toe nails take forever to grow back.

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While walking down to the fireworks show, our cousin stepped on this piece of corral and took a nasty spill. She had angels protecting her, nothing broken. Praise God! (Can you see the praying figure in the corral?)

The next day JW & dad went golfing. JW shot a 98, which he wasn’t to happy with, but there were men playing the course that have been playing there before and they were not golfing as good as him.

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4th of July at Lahaina on Front St. Hope wasn’t feeling good, so she and her cousin stayed by the pool. Bill, JW & our other cousin went down to watch the fireworks show. The fireworks are set off from a barge. It was a great display! The best part was that it took 10 minutes to walk down, and 10 minutes to walk back, and we didn’t have to drive anywhere. Honestly, we are in the perfect location near my favorite spot in Lahaina.

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Yesterday we visited the old sugar cane plantation. Both papa’s dad & grandma’s dad worked here and Eleanor’s house was just down the road from it. Papa’s grandpa invented the giant cane scoop that picked up the cane, which was dropped in the trailer, and then run through the press which has the chevron pattern on it. That produced can juice, which was then it was heat processed, and shipped to CA to be turned into brown sugar. Strange to have the brown sugar shipped back to Maui and why it was expensive here.

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July 4th: So we set sail on the Pride of Maui. On the agenda, snorkeling and snuba diving. We had perfect weather and made it to Molikini Island, where they hadn’t been able to go to for the past three days, due to high winds. Apparently in Maui, you rise with the sun, hit the beach, go home by 11, because that’s when the winds pick-up, nap, then go out in the evening. Snorkeling by Molokini island was very nice. I had a much smaller mouth piece than they made 17 years ago, and had no problems. They put a nice little life belt around you and give you a noodle to help you feel even more secure. We saw some beautiful fish. I’ll have to post those photos later, because I used my underwater camera.

They welcomed everyone with Aloha and a breakfast plate. To me, food and swimming do not go together, so I passed.

Now for the Snuba Dive:

After snorkeling they took us to another place called the gardens (odd because in Maui the gardens also refers to graveyards). I thought they were crazy to grill us hamburgers and hot dogs on the way to the 2nd location. I said I was afraid to eat for fear of barfing in the water, and they were kind enough to wrap up my burger until I came back in. You are given a regulator attached to an air tank that is floating inside a floatation raft in the water. You still use a scuba mask. When you exhale, you can see the bubbles around your mask. I COULD NOT SNUBA DIVE! I actually thought I was going to SNUBA DIE.

You have a weight belt which helps you sink below the water. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to swim back up. So I kind of snubaed on the surface. I also didn’t like the taste of the air. So it made me gag. (Glad I didn’t eat!) I had to keep picking my head up from the water and taking the regulator out of my mouth just so I could breathe “real air!” Our instructor Taylor was patient and kept trying to get me to dive, but no luck. I just couldn’t get over my fear of going deeper and not being able to come up for “real air.” Self-preservation is obviously winning at this point.

Bill kept pencil floating, (floating vertically) about 4’ below the surface. I kept thinking he was dying, so that was freaking me out. Hope struggled tool. JW tried really hard to go down, and had more weight added to him, I guess he did pretty good.

We were out there maybe about 30 minutes, and it seemed like hours to me. I never gave up trying, but I was so drained by the time we got back on the boat. I laughed. My birth sign is Pisces, which means I should be a natural swimmer! I AM NOT!

Never again, it was horrible, but at least we know how it is. JW said he would go again. Bill’s ears hurt, and so did Hope’s. That’s because on the way back, the water was slapping the side of the boat and the wind was hurling tiny little drops of water at us that felt like nails hitting the sides of your cheeks! It was not fun on the ride back! It was like we were in a hurricane!

Money well spent: yes

Memories made: yes

Laughing moments: yes

Can’t wait to doit again: HELL NO!

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On July 3rd we went to the “Gardens” as they are called in Maui. We cleaned off the tombstones of Bill’s deceased relatives and paid tribute to their existence in forming our families and connections. It is tradition to visit your ancestors graves and clean them regularly in Maui. I don’t think we do this for our families in Buffalo, or maybe in NY at all, or maybe it’s just uniquely Hawaiian culture. We all helped scrub them clean and spray them with protective coating to protect them from the elements. We left flowers on the site and created a beautiful family memory for the kids who now know a little more about their Hawaiian ancestry. Bill’s dad is part of the direct descendent line of King Kamahemea, pretty cool.

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Drove in Kula today to visit the hospital that they locked great grandma Yaeko Matsumoto up in for 8 years because they said she had Tuberculosis! She didn’t! On the way out we stopped at this old and quaint little Grandma’s Coffee House to grab some iced coffee to go! I also visited the Keokea Art Gallery, owned and operated by artist Sheldon. I enjoyed the satire used in his artwork and bought a cool silk screened design of the Chinatown of the Imagination t-shirt!

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We attended a wedding reception for Keallan & Sarah Dowell. Hope, JW, & I met these relatives and now the new ones for the first time today! We met Auntie Momi (Sylvia Momi Foo Sum) (papa Bill’s sister) Kimmi Hays, & Mary Kay Dowell (her daughters and our cousins). Sarah’s family all live in CO.

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Met Evan Schauss at Tabora Gallery last night. He studied at Chihuly’s glass studio, and his work is beautiful! We visited cute little shops on Front St. where we found some cool new jewelry pieces! Saw the sunset, mostly overcast, but still pretty. Funny story, we were using the Pacer app. So we appeared to have been in the same spot not moving, but Bill was sleeping and didn’t notice we might be at the bottom of the ocean until two hours later! (We paused our walk for the sunset photos).

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At the beach at 5:30 for sunrise! JW flew his drone and we saw some crabs scurrying along the rocks.

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Ww were duped by the online photos of this van for 8 people! It has been ripped apart inside, missing parts of the door and sides. The worst part was that the bottom of the van vents blew burning hot air on my toes making them feel like they were in fire! No air workes in back either. Went today to exchange it. They were going to have a mechanic look at the air, but then came back saying they had another one for us! Thank God. It is better than the first one, which should be in a junk yard by now!

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The cutest hairless dog ever! Nadi is her name! She likes to shoo at Costco too!

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Staying at this beautifully decorated and perfectly situated little Airbnb in Lahaina! We couldn’t be happier with our space!