Maui's Glorious, Seattle's Devastated

It's almost surreal. We're in Maui basking in warm sunshine, swimming in ocean waters that feel almost like a bathtub, enjoying warm trade winds, and watching phenomenal sunsets... while a state of emergency has been declared in Seattle due to the worst rain and windstorm in decades. A million homes (including ours) have no power and there has been widespread damage, with trees down everywhere. The only damage on our property, we've discovered, is our hottub which was literally split in half by a fallen tree. (Tom laments that it wasn't the boat!) The animals are well cared for but I'm sure they're a bit freaked.

And we just keep thinking that our debacle of Flight #598 could have been soooo much worse! Had we been forced to wait until Thursday morning to fly to LAX, chances are very good that Danelle would be stranded in Hawaii (I know, I know... but if you're 19 and alone, it's not as wonderful as it might sound) because many, many flights were cancelled overnight and then SeaTac airport even eventually closed (which would have prohibited her from return, too)!

But we are all here and we have decided not to dwell on what did happen or could have happened, and instead just to enjoy ourselves.

Waking up to the gorgeous view from the condo today was just amazing! Tom, Peter and Danelle (who is part Hawaiian) then went into town to get malasadas, a sort of Hawaiian donut -- but so much better than donuts!

Later in the morning we went to the Nakaleli blowhole. (I took this of the Tom and the kids as we were making our way down the trail.) Wow, what FUN!! And how beautiful! Unfortunately we didn't get a single shot of the water exploding through the blowhole, so here's a cheat... along with one of our family getting just sopping wet!

Then we headed to Slaughterhouse Beach, where I had fun with my camera, and followed that with another stopover in Lahaina to rent boogie boards and snorkeling gear for tomorrows underwater expedition to La Parouse, followed by Big Beach and Little Beach. The next day, Sunday, we'll do the road to Hana and on Monday we'll go to Black Rock which has great snorkeling under water and a cliff to jump off into the water. The next day we'll watch the sunrise from the 10,000 foot summit of Haleakala in the morning and enjoy a luau in the afternoon and evening. Then we'll spend some time watching the surfers on the huge waves of Ho'okipa, perhaps sail in the tradewinds off-shore... and who knows what else? Of course I'll try to document it all!

So here are two of my favorite shots from today, both taken by Kat!