Back from Maui

It was only one week but we really enjoyed ourselves. We stayed at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel. It's a bit of an older hotel but the staff are fantastic. If you go with kids, be sure to sign up for the Kid's Aloha passport and do some hotel activities. The people leading the lei making, Hula dancing, etc. are great and give you the flavor of what Hawaii is all about.

Now I have some random thoughts about the trip:

• We rented a minivan (Chevy Venture) and surprisingly I actually enjoyed it. I understand why people drive these things now. I could put kids in different rows and keep them apart when they were arguing. Visibility is quite good. Folding seats give lots of room when you need it. But there were a couple of cons too. It's pretty big, hard to park and sucks gas. The controls are in odd places and where's the tachometer? I won't be running out to buy a minivan anytime soon but I may rent one again.


• Haleakala was impressive to see again. I forgot how twisty that drive was and it was colder at the top than I remember.


• Went to a Mac store while I was there and planned to buy an iPod but they were completely out of them. Good for Apple, bad for me...


• Went whale watching. The kids loved the free snacks. Oh yeah the whales were cool too. :-)


• The kukui nut lei departure ceremony by the hotel staff was cool. They sang and we each got a lei that won't immediately wilt when we get back home.


• Damn Calgary looks bad when the snow melts. No leaves, a bunch of gravel and a slushy mess. I'd prefer to see some snow covering all the brown.


• Sun is good. Sunscreen is your friend.


• Boy did I eat a lot and although I thought I was starting to gain too much weight, all I had to do was look at all the other fat tourists and I felt pretty good about myself. Maybe it has to do with the Maui resort location but I remember girls in tiny bikinis on Waikiki. These people weren't anything like that! Maybe America (me included) really are just getting fatter. ;-)


• I have a new favorite shirt from Crazy Shirts. It's a long sleeve crew neck t-shirt (not on the website) dyed with the same Blue Curacao that tints those fun island cocktails.


• I think I got some great video of the kids and the island. Looking forward to editing this one.