Well hello there! It’s been a while, right? We got home from vacation a few days ago, but those 20+ hour travel days take a lot of a girl. I’ve been fighting a nasty cold since our last day in Maui, and trying to get caught up on schoolwork. Because… well… museum finances aren’t nearly as interesting as splashing around in the Pacific Ocean and summiting volcanoes. Back to the real world, I suppose. I hope you are well. ♥

It’s nice to be home. The trees welcomed us back in a blaze of fiery glory, and the air is crackling.

Here are a few photos from our trip. We’re already thinking about going back. How could we not?

You can click on the panorama shots to see them full-sized.

 Haleakalā crater from 10,000 feet

We stayed at the Grand Wailea resort, which was a totally new experience (for me, anyway), but a fun one. Off season is definitely the time to go if you don’t really like crowds, and don’t mind construction noise and a few minor inconveniences here and there (our resort fee was waived). We’ve already decided that our next trip will be a little more low key, and will involve some beach camping and less expensive hotels. We discovered that there were so many more things we wanted to do; five days just wasn’t enough time to take everything in.

A couple places of note:

• Aloha Mixed Plate in Lahaina
• Haleakalā National Park
• Jewelry Stand Maui in Lahaina
• Pacific Whale Foundation
• Tasaka Guri-Guri shop in Kahului (at the Maui Mall)