Hawaii

If you have to travel for work - I highly recommend Hawaii! We spent 11 days on Maui and each day was better than the one before. The island of Maui is only 48 miles long and 26 miles wide but it has a very diverse climate. We were amazed that you could be in an area that is like a desert and 5 miles down the road you were in a lush rain forest. These pictures are on the Road to Hana. It takes 3 hours to go 26 miles. The road is filled with switchbacks and the beauty of the island unfolds as you make the journey. It took us 7 hours to get to Hana due to the fact that we stopped numerous times to hike or take in the beauty. Travel tip - buy a self directed CD from the Shell station for under $10, and drive it yourself vs a tour. Leave at sunrise to give yourself more time to enjoy the adventure. Even taking 7 hours to arrive in Hana - we felt rushed due to the impending sunset.

Check out the rainbow - this was at IAO Needle - waterfalls, amazing plants and flowers, rushing river in the background, and the sound of birds you couldn't see amongst the fullness of the rain forest.

IAO Needle - State Park and free parking. Amazingly beautiful. Take an umbrella - this is the only place we experienced rain the entire time we were in Maui.

Happy hour at the Shops at Wailea. From 3 -6 pm everyday you can enjoy reduced prices on food. If you don't drink alcohol two people can eat for under $15.00 and be very full. The price of food was higher than the mainland. At the grocery store we found everything is about $1.00 higher. Travel tip - bring your favorite snacks with you. We could have easily saved about $30 had we brought our own wheat thins, pretzels, crystal light packs, peanut butter, Advil, and suntan lotion.

We stayed at the Marriott in Wailea and loved it. Great beach for snorkeling and plenty of swimming pools to relax and read. This was our favorite we could feel the ocean breeze and see the beauty while keeping cool. Major travel tip - the cheapest online price for a room was $260 a night. I used priceline and got the same room for $95 a night. They charges a resort fee of $25.00 a night but that provided free parking some other extras so the total per night was $120.00, We saved over $1400 for the exact same accommodations and service.

The website bidding for travel can provide you with rates fellow travelers have received. It is broken down by state and then region. Very helpful so you don't over pay. We also used priceline for our car rental. We saved over $60 on that as well. We used frequent flyer miles for our airline tickets.

Next post will be our visit to Maui's Community College and our sailing/snorkeling trip.

Stay tuned......