First Day in Paradise

We awoke this morning to an incredible view from our balcony. It is always fun arriving somewhere in the dark and then waiting to see what it will be like come daybreak. Our view is truly incredible and the extra money we paid to get the oceanview room was well worth it. After marveling at the view from the lanai, Karen and I got ready for the day and set out to find some good breakfast. Taking advice from Brandon Ahu, I asked the lady at the front desk for a place where the locals get their breakfast. She gave me a puzzled look and said I should try the buffet at the hotel next door. I was a little off-put by this, but Kare and I decided to check it out. After arriving at the hotel and seeing the $14 price tag for the buffet, we turned around and came back home. We have both pledged to indulge a little on the trip, but we also have a little bit of the frugal/deal seeking bug in our system. I asked the lady at the guardhouse to the parking lot a place for breakfast and she too said we should try the buffet. Seeing that we weren't going to get anywhere by asking hotel staff for recommendations, we took matters into our own hands. After driving up and down several streets looking for a place where the locals eat, we found such a place in a tucked away plaza. I don't recall the name of it, but it had a pretty authentic Hawaiian "plate breakfast." They were out of hashbrowns, so we both went even more local by having scoops of rice with our breakfast. I opted for the spam and hawaiian hot dogs for my breakfast meat, while Karen shied away from the spam and just ate hot dogs. She did sample a bite of my spam and told me that I can eat her share while in Hawaii. I should have taken a picture of it before eating, but as you can see, I did enjoy my breakfast.

After breakfast, we continued back to Kahului (the main town on the island) to go to Costco. I guess you can't really have a trip to paradise without making a stop at the stores you frequent while at home. We got there before it opened, so we decided to follow a road and explore. After driving through the next town and watched 4 lanes drop to 2, we saw a sign for the Iao Valley. Being the adventurers we are, we continued on the road until we found a state park at the end of the line. It was beautiful with cliffs climbing up both sides and a stream going down the middle. I am sure we will see much better places before we leave, but we both felt a sense of accomplishment by stumbling on the Iao Valley while killing time.

After leaving the valley, we headed back to Costco to load up on Hawaiian Sun fruit drinks, Diet Coke, fruit, and other food. We also bought new beach towels and car seat covers for my car. They were a great deal...only $17 for a pair. A lot of the food items were too bulkish for us and Karen and I thought a grocery store might be better. Fortunately, a Safeway is just down the street and we were able to fill the cupboards after a stop there. Food isn't too much more here, although fresh food is pretty spendy. A gallon of milk is over $5 and lettuce and other non-local veggies ran in the same high range.

Our afternoon was pretty chill. We ate lunch on the lanai and headed to the beach. It has been pretty windy here and sitting on the beach is no fun...at least all of my dead skin was sand-blasted off. The tour book said there is good snorkeling just down the beach from our hotel at Black Rock, so Kare and I headed down there to check it out. We weren't disappointed when a sea turtle came withing 3 feet of my nose. On the way in, we saw another turtle and followed it for about 10 minutes...they really are pretty amazing.

It's dinner time now and we are thinking of heading to one of our favorite island/tropical eateries...Pizza Hut. We hope all is well on the mainland and we look forward to sharing more of our trip tomorrow.