Hawaii
Family Vacation
May 2019

8:00 AM	arrive at Kahului, Maui
all day	rent car, explore Maui

Fitbit stats:
To bed: 8:59 pm (went to bed early while the others went to the evening entertainment), Got up: 7:05 am (7:54 asleep)
Steps: 13,341 (6.26 miles)
Floors: 59

We had no definitive plans for any of our days on the cruise, so after breakfast, we left the ship in search of a rental car. We found one available at E-Z Rent-A-Car... for $150/day! Lesson learned -- after this we booked through Expedia a day or two in advance for cheaper rates. After obtaining our car, we briefly drove over to Kihei, where Chad arranged for a surfing lesson the next morning, then spent the rest of the day at Haleakalā National Park (dormant volcano with Mars-like terrain). It rained on the way back to the ship, the only time it did more than sprinkle the whole vacation. For reference, if you take this cruise and rent a car for 2 days, you can park overnight at the Maui Beach Hotel near the port for $5.

Haleakalā National Park

Silversword, Park HQ	Haleakalā Observatory
at Visitor Center		path to Pā Ka'oao

crater & Sliding Sands trail from Pā Ka'oao

views of crater from Sliding Sands trail

Kalahaku Overlook

Leleiwi Overlook

all day	explore Maui
5:00 PM	return rental car, return to ship
6:00 PM	leave Maui

Fitbit stats:
To bed: 10:14 pm, Got up: 7:00 am (6:43 asleep)
Steps: 13,784 (6.47 miles)
Floors: 42

We dropped Chad off in Kihei for his 9 am surfing lesson, then continued driving south to where the road ends at Kings Trail Lava Fields. We spent several hours walking along the very pretty lava rock beaches there.

			Dolphin Bay
		*24s video (1.7MB)*	https://youtu.be/gfIVr8XWk24

Around lunchtime, we drove back around past Kahului to the "Rainforest and Waterfalls" shore excursion location at Twin Falls Maui Waterfall. We found it to be underwhelming, but at least it didn't cost anything to enter. Definitely glad we didn't pay for it as an excursion, and in hindsight, I think we should have gone to the Iao Valley State Park instead. We ate our packed lunch (sandwiches made from food scrounged at the ship's buffet) on a log by the river above the falls, then Chad called around 1 pm to say he was finished surfing, so we drove back to Kihei to pick him up.

We stopped by the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum on the way back to port, as we had passed it several times while driving around. Then we returned the car and made it back onboard in time for Mom & I to go to the Kukui nut lei-making class. After supper at the buffet, we listened to jazz and a piano guy at one of the bars.

leaving Maui