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January 27, 2006
Tan, Fat, and Happy
Well, I am tan. I'm definitely not fat, but it's possible that I've consumed my weight in Hawaiian tropical fruits (specifically papaya, passion fruit, and guava, which happened to be in season) in recent weeks. In blogging about this 3-week vacation, I think I'll stick to describing the highlights, as I may otherwise create a novel that no one would read. However, I fear that my list of highlights may be quite long as well. My apologies in advance!
Wine Tasting in Napa Valley- We spent one day hopping around from winery to winery in northern Napa Valley, mostly along the less traveled Silverado Trail. We visited wineries with the stipulation that it had to be a small, relatively unknown winery (as opposed to the big, touristy wineries that also dot the region). The weather was fantastic, the hills of Napa Valley outstanding, and the wine wonderful. After our day, we had collected at least 10 bottles of wine! I can't wait to start drinking them and re-living our wine tasting adventures.
Running in Napa Valley- At this point, the name of the town in which I ran escapes me, but this run was otherwise memorable. I found a woman under a bush! It's not as horrible as it sounds. I was running along a grassy path with no other foot traffic when I noticed an elderly woman under a bush. She had crawled under there because her dog's leash was tangled in the brush and she couldn't get back out. I helped her out (It wasn't easy, she was really stuck!). Amazing... Apart from this, I recall this particular run being quite speedy, as it was my first run at lower elevation after coming down to nearly sea level from the Rocky Mountains.
Long Run in San Francisco- This may not sound like fun to some people, but I had a great time! We were staying in a hotel on Nob Hill, which is one of the taller areas of the city. I got up at the crack of dawn so I could do this run before the city was in the full throttle of a normal day. I ran from Nob Hill down to the water, then along the piers, through the Presidio, along the Promenade, and up to the Golden Gate Bridge, and back to the hotel. In all, I think I ran about 12 or 13 miles, and it was an awesome run. I was amazed by how quiet it was along the bay, but how insanely noisy it was on the Golden Gate Bridge!
Being San Francisco tourists- We visited Alcatraz Island, the Presidio area, Telegraph Hill, the North Beach neighborhood, Nob Hill, Union Square, and much more than I can recall at the moment. We ate phenomenal Italian food in the North Beach area, some of the best Italian food I've ever had! We stayed in a super cute hotel called the Nob Hill Hotel (If you want to stay somewhere that's inexpensive, a little funky, and close to everything, this is a great place.). We even rode the infamous street cars!
Haleakala National Park- This is a remarkable national park established to protect one of Hawaii's gigantic volcanoes, Haleakala. It's summit is over 10,000 feet tall. I was impressed by the wind at the summit. It was blowing constantly at a speed in which you had to lean into the wind so as to not be blown away. Incredible! We camped at a less windy location at about 6800 feet elevation, the Hosmer Grove Campground, and it was a great campsite. We did a 12 mile hike weaving through the volcano's crater, which must be akin to walking on the moon. The rock formations are bizarre, and there's virtually no plant life growing. But this is what made it so exciting! We also visited, hiked, and camped in the Seven Sacred Pools area, where Haleakala the volcano meets the ocean. We saw beautiful waterfalls, including one over 400 feet tall, pristine pools of water, insane waves and surf hitting sea cliffs, and a most memorable full-moon rise. I will never forget my night camping there at Kipahulu Campground, under the glow of a full moon, listening to surf crashing, in perfect weather.
Rain and the Road to Hana- Driving the "Road to Hana" feels like you're filming a car commercial. It's a beautiful setting, you're driving in an out of curves in a sleek rental car, you feel as if you're a professional driver. It also requires your full attention! Now, add a continuous torrential downpour to this situation, and things get even more interesting! It was awesome, though, because all the waterfalls next to the road were flowing. We saw less of the sights on the "Road to Hana" that we wanted to see because of the all-afternoon storm, but we had our own unique experience!
Running the Maui Surf and Sand Half Marathon- It was concidentally being run while we were there, so I decided to run it. I didn't race it, as I'm in poor shape right now. Instead, I ran it for fun and to make sure I did a long run while I was in Hawaii. I succeeded in both respects. The race ran along the west coast of Maui, so the scenery was outstanding. On one side was ocean and the other side tall mountains. The race started in the dark and in a steady rain. Though it was in the 60s, I was pretty cold at the start and I wondered at first how much I was going to enjoy the race. Once we started running, I was immediately warm, and the rain quit about 30 minutes into the race. The sun came out and it was steamy, but it made everything shiny and beautiful. It felt almost luxurious to be running a race in such paradise with absolutley no racing pressure, I loved it. For the record, I ran a 1:42 and change.
Snorkeling at Molokini Island - Coral reefs and tropical fish, what more can you ask for? We did a great half-day snorkeling trip to this tiny island off Maui's coast. My favorite sea creatures were the Morey Eel and the Unicornfish. We also snorkeled near the Maui coastline where there are many Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles, and that was an outstanding experience. The grace with which these enormous creatures swim through the water impressed me, as did their curiosity regarding our presence. It's moderately possible that I made eye contact with one particularly inquisitive sea turtle!
Seeing Humpback Whales breech- I learned that Humpback whales spend summer in Alaska and winter in Hawaii (What a perfect life!). They were in Hawaii in hordes, they were everywhere offshore. We had the lucky experience of seeing a female whale teaching her baby to breech out of the water. As a result, we saw up close views of them both jumping out of the water over and over again. Normally, whales only breech once or twice at a time, and people only see it happen once in a while. In this case, we saw each of them breech a few dozen times. It was a momumental moment that I won't forget.
Laying on the beach - Yeah, I have to admit that I enjoy laying on beaches. I love the warm feeling of the sun. I love people watching. I love reading. I love watching the ocean. I love walking along the beach looking for funny things that wash up. I love it all. I did a moderate amount of beach-going, especially on the west and south coasts of Maui. The beaches at Wailea and Ka'anapali were my favorites.
Camping on beaches- Okay, let me make an exclusionary statement: I really enjoyed camping on some of the beaches. Maui's designated campsites are a little hit and miss. In general, the 2 campsites run by the National Park Service at Haleakala National Park are outstanding. The one state park campsite that we visited was also okay. The county campsites were hit and miss, one of these I really enjoyed, but several I didn't like very much, as they were somewhat unkempt. It is moderately difficult to camp on Maui, and relatively few people do it. But that's why I liked it though, since we had some beautiful beaches mostly to ourselves!
So, those are the main highlights of the trip. The entire 2 weeks were spent on Maui, and I never made it to Molokai. There was just too much to do! My running went well. I kept it up to (almost) the level that I wanted to while I was gone. I missed only one run that I had intended to do due to being hungover (Yeah, I admittedly got a little hungover one morning after a little too much wine the night prior.). I shortened several runs in order to fit them in before and after activities, and lost a few miles here and there. In general, I'm happy with how I ran while I was on vacation. One thing I was really bad about while on vacation was drinking water. I got a little too dehydrated a couple of times from the sun and humidity that I could feel it while running. All in all, I had an awesome vacation and I ran the amount that I had hoped to while there. I'm exhausted, though, after going non-stop for 3 weeks. I'm glad to be home in my own house, in my own bed, with my dog. I think I need a vacation from my vacation!
Posted by Meghan at January 27, 2006 12:37 AM
Comments
It sounds like you had an awesome trip. I was impressed with all you did and the way you wrote it all up with links! Makes me want to go back to Maui!
Posted by: Caitlin at January 27, 2006 7:37 PM
INCREDIBLE!! Hawaii is on my "want-to-visit" last and you did NOTHING to take the edge off!! Glad you had such a great time with such memorable runs!!!
Posted by: Audrey at January 27, 2006 7:39 PM
Wow!! What a trip. I can't believe that you only wrote about the highlights. I probably would have forgotten everything that I wanted to write and say something lame, like "I went to Hawaii".
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at January 29, 2006 5:49 PM