MARCH 16
Spring Break 2020 trip
I woke up at 2:40 CDT (central daylight time) in the morning on Monday the 16. after having a spastic night sleep. This happens every time I travel. The night before a trip my mind races. Running through a myriad of scenarios from probably to incoherently impossible. Anyways. I got up and got dressed and put in some contacts. Krissy was up once I came out of the bathroom at 3 am (our original wakeup time, if my anxious brain had let me sleep) and we headed up stairs to the kitchen. We had stayed about 20 minutes outside of Milwaukee with Emma and her parents. Her mom was kind enough to offer to drive us (even at this ungodly hour) I knocked on Emma’s door with a coffee in my hand already making sure Amanda was up.
After some coffee and some last minute checks we were off. I’M wide awake and ready for this adventure! Emma’’s mom dropped us off at the American Airline drop off and I got us checked in, we only had to check two bags so it was really painless. there is also the current events helping slim out travelers, due to the terror surrounding the current pandemic of CoronaVirus (COVID-19). Personally this is a helping factor in making our travel effortless. (now don’t get me wrong i hope everyone is safe. And I promise you my friends and I are being safe) But with the lack of vacationers and people traveling, all the flight staff were exceptional they checked our carry ons for free, upgraded our seats, allowed us to pre-board AND provided us with a personal transport with our connecting flight from Dallas to Kahului, Maui. On both flights due to the lack of passengers we had the space to really relax and enjoy the start of our journey.
Our first flight Milwaukee (MKE) to Dallas (DFW) was 2:04min and from Dallas (DFW) to Kahului (OGG) was 8:10min total distance from Dallas to Kahului: 7,126 Miles. Cruising at the altitude of 39,000ft we’re all chilling and I mean literally (I always FREEZE on planes— blankets, socks, and layers included), waiting for the next part in our amazing spring break adventure in Maui. Flying 30,000 feet above the air, feeling that cool recirculated air from the systems ahead and oblivious to the world changing below. To me flying in an airplane has always felt like a suspension from earth like a time capsule where the world ceases to turn until you land. And by that time you have found yourself in a new and exciting place, just waiting to be explored.
When our plane landed in Kapalua it was one of the smoothest touch-downs I have ever encountered. Seriously it was so so so smooth! An amazing thing about Kahului is how organized it is… that and how OPEN everything is… Honestly its all outdoors you you are welcomed to Maui by mother nature and all her wonder. And the smell… wow its heavenly its so fresh and smell of the sea and fresh grass. Once we took a moment to be thankful that we are really here. We began our trek to claim our baggage at baggage claim.I got a call from my mom and she told me the BEST NEWS! I had gotten accepted back to the Walt Disney Company to be a DCP Photopass Photographer! I CRIED, my mom cried and it was just so unreal! I’m so incredibly thankful to Disney for letting me return and I’m thrilled at the future ahead. This was a good omen to the trip ahead, It was smooth sailing to get our bags and now it was time to get our rental car. We rented our car through Fox Rentals and got a mid-sized silver Nissan. After all the paper work was all worked out we began our drive to Lahaina and Napili to get to our Kapalua Resort Villas Maui. WE rented a private two story villa owned by Outrigger, just outside the town of Kapalua.
Walking out of our private villa, we were welcomed by the ocean. Our view showing us the splendor that urged us to take this trip in the first place— clear blue for as far as you can see, the ocean and skyline blending to become one. Our villa was a two story bungalow with cream carpet cool tropical furnishings and an abundant amount of natural light. After thoroughly familiarizing ourselves with our new abode for the next 5 and a half days, EMMA AND I decided it was time to explore our resort and its magnificent views. See photo of view.
After that we began unpacking and settling in to our rooms. For the rest of the night we basically all laid low. Thus concluding our first night in Maui.
MARCH 17
Emma and I woke up to the sound of tropical birds at the bright and early time of 6:36am HST (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time). I decided to take the opportunity and document the sunrise in a time lapse. It was beautiful to observe the world waking up.
Great start to the day ahead. At 7:01am I ventured back inside, quietly, since two of my friends are late risers. I grabbed myself a cup of instant coffee and what I lovingly call green sludge, which is really Naked’s Green Machine Smoothie. I went back outside and sat in our lawn chair and watched the ocean just taking a moment. I closed my eyes savoring the moment. After some sea and self reflection it was time to start the day! BY 8:30AM (HST) my friends had all woken up. I got ready with Emma, and then it was time for our fruit tasting & agricultural tour at Dragon Fruit Tours: MAUI. We chose an amazing spot to stay at. Everything was pretty central to our resort. IT took 45 minutes to get to the tour because of roads and traffic so we left at 10:30am to make it there in time. The tour was super educational, we learned a ton about the island of Maui, did you know that pineapples are not native to Hawaii? AND it helped that our tour guide was super cool, she made jokes and kept everything fun and casual. Once our tour concluded, it was like mother nature knew because once we got back to the main building of the tour place— it began to downpour. And I mean DOWNPOUR!!! We hung out for a spell, waiting for the rain to let up a bit and then got in our car to head to HAKU MAUI the place in Makawao where Krissy and I had pre-ordered head (haku) lei’s. The woman that owns HAKU MAUI is the sweetest, kindest person. Her Haku Lei creations were beautiful and made perfectly to our specifications. We then stopped at Target to get some groceries. I loooove TARGET! We got home around 6:30pm and hustled down to our beach to take some night photos in our new head leis.
I got some cute ones of Krissy & Emma but then it got too dark so mine didn’t really turn out… no matter tho. We decided to wakeup the next morning and take photos in them! I will show a photo of our beach at dusk… SHOWN TO THE RIGHT
MARCH 18.
Emma and I again woke up to the sound of
tropical birds… our own tropical alarm clock and both quickly got ready. Threw on our bikinis and heading down to the beach, leis in tow to take some photos! SEE BELOW!
We were suuuuuper lucky, everytime we went to the beach, Oneloa Beach, it was deserted— probably because of the current events happening with COVID-19, like I said earlier. Amanda, Krissy, Emma & I were taking precautions and being safe. After the 2 hour beach photoshoot and an hour looking at the cliffs, tides and a blowhole next to our resort, it was 11:00am, and our two other friends had awoken to start the day. We drove almost to Hana, because Amanda had looked up that there was a little hut AT TWIN FALLS MAUI that sold sugar cane and Krissy had really wanted some. We drove all the way there, for 2 hours only to find out that the lady had SOLD OUT! But Amanda worked her magic and she somehow managed to find some for Krissy. I had to pee somewhere between hour 1 and 1 1/2 of driving and by the time we got there I was dying! AND there was no bathroom! I was NOT about to make it another 2 hours— so I told Amanda to just pull off to the side of the road. I admit its not my first time peeing on the side of the road, and it probably won’t be the last… however it is the first time I peed on the side of the road in MAUI! We saw a cute place to grab lunch a little while back called JAWs, and that's where we went. AMANDA got a Poke bowl and I got an açaí bowl. All four of us got dragonfruit smoothies too! On the way back to our resort we stopped at a grey sand beach and little flea market just outside Kapalua. We also made a pit-stop along the way back to one of the numerous beaches stretching across the coast. The beach we stopped at was, Ukumehame beach. When we got back to the villa, I began to edit my photos from the photoshoot earlier that day. Featured in Ari Dohr’s instagram. Krissy’s brother had told her about a place that had amazing food, we were planning on dining in there but due to the COVID-19 fiasco, we had to order take out. We did and I had the BEST pork and bao bread EVER! That night, I found out that I had completed all the necessary steps for the DCP acceptance process, and it was the best start to the day.
MARCH 19
This was the day we had planned to do Road to Hana, and see the black sand beaches. the only downside was that we had to get up suuuper early to beat the crowds. I woke up at the ungodly hour of 3:30am and Krissy and Emma got up at 3:45am. Amanda informed us that she would not make the trip— that was fine tho because I was so excited to see this beach! WE DROVE 3 hours through jungle, mountains, valleys and waterfalls (which are beautiful) to get to Hana. Not to mention the myriad of switch-backs and blinding curves that led us to dizzying heights. We saw a tee shirt that had said ‘I survived the Road to Hana’ and that shirt was right. We got to see the sunrise tho and it was glorious! Once we got there it was 8 am and what we saw crushed my dream… Waianapanapa State Park was CLOSED! ALL MAUI STATE PARKS WERE CLOSED DUE TO SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THE LIMITING OF THE SPREAD OF COVID-19. Waianapanapa State Park is where the black sand beach is. WE drove all this way to find them closed. We found out that this was the first day of the closure and it was not on their website at that time, we were completely blindsided. I was shocked. I don’t do well with plans being usurped but I did my best to hid my stupid tears and tried to find the bright side.
The park ranger lady offered to take some pictures of it for us SEE ABOVE— so even though we couldn’t see it in person we could at least see it on our phone. I didn’t know she did this until later… but the nice ranger had taken a video to show and I put it below.
I was determined to not let this hiccup ruin this day. I prayed and came to some peace about it— everything happens for a reason and God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle. Emma was pretty bummed too and made her distress known. She also asked if ALL state parks would be closed and I said yes. Distinction: State parks are not the same as public access beach parks which make up the majority of the beaches on Maui— so we could still go to public beaches we just couldn’t go to the black sand beach, green sand beach or red sand beaches (since they are owned by the state). It was now time to make the trek back to Kapalua and back the way we came— through the treacherous Road to Hana. We stopped quick for a bathroom break at a rest stop and took some pics of a waterfall. SEE BELOW, TO THE RIGHT
But it was then back to the winding curves the road had ahead. We noticed that the Road to Hana was slowly being locked and closed off.. preventing tourists from coming to a place that was closed… only locals could get through and they allowed us to leave. I made good time on the Road to Hana on the way back, more acclimated to the roads and now that it was light I could better see where I was driving. Once we got out of that area we stopped at the town of Paia for some gas and I hashed out a new gameplay. We were supposed to have spent the whole day exploring beaches and Hana but since it was closed we needed a new plan. I NOTICED cool looking beach a ways back and it had people so it was OPEN! we decided to head back and do that. Krissy took a nap in the car (she’s not the biggest fan of beaches) and Emma and I went across the highway— yes, I said ACROSS the highway— to the beaches entrance. We walked down the escarpment and I took out the drone for some beach footage and b-roll of the trip. We flew my drone, the DJI Mavic Mini (I named him Maverick after Top Gun) for about 30 minutes. SEE BELOW
I landed it and brought it up to Krissy to guard. After scampering again across the highway I safely made it back to the car and told Krissy we’d be about an hour more… she nodded and went back to her nap. I returned to Emma after only one close call with a car and joined her in the splashing waves & taking pictures of course! SEE BELOW.
We made the most of our day— our moods lifting with the much needed vitamin D and vitamin sea. After the day spent in Paia it was time to return to Amanda, back at the villa. Emotions were running high after that, causing Emma and I to have a little spat. I went out to my favorite spot on the lawn chair cool off and Emma went to pool. Krissy and Amanda took that as their cue to make a mini trip to the grocery market before anything shut down to COVID-19. After about 20 minutes of brooding and being pissy, I put on my big girl pants and went to apologize to Emma. I found her laying by the pool and proceeded with my apology. After no time, Emma and I were as thick as thieves. We ended up doing a pool photoshoot— this one turned out to be one of my favorites.
MARCH 20
We spent the whole day at the pool…. all four of us. See Pool photo RIGHT & BELOW. It was great we had the best time just relaxing and being in each others company. Krissy and Amanda had somehow managed to get sunburned in the SHADE wearing SUNSCREEN! I have no idea how that's possible, but they did. That night we all went and watched the sunset which probably would have been spectacular if it wasn’t for the cloud cover obscuring it from sight.
MARCH 21
OUR last full day in MAUI. Emma and I got up early like we always did and went to get some drone footage of Oneloa beach. SEE DRONE FOOTAGE BELOW
I was just finishing up instructing Emma on putting away the drone. I was covered in sand and salt and didn’t want to damage it when a guy walked over to us. This was unexpected because this was our first encounter of another person on the beach the whole 5 days we were there. He began chatting to us enthusiastically. Now I admit I was a little apprehensive of a middle aged guy coming up to us… I had no idea if we was going to yell at us for flying the drone— or just be a creeper. I was immediately cautious.
Well my caution was misplaced because he turned out to be a super great and friendly dude. He said, “hey my name is Grant. I think I’m your villa neighbor” and then began to tell us about his wife and sons and their trip. I instantly liked him. He out of the blue mentioned that he and his two boys had went scuba diving three times this vacation and that they got temporary certifications for this trip. HE (GRANT) then asked after I showed immense interest if I’ve dived before I told him yes. I also told him I was a certified PADI open water diver and have been since I was 16. And this is where I know that EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON and that God is good; because he then said…. “would you want to come with us on this last dive?” I was ecstatic. So excited! Early in the planning of our trip to Maui I had thrown out the option of diving here— not because I didn’t want to go— no it was because I didn’t have a Dive Buddy and I knew it would be hella expensive. The guy we just met said it was $90 and that all I had to do was show my PADI CERT. Card, which miraculously I brought on this trip. Another good luck thing I brought were my dive booties, eye mask and diving fins. All thing I knew took up space and probably wouldn’t have used but some other power urged me to bring. He said if I wanted to go, we’d need to go soon because the dive was scheduled for 10am.
He made a quick call to the dive company they went through and the diver they guys are with said it was totally okay. The divers name is Caitlin and I will be forever thankful to her and our new friend Grant for offering. Emma came along and hung out with the guys wife on the beach while we dived. During this dive I had never see so many turtles. One that dive I saw 12! We also got to encounter a Black Tipped Reef shark hiding out— which was my favorite thing. The dive was so amazing… SEE LEFT FOR PHOTO OF ME DIVING
We heard WHALES singing under the water and I had a turtle follow me for a time. I just love being submerged under the water with the only sounds being of my breathing, regulator and the ocean. IT’s so releasing and free to be down in the cerulean oblivion. After we surfaced from the dive. Footage from Dive, SEE BELOW:
I paid Caitlin for the dive and I purchased the photos she had taken while down there.SEE ABOVE. Grant offered to take us to lunch at a great place he had discovered earlier in his trip. We went and I had the best vanilla mojito saved ice EVER! EMMA AND I decided to split a lobster/crab grilled cheese. Because of the pandemic we had to take everything to go and we at back at our villa. We waved to Grant and his family from their deck and Emma and I ate on our lawn chairs. We caught back up with Grant, his wife and his boys again later that night at sunset. After we ate, Emma wanted to explore— after Grant told us about a cliff house and another beach just a half mile away. Emma and I explored and found it. This is the famous beach we kept seeing pics of! We had thought it was waaaay farther away— but no it was RIGHT NEXT DOOR! The famous beach is called Kapalua Bay Beach and we were both a little bummed that we had discovered it sooner. But, again, everything happens for a reason… We soon found that this beach was WAY more popular and populated than Oneloa beach. Even with the extra people I got a cool photo in a cave-like place... See BELOW
I was thankful then that we had gotten the drone footage at Oneloa and not Kapalua Bay. We met up with Grant and his family for a spell but then we decided to get some sunset photos at the beach. They boys caught up to us as we were just finishing up.
The GUYS headed back to the villa shortly after and once the sun had dipped down below the horizon and dusk settled Emma and I followed suit talking about the trip and how much fun it was on the way back. We were about to enter our villa when Grant’s sons waved us over. They were at the pool. We hung out for a bit, just talking and joking around until Emma and I started to freeze. We said our goodnights to the boys and wished them safe travels. (we all leave tomorrow) and scurried back to our villa, freezing and laughing. It was a great end to the trip. Amanda, Krissy, Emma and I all packed up our things and then just hung out.
MARCH 22
THIS WAS IT. Our Last day in Maui. We quickly did a once-over to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything and then we check out of Outrigger’s Kapalua Villas MAUI. It truly was an amazing trip. We packed the car and began our travels back to Wisconsin. Our flight didn’t leave until 6:00pm (we had a red-eye flight) so we had time to hit up so beaches on the way back to Kahului and the airport. We went back to the grey sand beach and ‘borrowed’ some sand as a souvenir. We were driven back to Kahului by Amanda. W made it to Kahului with plenty of time to spare we grabbed a snack from Amandas favorite place: Crispy Creme. We then returned the car back to Fox Rentals and they shuttled us to the airport. We got there dealt with a minor hiccup with Krissy’s pre-boarding and pre-TSA but then we got it all figured out and my card decided to not work. (thanks bank) I had told them I’d be in Maui but they blocked it. No worry, Amanda covered me and I said I’d pay her back. At least my card worked all vacay except today. We all got Pre-TSA printed boarding passes and breezed through security. Once past security EMMA AND I went for Starbucks. Emma got the DRAGON FRUIT PINK DRINK AND I GOT THE GINGER PINEAPPLE YELLOW DRINK (it’s delicious btw). SEE RIGHT:
We boarded our plane. WHICH was way fuller this time, thanks to COVID-19 and everyone switching flights to get home early. Our plane took off onetime and we were off. We got to Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) at 6:00am local time. (3:00am Maui time) and boarded the next flight a small puddle-jumper of a plane at 7:30am. This plane was so small that all wheel luggage HAD to be checked below the plane. This was a huge inconvenience for me because my drone and all its batteries were in my roller bag… which you can’t have UNDER the plane because they have Lithium Ion Batteries— which could make the plane malfunction and the batteries could explode. I had to hastily repack my luggage and bring the drone and the batteries on board. After a quick two hour flight we made it to Milwaukee. Emma’s parents met us at the baggage claim. They had brought my car with them and helped me load the car and they packed Emma up with them. After some long hugs, AMANDA, KRISSY AND I said goodbye to Emma. I began the drive back to Green Bay. I dropped them off on campus and was shocked to see it was a ghost town. By this time a nation-wide pandemic state of emergency was enacted and social distancing and self quarantining was required. The whole campus was empty. I drove to my Mom’s house on mostly empty roads. Thus concluded our spring break trip to Maui! What an amazing time it was, this trip will forever hold a rosy spot in my heart.