the worst case of the Sunday night blues EVER... on Monday.

I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. Because it turns out? I am really, really good at not working. Truly, I excel at it. I have had one of the best weeks ever, and I couldn't be more bummed out about having to set my alarm tomorrow, and wear make-up, and put on SOCKS. *slump*

OK, so.... Maui. Thanks, Shels, for pointing me toward the Makai Inn. It couldn't have been cuter. No maid service, no TV, no telephone even, but the kitchiest little rooms with mismatched beach towels and funky seashell lamps, and just a wonderful homey and eccentric place. I loved it.

And I loooooooved Maui! Honolulu-where? C'MON![/Gob] Maui is gorgeous, and not like the way you think of Hawai'i with white sand beaches and palm trees. It's full of mountains and rainforests and black sand beaches and sugar plantations and cattle ranches. It's pretty much about the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Oh, it's just wonderful. No cities, so the stars are brilliant, and the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets I've ever seen. Plus it's always raining in the mountains and sunny on the coast, so there's literally rainbows everywhere you look. I could really get used to the island life. I never even took my hair dryer out of my suitcase. No make-up, no watch, just flipflops and tank tops over my bathing suit all day every day. Heaven!!

The first day there we drove the Road to Hana. 52 miles, 3 rental cars (3!!), 71 one-way bridges, and over 300 hairpin curves. It was a crazy, breathtaking drive that I made at about 10 mph, while Bree hung over the edge of whatever car we happened to be in at the time and took over 300 pictures. The majority of the road is through a rainforest, and to the west there are sheer cliffs plunging down to lava rocks or black sand beaches, and to the east are green mountains that trail up into the clouds. The shallow coral reefs turn the ocean all sorts of brilliant shades of blue and green-- our pictures don't even begin to do it justice. Here you can kind of see the road cut into the side of the mountain:



The second day we got on a bus at 2am and drove up to the top of Haleakala. That's the extinct-though-some-scientists-say-it's-just-dormant volcano that created the island of Maui. You could fit the island of Manhattan in the crater (7 miles across), and the rim's elevation is at about 10,000 ft. (That's about twice as high as Denver, for relativity.) We watched the sun rise around 5:20am, way up above the cloud cover. It's like you're walking around on Mars up there:



Bree took the bus back down but I took a bicycle. It was one of the most stunning things I've ever done. The trail is in the Guiness Book of World Records because it goes from 10,000 ft. to sea level in less than 40 miles. I biked it, yo, although I never once turned the pedals. It was kind of like snow-skiing, but on asphalt, and with the vague sensation that if you fell down it would probably hurt a lot more. We stayed between 15-25mph, and the first half was way above the clouds, through the 3rd largest cattle ranch in the United States, randomly, and the 2nd half was through a lot of protea fields and more residential areas, that smelled of fir and rosemary and lavender. I don't have enough adjectives to describe it.

The following day we toured a lavender garden and a winery. The lavender garden was really interesting - it's at about 4,000 ft, and apparently the lava rock creates a natural irrigation system for the fields because it's so pourous-- when it rains up at the top it all filters down to the fields. It was beautiful. The winery was really pretty, too, and yes, I brought back some pineapple wine.

The last day we went snorkeling and I haven't developed my underwater pictures yet, but we went out on a biodiesel boat to the Molokini crater (obviously, not my photo) and it was really awesome. I saw a ton of fish and an eel, and a big sea turtle. Bree and I also took lots of pictures of the windmills; for some reason I'm completely obsessed with them. It was really cloudy up that high so I couldn't get a good shot, but still, they're just so sci-fi and creepy (click to enlarge).




That night we also went to a traditional Hawaiian luau. It was fun but really touristy, and not something I really ever have to do again.

The flight home was eventful and we almost didn't make it, but 3 airplanes and 12 hours later I landed in San Diego, and I spent the weekend with Sloane & Rob. We saw a Neil Diamond cover band and went kayaking in the Pacific and ate sushi and watched Arrested Development, and I got to hang with three of my favorite pooches in the world. I almost cried when I had to check into my hotel tonight.

So there you have it. My Hawaiian vacation. Back to work tomorrow, with a peeling nose and probably a piss-poor attitude. Did anyone miss me??