It’s been a week that we’ve been here in Maui. A *week*. That seems like crazy talk to me.

The big difference maker, I suppose, is that we had the wedding with all those shenanigans packed in there, but it definitely doesn’t feel like it’s actually been a week. I had to recount that just now on my blog titles and make sure that I wasn’t getting suddenly horrible at arithmetic.

Random thought: correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t mathematics actually something entirely different than arithmetic. What we learn in the several early years of our education, what they call math, is actually NOT math. They’re not the same thing. You use arithmetic in mathematics, but they are not the same thing.

Moving on.

We woke up far, far earlier than the butt-crack of dawn today. It was 1:30 when the Ho and I rolled out of bed, and we were down the highway at the Kihei Safeway at 2:15am to wait another 15 minutes for our shuttle to show. Then, it was across the island towards where the airport is to get a quick “continental” breakfast, which means coffee (or hot chocolate in my case) and Svenhaard’s packaged pastries.

From there, our awesome bus driver Everett, a local guy, took us up the mountain to the rim of the Haleakala crater to watch the sunrise. If you watch today’s attached video, you’ll get some idea of how pretty it was. The only thing that sucked was that the fog bank rolled in *just* when the sun was finally going to peek through. But, we got some amazing shots, anyway. Prettier than a sunset, which wouldn’t have meant taking a nap as opposed to a full night’s sleep? I’m not so sure about that…but, hey. We did it.

The bike ride down from just below the National Park was totally awesome, on the other hand. We had a tour van behind us that was able to hold up cars and let us just ride down the mountain in the middle lane. Awesome. We picked up some pretty decent speed in sections. All downhill. Killer views. It was gorgeous.

Then, it was off to go Zip-lining. That was less impressive. It was my first time ever doing it, so I actually had a blast. But, the Ho has done it before and basically decided it was weak sauce and kind of a rip-off. Again, whatever. We did it. I had fun and so did she. In a crazy twist, our friend Kerry who was here for our wedding, went Zip-lining at that very same place just a few hours after we took off. We just missed her.

We ate lunch in Kihei, near the Safeway, and then came home to get some more sleep in. Slept for a couple hours, two and a half, I think, then woke up and had some cake by the pool with Ali and her mom. Took in the late afternoon sun and the breeze. It’s been cooler these past few days, and it’s been perfect. Seriously perfect.

After that, it was time to head out for dinner at the Andaz with Ryan and his new girl Meagan. That hotel, seriously, is the most gorgeous thing ever created. It’s off the chain. And, we went to their main restaurant and sat out on the Linai and watched the sun set as we drank our cocktails and ate our appetizers. It was freaking expensive, the most expensive meal that I’ve had in a LONG time…but it’s was also easily the best meal that we’ve had here on Maui. Everything was amazing. Octopus salad was to die for, there was a Abalone risotto that blew my mind, we got a Prime Rib Topper that melted in my mouth…it was dope. And, it was wonderful to meet Meagan and see her and Ryan together.

Our friends out here for the wedding, Matt and Cat, were downstairs having a nice romantic meal without the kids. They’d hired a babysitter through the Andaz (genius) and were likewise partaking of the delicious food. We sat with them as the mowed down on the same dessert we’d had, and then talked about how this Maui trip has been so amazingly awesome that they’re thinking about whether or not it would be possible to LIVE out here. I wonder how many people have come out to Maui on vacation and thought the very same thing.

Maui, actually, reminds me A LOT of Humboldt County. There’s more money here on the beaches, there’s no doubt about that, but for the locals it has to be very, very much the same. Lots of hippies, lost of rednecks, people pretty much do everything social outside, tourism is the main industry, but there’s some agriculture too. Lots of rain. That’s Humboldt. That’s Maui. Talking with Matt and Cat, we agreed that it’s a nice mix of rural and civilization here. You have some nice creature comforts to fall back on, and it’s also very low key at the same time.

Anyway, it remains to be seen how feasible it would be for them to do something of the magnitude of moving their family out here, but it’s definitely not impossible, and it’s something they’re thinking about. We’d love it if they were out here. Place to stay! Though we’d miss them to tears if they weren’t in LA. LA has been tough on them this year. We understand the sentiment.

Then, we came home home and ended up hanging out for a bit with Liz’s parents. They went to the aquarium today, and it looked awesome. Coops has taken to running towards their room every time we take him outside. He obviously loves it up there with them. Then, outside, we saw that Ali and Julianna were back from their Luau and so we talked with them for a bit out by the pool. They said it was fun, and they were glad they did it, but it wasn’t what it was hyped up to be.

Now, the Ho is out in the living room getting her packing stuff together. I edited today’s video, which is longer than usual, given all the stuff we did, and now I’m writing this. A normal full entry, as opposed to a couple of the brief versions that have been typed out the past couple days. That’s what happens when it’s 9:30pm and you have to get up in FOUR HOURS to go see a sunrise that happens at 6:00am. Never again.

Oh, also, I should link here, Anna Kim posted our wedding photos and you can view some of the selections she chose to put on her blog. That happened last night right before we were going to bed, which of course, meant we didn’t go to sleep 😛 They’re unbelievably gorgeous, and I’m so freaking glad that we chose to go with her. So glad. Can’t wait, now, to see how the video turned out.

That’s all for tonight. I started to read Old Man’s War, and I’m going to finally get my reviews for Ringworld and Rendezvous with Rama up in the next week or so. So, I’m back on with the read of the Sci Fi. Excited about that, and Old Man’s War is intriguing already. Excited to read it.

Good night, y’all!