It's been months and months since I went on a summer trip to Hawaii so some of the details have already left me. Fortunately, I took as many photos as I could.


I was born in Hawaii & after moving to San Diego as a child, I still visited the island/s too many times to count. Maui, however, was totally new to me and I'll never not be amazed by Hawaii's beauty.





Kayak/Snorkel tour!


Snorkel selfie: I spy freckles




Driving on the Hana Highway:

majesticccc

broken bridge barrier...


So far up the mountain, I expected the shop owners and residents to be Maui locals, maybe some native ancestry, but no. Almost every single shop owner was a hippie, from the mainland and white. They were all friendly, of course, but I was just surprised and a little put off--like, where are the kanaka maoli and POC? That's a for another post, I guess.






one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. feelin' fortunate.




If you look a few posts back you'd see the itinerary for our trip. A mountain biking, Haleakala summit sunrise tour was on the list and it was one of the main things I was most excited for... Welp, we didn't get to do it... which was a huge bummer. Apparently it is very "rare" for the clouds to be above the summit, high enough to douse the mountaintop with rain. Usually one would drive through a bit of rain, some fog and clouds then passed that, you're in the clear. Unfortunately, we went on a very rainy day and the clouds were all above us. Well, even without the sunrise, being atop Haleakal was a pretty cool experience. It was kind of interesting, being in Hawaii & finding yourself begging for more layers of clothing because it's so cold. Kind of.  The biggest draw was having to wake up at 2 AM to start driving -_- But hey, at least we got our money back! AND we are going back to Maui next June, so maybe we can try it again :)





Getting to Maui was such a trial, I'll never book connecting flights, separately, again! It took us nearly an entire day, leaving my house at 6 AM PST and getting to Maui at 8 PM UTC (which is 3 hours behind California). First thing the next morning, 7 AM, we went on a snorkel-kayak tour and though it was really beautiful and incredible, we were almost deplete of energy towards the end. Next time, I also won't book or plan a tiring activity for the early morning after my arrival -_-

Still, even with tiredness and tours gone wrong, I still loved the experience of traveling to a new place. Our Maui apartment was also just right two people; cozy, well furnished & clean.

Now for Oahu, I'll only post a few photos. I spent half of the time with my family which is great because I was able to hang out with my grandparents again <3


All the years my grandparents have lived here, they never visited the Byodo-In temple, until I took them there that is ;)


I wish could have stayed on Oahu longer because I overestimated what I could do in 5 days. Still, I was able to meet my new baby cousin, Ethan Josiah, and oh my gosh he is the most adorable dude ever. I got to hike, drink and eat with my uncles, cousins and aunts--all new activities because I was 17 the last time I visited (&not so much into hiking). Seeing grandparents again the best part :') They were living in San Diego on and off these past 2 years, but they officially moved back to Oahu while I was in Maui, so I felt that I didn't have a proper goodbye. Now that I had more time with them, we all went on a drive around the island to the North Shore :) I was unbelievably happy for all the family quality time. I am now hoping I could afford to add a visit to Oahu when we go to Maui next summer. FINGERS CROSSED!