Summer Vacation: Part 2

After a week of fun in Utah, Ryan and I headed off to Hawaii. Bright and early Friday morning we were off to the airport for a day of travel. While it was great to be in Utah and have my parents watch Westin, it did mean that we'd have to fly from SLC to Hawaii with a layover in Phoenix. We left SLC around 7:30 a.m. and arrived in Hawaii around 2:30 p.m. Long day. We got a car and headed straight to our hotel.


Upon arrival at the Westin in Ka'anapali, Maui, we were given a nice room upgrade thanks to Ryan's Starwood status he earned while working with Monitor. Here were the views from our room.

First stop after checking in... Leilani's for fish tacos.

The next morning we had massages at the hotel's spa and barely moved from our lounge chairs by the pool.

We had really nice weather all week. In fact, some days were a little too hot. But overall, it was gorgeous which meant we spent A LOT of time poolside. It was almost too good to be true to just lay there for hours not having to worry about anything (besides where we'd be eating out that night).

An evening out in Lihaina

The view at brunch at the Hyatt (where we stayed during our honeymoon five years ago)

One day we drove down to Wailea to check out the Four Seasons and The Grand Wailea - two incredible hotels. Here's Ryan at the Four Seasons in the same location where Phil and Claire Dunphy renewed their vows on Modern Family :)

The Four Seasons

The Grand Wailea

Sunset at Lihaina

Our favorite activity of the week was the bike trip down Mt. Haleakala. We had heard the 3 a.m. sunrise version was a must-do on one's bucket list, but there was really no way we were waking up at 2 a.m. on our vacation. Instead, we chose the 9 a.m. timeslot and it was perfect. We also chose one of the bike companies that allows you to ride on your own down the mountain which was really fun. We'd see groups of bikers stuck with a tour guide and it looked miserable. We were able to go at our own pace, stop when we wanted to and ride as fast as we wanted to.

Ready for our adventure. Starting point elevation was 6,500 feet.

Around 4,500 feet

And because a trip without a stop at the Lavender Ranch would be no trip at all, here I am at the same Lavender Ranch featured in Modern Family. Seriously, I thought they were joking about that in the show, but it's a real thing, and here it is. (And I promise, I'm not obsessed with the show, but just happened to find myself in two of the locations they shot in)

About half way down the mountain we found this little hole-in-the-wall bakery that had the best coconut danish I've ever had. Had we stopped by here a little closer to our departure, I probably would have brought a dozen home. Ah, I'm salivating just thinking about them.

A random church made completely of lava rock

A rainy drive through Kapalua - and just 10 miles down the road at our hotel it was sunny and warm. Crazy weather.

Our last night in Maui we decided to go to a luau, something we've never done on our visits to the Islands.

Getting the pig ready for dinner

The dancers

And finally, here we are waiting for our flight back to the mainland. Unfortunately, it seems the only flights back are red eyes. I think we both got about two solid hours of sleep, but we were so excited to get back to Westin, it didn't really matter.

We had an incredible time and I'm so grateful to my mom and dad for taking such wonderful care of W. I didn't worry about him for a second, but missed him like crazy all week.

Aloha!