ALOHA

First day being back at work after Maui is… disturbing. It is so hard coming back to work after a great trip.

To update on my last post, I emailed my friend at the last minute and made up an excuse. She hasn’t responded, so I’m worried I may have hurt her feelings, which I didn’t intend. I mean, I really would like to see her again, but it just couldn’t be squeezed into the trip… Oh well. As msprimadonna said about her suggestion to wait until the last minute to respond (which I did)… “I'm non-confrontational and indirect like that.” To which I would like to reply: “Ditto.”

Anyhoo, not to brag or anything, but Maui was fantastic! I brought back a cute shirt, some awesome memories… and about 5 pounds. But who cares? I was on vacay, eating some DEElish food (shrimp and crab melt, anyone?) and it’s already coming right back off.

It started off rocky with a cab driver who was p’d o (remember, po’d is incorrect usage because nobody gets piss offed) that he wasn’t get a $100 fare to Kaanapali and instead was stuck taking us only about four miles to Enterprise – and went so far as to lecture us and start pounding the steering wheel. Yes, he was hitting the steering wheel he was so mad. So I finally just yelled at him and said, “You can just take us back to the airport, I’m sure we’ll find someone happy to take us where we want to go.” Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t an option, since that basically amounts to refusing a fare which is something they can lose their license over. And THEN… we got to Enterprise where they did just what I expected… the ole bait and switch. “So, you’ve reserved a car for an amazing rate of $136? Too bad, that’s no longer available and our system shows that you’ll actually be paying $185.” So, guess who had to pitch a fit? By the end of the travel day, I was pretty good at it. Shortly after I said, “Well, we’ll just call so-and-so who works for Enterprise and MADE the reservation for us,” wouldn’t you know it? Something miraculously showed up in the system and suddenly it was only going to cost $105! Seriously, I would have been fine if they’d just honored the $136.

Other than the transportation portion, our trip was fantastic. Tips for making Maui easier on the pocketbook:

Car Rental: Find the nearest rental location to the airport without actually being an airport location. You’ll find cheaper rates. Granted, you’ll have to tick off the angry Eastern European, but it really is worth it.

Lodging: Rent a condo and wait until about a month before you go to reserve it. I found plenty of availabilities less than 4 weeks before our trip, and scored a 2 bedroom/2 bath condo on the Kaanapali Golf Course with views of the ocean and a 10 minute walk from Whaler’s Village and the beach for $150 a night.

Food: If you have to eat out, go to either Leilani’s or Hula Grill (both on the ocean with great views of the sunset)…but don’t eat in the dining room with the higher prices – eat in the bar – they have full menus there was well with great food prices (my shrimp and crab melt with fries was only $11). Biggest money saver, if you have a condo with a kitchen…take your Safeway card (or buy a $30 Costco membership) and fix your food yourself. We had enough food for four full days - with food leftover that we left behind - for around $18 a person.

Now that life seems to be settling itself down a bit, I hope to get back into blogging a little bit more. And reading what you all have been up to as well!