Hawaii: two more days

Day 4: KBM and THB go for an early morning walk and get caught in a light rain. Later in the morning there is an even more substantial rain. Not to worry: beautiful clear skies, puffy clouds, spectacular water colors. Finish up the last of the Arizmendi pastries, share a very good omelet prepped by KBM, and rest up for a late morning snorkel. We try another extremely pretty beach (Napili): very few, small fish and no schools. Water is getting clearer every day, making the absence of fish more noticeable. Another tortuga spotted (that means we've all seen one)

What do THB and family do on vacation? Mah Jongg! Complete with drinks and pupus. EBM has the hand of his life, and we are happy to concede victory after one round (at least the losers don't have to keep buying the winner drinks)

Dinner (grilled as usual) on the lanai, and early to bed.

Day 5: Today the kids are in charge. Wake up to decorations: fish and streamers.

After breakfast (cereal and fruit) we have been booked on a Kapalua shuttle to take us to base of a hike, and there is another family of four heading to the same trailhead. They plunge ahead, we follow, and both end up turning around because part of the banyan tree loop has washed out. Still, plenty of exercise (fortunately we’re in the shade of the trees and periodically the sun is hidden behind clouds).

Lunch back at the condo, a rest up, and the LB and THB go snorkeling at our nearby beach; it’s the best so far, and we even end up going around the point and into the cove in front of our unit. (we see boats bringing lots of snorkelers; we can’t access it from above, there are no stairs or trails).

Add caption

Back to shower up, then drive back past airport (over an hour) to a very nice meal at the General Store: fish curry for THB, assorted appetizers and desserts, drinks, and the kids pick up the tab. The trip is a combo for THB and DB: 65th b’days and 45th anniversary extravaganza, so this is a very nice thank you for including KBM, EBM and LB in the celebration.

Book Review: Life Is a Wheel: Love, Death, etc., and a Bike Ride Across America, Bruce Weber. One of the obit writers for the NYT decides to ride from Portland to NYC in 2011, blogging the trip as he goes. Many meditations about his life and the changes from a similar trip in 1993 as well as snippets of other bike rides he’s taken, eulogies he’s delivered, etc. A bit melancholy, slightly philosophical,  the new love of his life (not his bike), Recommended (THB is a bit jealous, the riding through America is a bit like visiting a lot of national parks)