Hawaii, Days 5, 6, and Day 7 Hawaii to E-ville

 Day 5: Kapalua

Department of Plumbing (cont'd): The plumbers did not come first thing, they did not come while we were down at the beach, they did not come while we were eating lunch on the deck, they did not come in the early afternoon, the plumbers do not eat green eggs and ham. 

HAH! THB has the story a bit backwards: the plumber did come this morning while we were at the beach. He tried to fix the first toilet and had not got the right part. Then he disappeared until 3:30. And that's why we thought he hadn't come first thing. 

Along with plumbing issues, the condo rental management company was supposed to schedule two daily cleanings. Today, while the plumbers were not here, a crew of four came and did an excellent job. Good enough that they don't have to come tomorrow, our last full day. And, delivered late afternoon yesterday, the bathrooms now have large shampoo and conditioner, enough to make it through our last full day tomorrow. And, two of the four TVs don't seem connected. Good news: one of the working TVs is in the twins room, the only room that watches TV. One of the soap dispensers spumed chemical-like foam. One of the light flickers when the group it belongs to is turned on.

Department of Conclusions: Most of the in-house issues are probably from the lack of usage of the condo during Covid. The follow-up and scheduling is clearly an issue with the management company. And, actually, even the Covid-related issues are the result of the management company not having a Covid-restart checklist. 

Today the day starts off raining, then clears early and this morning and afternoon were the most gorgeous so far. Down to the beach and THB takes 2 snorkels: visibility is very good on the west side of the beach and there are schools of fish along with much diversity. DB takes one snorkel (we go separately so that there are always 2 adults to 2 twins) with less success as THB wasn't there to guide her to a prime spot. 

THB sees pretty much every fish on this side of the card

THB sees some on the other side of the card

Meanwhile the twins enjoy playing in the water and sand. One twin gets a full hour swim lesson as her sister needed a time out. That also means the twin that got the extra lesson is the swimmer.

Lunch of poke bowl and leftover chow fun and slivers of ice cream sandwiches from en suite dining last night.

LB arrives around 2ish and she and KM and twins head to the big pool. The owner's pool below us is totally full, not enough room for the twins to enjoy themselves. 

Ribs and sweet potatoes for dinner. Twins fall asleep and miss dinner. THB eats dinner and falls asleep. 

Day 6: Kapalua and Kula

Department of Conclusions (cont'd): Super-sleuth KM finds out that this unit has been on sale since April 4, for $6.8Mil. That may explain why the management company isn't putting the best foot forward to renters....or does it? Not fixing toilets? Not fixing toilets same day? Not arranging daily cleaning? Letting it rain off and on for 4 days in a row? Letting the Reds lose 9 of their last 10 games and 18 of 21? 

Twins do swimming lessons and one visits the beach. THB takes another very nice snorkel, this time on the west side of Kapalua. A fast lunch of leftovers and a long ride to Maui Ponies where the twins get their first live pony ride (one big, one small).

Melissa is the owner/trainer

We brush our pony, we brush our pony

Twins have dinner en suite while watching TV and adults have dinner on the deck of takeout pizza from Taverna. Decent.

Book Review: The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann (novel, pub'd 1924, translated): THB downloaded the free version, all 720 pages. He made it to around page 75: one cousin has been at a tuberculosis clinic in the Swiss Alps for six months and the other cousin has come to visit for three weeks. It is still day one of the visit, and life is already too repetitious for THB. Is it a farce? Mann's wife was in a similar institution for over 6 months and Mann came to visit her. THB decides to move on. Nobel prize winner's most famous book

Day 7: Kapalua, Kihei and E-ville

Very uneventful: checkout before 10am, drive south and meet-up with Auntie in a park in Kihei, then lunch at a taqueria near the airport, an easy flight back to Oak-town, and in bed after midnight.

Twins awaiting bags in Oakland

A pretty typical day if it isn't raining or drizzling

Twins playing at park in between checkout and flight time

THB has eaten here at least two other times

Never with identical twins accompanying the blaring HI-Mex music with an interpretive dance all their own

A bird hunting just outside the to-go drive thru at "Donalds" (the twins have dropped the Mc)

Book Review: Bibliolepsy, Gina Apostol (novel, pub'd 1997): life in the Philippines up to the abdication of Marcos in 1986, focuses on two orphaned sisters: the narrator is the younger, and her life is books, sex, books, writer/poet groupie, books, more sex, and an occasional meet-up with her older sister, a seer who predicts Marcos' exit. Neutral