doing time in the 808...

yes, i did intentionally make that sound like we were in hawaii by force. in a prison cell. because i thought it would be ironic or something. but clint has been teaching me lots of things about my lifelong misconception of irony. so let's just say i was trying to think of a {insert praiseworthy adjective here} title that would be an extreme contrast to our actual experience in the 808. which was A PARTAY!

so, thanks to the kind responses from various loved ones to our numerous inquiries during the vacation-planning stage, we decided to travel to maui (thank you for the recommendations jen & scott!). below you will find lots of random pictures in not much of an order that will describe our trip. because, although our trip was a blast and a lot of other great things, it was pretty random.

{this great watch (thank you mark & marleen & christine!) told me that it was now time to pack. i had procrastinated until the 11th hour (quite literally) & needed to bust a move}

{my mini-buddha did most of the heavy-lifting. poor guy}

{actually... this all fit, eventually}

{this lady bug tried to hitch a ride to HI, but i said no ma'am! 3's a crowd, ya know?}

{here we are finally in maui in front of our cute motel. after all that packing, and laying the smack-down on hitch-hikers and a room mix-up, and lots of getting rained on in the middle of the night}

{we took a walk around the block, found me a beautiful flower to put in my hair (on the left side so the locals would know i am taken--in case the diamond ring on my finger wasn't a dead giveaway...), then hopped in betty (our very red car), and headed to sacrament meeting}

{later that night we attended my very first luau! and we ate this whole pig! and those big guys danced around in skirts and flexed their muscles alot. but i wasn't particularly impressed. afterall, clint's arms look like bombs, right christine?}



{the sun setting in the distance as we enjoyed our kalua pork dinner}



{the dancers. and one floating spirit speckle. undoubtedly an ancient hawaiian ancestor come to enjoy the festivities}

{we found a hidden beach the next morning! lovely}

{not to jump the gun or anything, but this is the same beach post-tsunami. as you can tell, not much happened. but i am glad i wasn't on the beach when those coconuts came raining down}



{our leetle friend who is now dubbed sir chubs. he was just basking on the beach. he stayed there for at least 10 hours... lazy little seal. but smart, too. i think clint was slightly jealous that sir chubs could lay in the sun with his shirt off... but don't tell him i said that}





{we watched the sunset torchlighting/cliff diving ceremony at blackrock. that dude must have been 80 years old & still carrying the torch. hardcore}

 

{a nice couple proposed to take turns taking couples pictures. they just so happened to be wearing santa hats. getting the christmas card done early, they said}

{my handsome beach bum with his new shades recovering from the first round of second semester exams}



{eating sushi after a full day of play. clint was too hungry to wait till we got inside}




{one of the days we took a bus tour to hana and back. first stop, the surf spot. this is clint staring longingly at the water as the locals surf the reefy waves... sorry honey... maybe next time}





{saw a lot of these fat cats on the road to hana... and chickens... really strange}



{favorite stop on the way to hana- the black sand beach}

{clint is very happy to be here}



{stopped to check out hana's local fare. the single most unattractive picture of me ever. BUT it was a pretty good likeness to the tiki man, right?}



{one of the numerous waterfalls on the way back from hana}



{all of a sudden we were in the desert and GOATS!}



{the dry side of maui}

{made a pit stop at a winery on the way back from hana. they tour guide told us to enjoy the pineapple wine, the bathrooms that smell like lilacs, and the chicken fighters. so naturally the first thing we asked once we got off the bus and found the winery director was "can you tell us where the chicken fighters are?"  well, she had no idea what we were talking about. but apparently these are the chicken fighters. clint made fast friends with them}

{one of the tastiest things we did in maui was go to annie's shave ice on front street. that's shave not shaved, ya howlie. i ordered mine with a snow-cap (which means sweetened condensed milk drizzled to perfection on top)... sugar heaven}

{we thought everyone on front street should know that we enjoyed our shave ice. because we truly did}

{the amazing front street tree}

{we often spent our in-between-major-events time on random beaches. my favorite thing to do was find "traysures." clint graciously helped me find the appropriate treasures needed to spell this speciall message for all of you}

{back at the motel, gecko here thought he could sneak in without a room key. not this time, mister}

{my favorite part of the trip was a hike we did through someone's jungle property. the swinging bridges hike, i believe it was called. of course the first thing we did was find a massive tree}



{the swinging bridges were literally rockin'. apparently i am thinking very hard about whether to cross this thing after we have taken the picture of it}



{clint showing off his balancing skills as the sun shines on him and blesses him with additional swinging bridge crossing powers}

{the handsome devil in his bamboo lair}

{big tree. i should probably climb it}

{and then proptly proceed by banging on my chest and making tarzan noises. naturally}

{clint found this pulley for me. in case you didn't know, pulleys are one of my favorite things}

{we found a waterfall! we had been searching high and low for one for clint to swim in that wasn't blocked off due to flooding. this one was sort of fake (it was really a dam), but it met our needs. FREEZING, but very fun}

{we loved this place. LOVED}

{after a day full of adventure, we returned to our motel for a little r&r. we retired early so that we could get an early start the next morning. so we were surprised to get a call from the front desk at 10:30 pm. evactuate, they said. a tsunami is coming. so we did. and this is where we slept. well, where clint slept. i just kinda looked around}



{the morning after}



{we couldn't get back into our hotel, and we had things to do, so cranked up our reggae tunage & took betty to the beach}

{this is the appropriate face to put on when listening to reggae, just fyi}

 

{then we headed up mt. haleakala for a little zip-lining. our tennies were still in the motel, so the guides loaned us some awesome black shoes that looked like they belonged to mountain trolls. and i got to borrow a pair of socks, lucky!}

 

{there's clint with a high-dive}



 

{he really liked that high-dive. this reminds me of some picture i've seen of austin when he was really little, smiling really big for the camera... anyone know what i'm talking about?}





{we continued up mt. haleakala until we were on the top of the world & couldn't go any further. another tourist offered to take our pictures. we have about 50 pictures at this exact spot. he REALLy liked taking pictures...}

{we explored for an hour or so and decided to stay to watch the sun set...}

{and set...}

{i tried to kidnap mr. sun to prolong our last day on the island. but he was having none of that}

{and set}

{so we said our last goodbyes}



{and made our dark and dangerous descent}

 we ate at a locals haunt called "da kitchen" to top off our wonderful week in maui. we really did have a blast. there were a bajillion more hippies, 2 more motel disputes, 5 fewer working gas station vacuums, & one more tsunami than we had anticipated, but it just made the trip all the more unique & adventurous. a couple of highlights not pictured here (which i just realized to my horror & dismay): (1) a FABULOUS snorkeling tour to molokini crater & turtle island (during which we saw LOTS of sea turtles & a mommy whale with her baby, very cool) and (2) time spent in paia, the hippy capital of the nation run by willie nelson.

i told clint if he decides he would rather be a pro-surfer than a pro-doc, i won't complain too much. as long as we can live in hawaii ;).