Went to the San Ramon Art & Wind Festival yesterday.  I didn’t see much art but we loved the wind.  Note to self: next year, bring a “real” kite instead of making the free one and bring allergy medication.

We landed on Maui around 9am and I got talked into getting a Jeep by the car rental agent.  Normally you can’t talk me into anything that isn’t already in my mind too easily so I was either really wanting the Jeep anyway, the agent was good, or all of the above.  Truth be told I think it was that it was only $10 more for the day.  It was one of the best things I’ve done in some time, it was really fun to drive and I really enjoyed it.  It was fun to know wherever we were I could get out of a sticky…or sandy situation.  We put the Jeep to quick work by going up the north end of the island on a very windy and remote road which was really fun to drive.  We took part of the top off so we could enjoy the weather and every few minutes I stopped to take some pictures.

We stopped at the very north end and took some pictures and then got some lunch and went swimming for a while.  We stayed at a nice (but affordable) place and the concierge helped get us a champagne catamaran cruise that evening.  Once we got off the ship we took a quick walk on the beach.  The whole day was amazing, one of my favorites.  I think at one point on the cruise as the sun was starting to set I said it was one of my top 10 favorite days which is really saying something.  We’ll definitely be back to Maui again some day.

Christina challenged me to find a cheap flight from the Big Island to Maui. Hipmunk really paid off because for $86 I got us to Maui for the day and we had the time of my life. I don’t think from the time we checked in to the time we landed a smile ever left my face. When I was growing up I wanted to be a pilot. Truth be told I wanted to be a lot of things but I have always had a passion for flying for some reason.

When I saw that we didn’t have to go through TSA, had to weight our bags on the same scale that weighed us, I knew I was in heaven. We waited about 30 minutes at the very small “airport terminal”. The co-pilot loaded all of the bags and about 10 minutes later the captain went down a ramp and yelled “going to Maui” and we all followed him (all seven of us). Christina and I were in the first row so we literally sat right behind the pilots which was amazing. The captain was a really nice guy who gave us a quick 2 minute tutorial on buckling up, what to do if anyone gets sick, and to turn off our cell phones. I turned off my cell phone but the person behind Christina had her phone out the entire time. I didn’t turn off my camera and waited for him to say something but he luckily didn’t seem to mind.

I took a video of the take-off and the landing so I may have that posted later if it turns out I think someone may find it half entertaining. When we landed I told the captain “you have the coolest job ever” and he said “I know”. He escorted us away from the aircraft and through a gate and we were in Maui. The only way to travel! It was amazing and I loved every minute.