Hawaii

Ok- here we go!

I started the Trip on Friday, January 28, flying from Newark to LAX. This was flight #1 (I intend on counting all of the flights I go on - even I am not sure what the final number will be!).

I spent a lovely shabbat with several friends. It was a nice way to transition from my normal life to the 'travel life' - it separated me from my daily routine, yet allowed me to easily get food and be in touch with people - both of these will change as time goes on....

Next, I took flight 2, from LAX to Kahului , Maui. When I arrived, I had a horrible problem. Since LA had been a bit chilly, I was dressed in layers. Well, since Maui was 82 degrees and humid, I was horribly sweating when I left the terminal, and I had to take drastic measures...I removed some layers, if you can imagine that. I know you are all feeling my pain at this moment, though a dfferent kind of pain, perhaps related to one's posterior?

Anyways, the first thing I did was rent a car. The next thing I did was go shopping for food for the trip, which is something I rarely do, as many of you are aware...and as I was leaving the airport, what did I see, you ask? Well, only a store I never fo shopping in. In fact, I never mention this store's name, ever! For those who haven't guessed, they have a Costco literally right next to the airport!

See above for a picture of me, on my Costco World Shopping Tour, which is the real name of The Trip, I think...

After going shopping, I returned to the airport to link up with my friend and travel partner Elliot Friedman, who will be with me for most of the trip.

We went to our hotel and settled in for the night after dinner. The next morning, Monday, January 31, we woke up before dawn to drive to the Haleakala Crater, in Haleakala National Park. Haleakala is a beautiful spot to see the sunrise. I have some pictures below. What was amazing was that even on a Monday, in an off peak month in Maui, there were at least 100 people who had done the same thing. Some had to leave their hotel at 2:30 to get there before sunrise.

We next did an incredible hike in the crater itself. Haleakala is the largest dormant volcano in the world and has an enormous crater that you can hike in. On our hike we encountered many phenonemon. It was like hiking on the surface of mars, or the moon, given the vast desolation. I have a few shots of this above, including one of a silversword, which is an extremely rare plant that is not found in many other places in the world. The hike was supposed to be 11 miles, but we got a little lost at the end, which added a mile and meant we finished just at sunset. All in all a great day though!

Then yesterday, Tuesday February 1, we went on a lovely drive along the road to Hana. We saw some amazingly diverse and lush scenery. I have some shots above. Today, we are leaving Maui, traveling to Honolulu on Flight 3, in order to go this evening on Flight 4, to Australia. Bye for now!