I could not have timed this trip to Maui any better.  We left on January 4th and as it turns out the light dusting of snow we got on New Years Day was just a precursor for what was yet to come, more on that later.  The day we departed the temperature in Portland was 27, with a wind chill in the teens.  Needless to say I could not get on that plane fast enough.  But before I get to the pictures I have to digress a bit and talk about how this trip almost did not happen.

I booked our tickets 10 months prior.  I found 5 award tickets to Maui at the saver level on a direct flight from PDX to OGG (a rare thing) so I booked it immediately using Avios.  Between the day I booked and my departure date there was a flight change.  The time and flight number changed.

Fast forward to the week before departure and I call Alaska to make sure all of us are ticketed.  I’m told my wife was not but they fixed it and we are ready to go.  Sounds good.

At 11:00 AM the day before departure I attempt to check in and I cannot.  An error message pops up and tells me to call reservations, which I do.  Alaska Reservations informs me that my British Airways e-ticket is still showing the old flight time and number.  I check my BA account and assure them that the correct flight times and flight number are on the reservation.  Even so they tell me to call BA and ask for them to re-issue the ticket. I do and call Alaska back.  They say no dice.  Still showing old info.  I will spare you the nitty gritty but 6 hours later including one 90 minute phone call with me and an Alaska Rep on a conference call with BA trying to get this f-ing flight to ticket, it finally gets fixed.

The root of the problem is that when there is a flight change BA will re-issue the ticket with the same ticket number.  When this happens on Alaska, Alaska voids your ticket and issues a new ticket number.  Due to that discrepancy Alaska could not read the new e-ticket until BA issued a completely new ticket number.  You would think it would not be complicated to fix but you would be wrong.  It was one grueling 90 minute phone call. I was seriously starting to wonder if this trip would happen and I was getting very stressed.

On to the trip Report:

Accommodations

When we are in Hawaii we prefer vacation rentals.  We stayed at the Luana Kai in North Kihei.  We prefer North Kihei because accommodations are cheaper and it is centrally located.  We are ocean front and a 15 minute drive from the best beaches in the world.  No photos of condo, it was pretty standard but here is our view.  There is a green space between the condo and the beach.

 

 

Activities

This is our third time to Maui and we have done a lot of the major tourist attractions.  So no Haleakala this trip or Road to Hana (especially with three little kids).  Instead it was almost all back time.  We took a trip to a lavender farm and Paia but that was about it.  The rest was beach time and eating onolicious food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About this last photo.  In 2008 turtles started coming on the beach at sunset. They sleep on the bach at night and then go back in the water at sunrise.  I think I counted about 40 turtles on the beach.  It was pretty cool.

Food

We had some amazing food on this trip.  The highlight for me was the roadside BBQ stand.  It is in N. Kihei on the side of S. Kihei Rd. on Saturdays and Wednesdays.  It is amazing.  They sell chicken and ribs, that’s it. Don’t bother with the sides (rice and corn).  Just get the meat.

 

 

Missing from the food is an amazing happy hour at Three’s Bar and Grill and Fish Tacos from Coconuts Cafe. Which by the way may have been the best fish taco I have ever had.

We had a great trip.  And as I mentioned the timing was perfect.  Because Portland decided to have the single largest snow fall in about 20 years while we were gone.  It snowed 12 inches in one day.  Too bad the snow was still around when we got back.

I am not a fan of detailed trip reports, I just like pictures so if you have questions, ask them in the comments.