Maui

Amy and Rick took a well- deserved vacation during the first week of September.

The trip was sort of a celebration of both of their birthdays, but mostly just an excuse to get away from the mainland and travel to beautiful Maui for seven days!

The first day (Saturday, August 30) was an early wake up in Camas, Washington in order to make the flight. The flight was uneventful - Amy slept and Rick read and watched Ironman as the in-flight movie. Once in Maui, the rental car's trunk would not close. Switching to an SUV made everything comfortable - especially considering there were two couples (and all of their luggage and two sets of golf clubs) in the car. That night the whole gang - there were two other couples with Amy and Rick - ate together at Kimo's and watched a beautiful sunset.

Sunday, Amy and Rick went to Wailea and checked out the spa at the Grand Wailea. The two actually had reserved a date and time to originally have their wedding at Grand Wailea before switching to the Highlands Inn at Carmel. Viewing the grounds of the Grand Wailea made both visualize how their ceremony would have looked. One word - beautiful. The spa and couples' massage was nice (actually Rick really liked it but Amy was only so-so on the spa).

Monday was a super-windy day at the beach. It was too windy, really. The sand would pelt your skin, and laying out at the pool was not much more enjoyable. It died down later in the day though, in time for a nice sunset and dinner.

Tuesday, the guys went golfing at Kapalua's Plantation Course. While the boys were happy to be playing such a prestigious course, all were a little disappointed by the level of service there. The driving range was not that great and then the attendant was slow and rude. The course was being airated, so it was more on the brown side than was expected. Still, the views were great and the course layout was fantastic. Rick's best shots on the course came from the camera and not from any club in his bag, but he still enjoyed himself.

The girls went to the Marriott spa while the guys were golfing . Fantastic massages had by all, but their attempts to blend in at the pool were thwarted.

Wednesday was Rick's birthday and Amy gave him the gift he asked for - surfing lessons!