Memories of Hawaii

Ahhhh........last night I was reviewing pictures so I could post something new up here and all the memories of Hawaii came flooding back to me. It was so soothing, it almost felt like I was on vacation again....but only for a moment ;-) I wish a memory could take you back and keep you there for longer.

I never got the opportunity to tell you all about Hawaii. Wanna here about it? Well to start with, the weather was absolutely amazing. Sunny during the day, and rainy at night. The night rains kept things cool so it was just gorgeous in the daytime. And the grounds of the retreat where we were staying were incredible. We had our own waterfall with wading pools that we could hike to right on the grounds. And you know the view in the picture I now have posted on my profile? The hot tub was overlooking that view.

Walking the grounds was so relaxing and meditative. Everything was so lush and gorgeous, and there were beautiful Balinese Hindu statues everywhere. Our room was gorgous with marble walls, a huge golden Budha at the head of the bed and an outdoor shower surrounded by stained glass walls. And right outside our room we had our own private little wading pool. One wall of our room was just glass and a sliding glass door, so we woke up each morning to the view of our beautiful little pool with the statue of a woman filling up her water pot reflecting in the water.

The very first day we got there, as we were walking around discoving the property, Dave found a coconut that had dropped from on of the trees on the property. He went to the front desk and they gave him a macheti and he opened up the coconut. The milk was so sweet and yummy. Then I scooped out the meat and poured water over it each day so that I could have coconut milk every morning. Yummy! What a way to start the day.

All of our meals were included and were vegetarian. We were a bit concerned about not having any meat, but OMG the food was so so delicious. I'm Indian, so I'm pretty used ot good vegetarian food, but I have never tasted anything quite like this. The food was really tasty and every day they served something completely new and unexpected. They only serve Indian food one day. Both Dave and I were really impressed.

The yoga classes were fabulous and we met some really neat people there. One day I led a veil dancing class too, which was greatly appreciated. One of the guys in the class heard that I love gardenias and brought me back a stunning one from one of his hikes. In a way, it was all like a dream. I can't capture the exquisiteness of it all here. But it was amazing to be in this gorgeous physical environment, eating this incredible food that made you feel so relaxed and good inside, with weather that could have been special ordered from God. And then to have the opportunity to hang-out with these beautiful people. Everyone we met in the retreat was so full of life. They all had such great stories and we just loved visiting with them every single day. I'm pretty social, but I'm not usually that social. Usually I really want some alone time. But this time, I just couldn't wait to hang-out with our new friends. Just thinking about it all I'm tearing up. I really want to go back.

The last day of our trip was our wedding anniversary and one of the guys in the group offerred to take us out on his sailboat for the day, which of course we couldn't refuse! So we spent a lovely afternoon sailing along the coast of Maui and drinking flavored ice tea. Then we went back to his house. He and his wife buy homes and remodel them and sell them, so he showed us around his newly remodeled home. Have you ever walked on bamboo flooring? OMG, it felt so wonderful on the feet! It was soft, smooth, and had a lot of give. It was like being in slippers when you're walking barefoot! They also showed us a spot in their house that they are thinking of putting in a 600 gallon fishtank. And they were so inspired by pictures we brought of our seahorse tank that now they are thinking of making their's a seahorse tank. Oooooooo, it's going to be lovely. I hope we get to see it sometime.

That night Dave took me out to the best restaurant in town for dinner. The food was good, but the ambiance was amazing. The restaurant had their very own beach with lots of coconut trees, gorgeous rock formations out off the beach, and tiki torches lit everywhere. And the windows of the restaurant faced the sunset so we got to watch the sun go down behind the beach and tiki torches as we sipped our Hawaian alcoholic concoctions.

Oh yes, have you ever seen a moon bow? One night we were driving along the coast and we saw a silvery arch spread across the sky over the ocean. At first we thought it was spot lights, but there is no way you could get them to arch that way, and the arch started and ended in the ocean. It was nearly a full moon that night, so we figured out it was a moon bow. Like a rainbow, but at night. It was absolutley gorgeous!!!! And our friends that live on Maui say they've only ever seen one of those in the 2 years they've lived there. We were really lucky to see it. Wow, what a treat!

Did you want to see some pictures? If so, go to:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/travelingnuts/albums