Counting Down to Maui!

Starting to feel Real! #Maui #HawaiiVacation :)
Originally uploaded by marcailgaelyn

Well, I've kept this Upcoming Hawaii Vacation semi-close to the vest as for a while the planned the Family Vacation was kinda up in the air for a time, but as of Monday (4/4/2010), its Officially On! (Reason for possible Postponement of Trip was due to fact that my sister is pregnant, on modified bed rest, and had to get her Doctor's Ok...which she did on Monday! YAY!! :)

So now its really Real! We're going to Maui! I've never been to Maui before. Oahu, yes (twice in fact - once with my grandparents to celebrate their anniversary - my youngest bro was still a baby/young toddler, so must have been around 1986-1987? - and once with my immediate family around Christmas time a number of years ago. Probably early 2000s.). So, I've enjoyed seeing North Shore (& Sunset Beach), hiking Diamond Head, visiting the Arizona Memorial & Battleship Missouri Memorial (where the Japanese signed surrender papers in WWII), the Pacific Aviation Museum, the Queen Emma Summer Palace (which I *LOVED*), the Dole Plantation Maze, learning to surf in Waikīkī Beach, etc. Can you tell I tend to visit Museums? Hey, I happen to LIKE museums! :)

I also got my first taste of Shaved Ice in Oahu. My folks liked it so much that later on, they got their own Shaved Ice machine (yes, from Hawaii). And those of you that have had one of their Shaved Iced (at a High School Football game or Church event :) now know where they got their machine came from. :)

Hmm...I've obviously digressed from the point. Sorry. :) Back to this UPCOMING vacation...to Maui! Since I've never been to Maui, I have no idea what to expect there or see there (except pretty scenery, which is a given). Hence I picked up AAA's Tour Book & Map (which I like to get whenever I plan a vacation somewhere that I'm not familiar with) as a start.

And NOW is your chance to chime in. Have you been to Maui? Do you have any suggestions to where I should go, what I should see? Comment & Advise away! I welcome your suggestions! :)

Yes, my camera will be coming with me, so expect to see a lot of photos uploaded to Flickr after this trip. :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering who exactly I'm traveling with, I'm going with my folks, my youngest bro, my sister, my bro-in-law (her hubby), and my 16 month old niece. FUN FUN! :) It's going to be a blast playing in the water & sand with my niece Chloe! Looking forward to that! :)

Let the Vacation Countdown Begin!:)
(Flying out on 4/13/2011---early early AM...before the sun has the decency to show its head, most likely. ;-)