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April 2020

I won’t lie — April was a difficult month, and that had mostly nothing to do with COVID-19. It’s not fun to write about, but I’m choosing to do so for the sake of continuity and recording our life during this pandemic.

Curtis returned on April 1, and was scheduled to be home for the entire month. However, one week after that we found out he’d be leaving again for a while. In a moment, the month that was supposed to be all about preparing our house to put on the market and get things in order for our move was turned upside down. Now we’re into May, Curtis is still gone, and we still don’t have orders for our move that was supposed to happen this summer.

I’m thankful for the time we did have together, though most of it was spent in our house. Curtis was able to make more progress on our kitchen project by installing new countertops, despite having weekend duty and working the night shift for a few days while he was home. We started taking Charlotte for walks after dark, when there was no one else out and we could enjoy the cool evening air. We were also able to celebrate Curtis’ 27th birthday together before he left.

The first few weeks of being alone were the hardest for me, mostly because my nearby park and trail were still closed and all I could really do was walk Charlotte around our neighborhood. Parks reopened on April 25 though, and I’ve been visiting my happy place every day since then, rain or shine.

As far as the pandemic situation on the island goes, the most ‘extreme’ measures I saw being taken were when they enforced a curfew from 11pm-5am each night for one weekend. It seemed unnecessary considering that bars and restaurants were closed, and essential stores were operating with limited hours, closing long before 11. For a few weeks, they also banned walking on the beach, saying we could only go in the ocean for swimming and exercise.

Hawaii’s Stay at Home orders were extended until May 31, then again until June 30, despite having only between 0-5 new cases throughout the islands each day. Things are starting to open up again though, so I suspect the orders are more to deter tourists from coming. So far, the islands have had a total of 643 cases, with 416 being on Oahu. There have been 17 deaths, but 578 recovered. Despite the negative feelings of being isolated and so far from my family and husband, I feel safe here, and thankful that I’m now able to walk on my nearby trail and enjoy the beautiful weather. The 14 day mandatory quarantine for all arrivals to the islands is currently still in affect until June 30, and that also applies to inter-island travel. I’m a little sad thinking that our island hopping adventures are likely over now. We had hoped one more spontaneous trip would work out, but between Curtis being gone, having so much to do at home, and now COVID-19, it doesn’t seem possible anymore.

Curtis, on the other hand, has been able to miss out on most of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was gone when it first became a pandemic in March and people were first asked to self quarantine, and part of the reason they left in April was to mitigate the risk of personnel getting sick. Things would be pretty bad if the whole boat got sick. Personnel on shore duty are working every other day, but the boat still works full time while in port (and while at sea of course).

While he tells me he’s often bored and ready to be done, this underway hasn’t been all bad for him. They were able to surface around Maui, Lanai, and Kaho’olawe and do a swim call: Have burgers and hotdogs on deck and jump off the fairwater planes. Beautiful weather, calm seas, and sunburns; he probably got more sun than me that day than I did those first couple weeks before my park and trail opened back up.

After a while, they also don’t wear masks since being underway already quarantines them. He says that it is like being underway normally and the only way they would know that COVID was happening is because of the emails people would get.

I’m hoping and praying that this is the last spontaneous underway he’ll have during our time here, and that we’ll finally receive orders soon. But this is still the military we’re dealing with and all that seems up in the air. I’ve heard many people talk about how the uncertainty of the situation is affecting them — how they’re unable to plan for the future without knowing what’s coming next and when things will start to return to ‘normal.’ These feelings aren’t new for us at all — this is literally our every day reality in the military: always making plans only to have the government change those plans. This move isn’t even official, and it’s already turning out to be the most stressful yet. Without orders, we can’t schedule a move or have a sure date of when we can safely put our house on the market.

I’m constantly reminding myself about our move to Hawaii. Everything seemed so stressful and uncertain upfront, but God worked out every little detail and we ended up here, in a cute little house with Charlotte, all our belongings, and were able to make the most of island life. I trust that He’ll do the same here, using these extreme circumstances to bring even more glory to His name and expand my trust in Him even more.

That’s all I’ve got for now — Hopefully next month will bring about more exciting news. God bless you all, stay safe & healthy friends!

March 2020

I haven’t written a monthly update for a few months, but I feel like March deserves one. The world as we know it turned upside down, and everyone has their own story of how current events have affected their lives. Now is the perfect time to record what’s going on, to write about how you’re feeling, ways you’ve been affected, and what you’ve been learning through all this. Here’s my story:

I’d been following COVID-19 ever since I heard about it coming to the states. Knowing that we’d be moving this year, the thought of how it might impact our move or the possibility of being stationed in an affected area crossed my mind. We had already turned in our list of preferences for where we wanted to be stationed before the virus came to the US, and I was starting to regret the order of our preferences. Places like Italy, Spain, UK, Japan, Australia, and Seattle filled out our top 10. All of a sudden, living in those areas (or even just outside the US) became much less appealing.

At the beginning of March, I was becoming more stressed as I read headline after headline of virus-related news. Curtis said to me, “Stop reading about it, it’s only stressing you out. We’ll be fine.”

Then he left for an underway for the rest of March.

2 days later, this became a global pandemic.

When I think back to the beginning of March, the memories we made together are even more precious to me now as they could possibly be some of the last times we’ll ever visit those locations. When we hiked the Nakoa Trail on March 8, the thought crossed my mind that this could be the last time we would drive up the Windward coast, but that wasn’t because of the virus. I was just thinking about all we had to do in our limited time left here, and how going for scenic drives might not fit into our schedule.

Besides that, we also visited the beach a couple times and did one other hike, Makapu’u Lighthouse hike, one that’s been a favorite since the first time we hiked it in October of 2017. It was a Sunday evening, we had already hiked the Nakoa Trail that morning and weren’t planning on going out again. But Charlotte seemed kind of restless, so we decided to take her on an easy sunset hike. We drove to Makapu’u, but found that the trail was much busier than usual. We almost turned around and left, but then a parking spot opened up and we decided to just stay and hike anyway. Now, I’m so glad we did. There wasn’t anything notable about that hike, we just hiked up, took some pictures, and then hiked back. But now that we might not ever have the chance to enjoy those views or the easy walk again, I’m going to hold onto those pictures and memories.

I remember going to get groceries on the morning of March 10. Grocery shopping after Curtis leaves has become my favorite underway tradition. I go out and shop with 3 different objectives: to experiment with new healthy meatless meals, make my favorite comfort foods, and buy overly processed things as a special treat (Little Debbie’s Zebra Cakes are my go-to). At this point, things seemed to be escalating, but it was definitely downplayed in the US. There wasn’t a reason for me to think this would be my last outing, but as I was making my list I thought to myself, “Is it possible to make this my only grocery run for the month? It’d be nice to not have to think about going out again for a while.” And so I went about my shopping in that manner, buying more frozen veggies than fresh, and items that have longer shelf life. The store was well-stocked…except for my Zebra Cakes. How could they be out of Zebra Cakes?! I had to settle for Swiss Cake Rolls. I wasn’t happy about it.

That evening, I went to a meeting at Pearl Harbor and met up with some of the other wives from the boat. The meeting was held by the detailers who are in charge of assigning shore tours and giving out orders. My main purpose for going was to meet the officer in charge of Curtis’ orders so that he would know that Curtis was gone and I needed him to send me information directly so I could start handling our move. He assured me that night that we would find out later that week. Oh, how I miss those days when all I was worried about was not knowing where we’d be moving in 3 months! Curtis and I were so impatient, yet excited, so ready to start planning out our new life.

Again, there wasn’t a lot of concern in the US at that point, and no one addressed the virus at the meeting. However, the thought that these guys had flown across the country did cross my mind, and I made sure to wash my hands when I got home after shaking hands with them.

I’ve been keeping a journal throughout all this, writing down headlines that I’m reading, all the new laws the states are making, how people are responding, how I’m feeling about all this. And I’ll be honest, I don’t want to write down every detail here. It’s too much. Rereading my journal right now is mentally exhausting. I’d rather keep things positive. But I can’t just let myself write random blog posts and pretend that it’s not happening — that doesn’t feel genuine at all.

So a brief recap on the situation in Hawaii, for any mainland friends who are interested: Our stay at home order on Oahu was officially issued by the Mayor on March 23, and by the Governor for the state on the 25th. Overall my life doesn’t look a whole lot different as I already work from home and don’t go shopping or to restaurants often. The hardest part for me is that they closed all city and state parks and beaches. This includes my neighborhood park and walking trail, which I would visit multiple times every day, both with Charlotte and by myself. I can still go for walks around the neighborhood, but nothing compares to the peace that park gives me, and the views I would enjoy on that trail every day. However, I recognize it’s a very small sacrifice in comparison to what healthcare workers around the country are having to go through.

Currently, if you were to fly to Hawaii from the mainland or any other country, you would have to go through a 14 day mandatory quarantine. After that, I’m not sure why anyone would want to visit now anyway as all the beaches are closed. Flights are very limited now, and the mayor is calling for all non-essential travel to the islands to be put to a stop. The main source of revenue on the islands is all tourism related, so as you can imagine, this is going to hurt a lot of businesses on the island. If you have plans to travel in the next few months, I’d advise you to postpone them as much as possible, but when you’re able to return, come and support local businesses here.

Some hikes are still open, but quite frankly, I don’t plan on hiking during this. It doesn’t feel responsible. Many of the trails here are very narrow and don’t allow for safe social distancing. And anytime anyone goes out, there’s always the chance that something unfortunate could happen on the trail that would lead to calling Search and Rescue. I know that thinking might be extreme, but I go by the thought process that any time I leave my house, I am sending the message that I value whatever I’m doing over the essential workers who are out there working hard to save lives or keep the world moving.

I now use pepperoni to bribe Charlotte to come back home instead of going to her favorite park that’s closed

And as for our orders: A few days after meeting the detailer, instead of finding out Curtis’ next assignment, the military announced the travel ban. So far, this only affects people moving between March and May, so we haven’t been impacted, but I’m sure we will be either directly or indirectly. I thought our PCS to Hawaii was stressful, but this one is already shaping up to be even more complicated. However, we still don’t have actual orders, so I guess I’ll save that stress for when that actually happens.

The most eventful night of this underway happened on March 24th. I took Charlie for a walk around the block between 4:30-5. As I was walking back inside the house, my phone buzzed with an emergency alert: Tsunami watch in effect following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the Kuril Islands. At first I ignored it, but then I overheard my neighbors talking about it and started to grow concerned. What’s the protocol for a tsunami during a pandemic?! The next hour that followed consisted of constant refreshing of news pages online and messaging other wives from the boat trying to figure out a plan. Thankfully the watch was cancelled after an hour, but the general consensus between the wives was that this was officially too much for one underway and we were ready to have our husbands back!

Besides that night, we had several days with heavy rain and flash flood warnings around the island. Another day, we had power outages across town — I quickly realized that no power while being homebound is not a good combination! I’ll never take wifi for granted again.

Finally, Curtis returned just over 3 weeks after leaving, coming back to a whole new reality. While we’re very thankful to ride out this storm together now, we also realize that we were both safer and much less exposed while he was out at sea. Being underway is the best form of social distancing right now! If you think of us, say a prayer for the health of everyone on his boat. They’re all considered essential, and as you can imagine germs spread around easily in that confined space.

I hope and pray that all of you reading stay safe and healthy through all this. Thank you for reading my story, and if you have your own you’d like to share, I’d love to listen. God bless you all!

Nakoa Trail

Hiking the Nakoa Trail | March 2020

It’s been a while since we’ve hiked a completely new-to-us trail. With such limited free time, we’ve been sticking with places we know we enjoy on weekends together. But as Curtis’ days off while stationed on the island are falling into the single digits, we’re making a better effort to cross a few more hikes off our list. Not just so we can say we’ve done it all, but to experience the feeling of excitement and new-ness that we haven’t felt for a while here. In a few months, everything we’ve grown accustomed to will become another memory, another place where we once lived. So despite the stress of moving off the island building up, I’m making a point to seek out everything I enjoy about Oahu and hold onto the happiness those things bring.

Last Sunday, we drove up the Windward coast to Kahana Bay on a gorgeous clear day. Every peak and ridge in the Ko’olau Mountains was so clear and crisp. My eyes watered as I wondered if this could be the last time we’d make this drive. Curtis pointed out where he’d read about old historic roads that used to exist as a way up to the summit, and we pondered all the areas of the island that we’ve never laid eyes on. Despite it being so small, there are still plenty of places we haven’t seen, and will never see.

We drove to Ahupua’a ‘O Kahana State Park and took the valley road to the last parking area. From here, we walked through the neighborhood to the start of the trail, an abandoned road into the valley. We love hiking these roads that are being reclaimed by nature, they are consistently stable and not as muddy as a regular trail would be in this area.

The road from the parking lot to the trail junction is a half-mile long. Here we were given three choices: Start the loop trail either clockwise or counterclockwise, or take the road to the reservoir which would eventually meet up with the loop trail and provided an alternative to the counter-clockwise route. We took the road, knowing it wouldn’t be muddy and it would avoid two river crossings. We actually hiked this road almost two years ago, but only went as far as the pavement before turning around because it was a rainy day and muddy trails didn’t appeal to us back then either. The paved stretch went by quickly, the road covered with palm fronds and a shama bird singing in the trees nearby.

Kahana Valley is known as being the wettest area on Oahu, so some mud was inevitable even after a mostly dry week. We encountered most of this on the connecting trail between the paved road and the intersection of the loop. The trail is well-signed so we knew exactly where we were when we met up with the loop trail.

From here, we had the option to extend the loop by 2 miles by walking an unsanctioned trail. Because the sign didn’t explicitly say “Don’t do it,” we decided to try it out for a bit. We came across some old concrete bunkers, followed by another fork in the trail. First we went right, walking through a bamboo forest until it became a narrow trail on the side of the hill with a steep drop off. Down below we could see the river with rushing rapids and a small waterfall, but we decided to turn around here not seeing an obvious (or safe) continuation of the trail. Next we took the left trail, again through bamboo but this time going straight down to the river. It looked as though the trail crossed the river here, but we opted out and instead just enjoyed walking along the rocks on the side as far as we could.

Back on the loop trail, we continued walking counter-clockwise through the valley. There were a few small lookouts, but it was mostly just walking in the woods. The trail was easy for the most part, aside from some downed trees where we had to make our way through the branches. We enjoyed seeing wildflowers we haven’t seen before along the path.

Since we bypassed the first half of the loop trail, we avoided two river crossings, but we still had to deal with two others. The first one we came to offered nothing in terms of support or staying dry — just a good old crossing through shin-deep rushing water. I suggested we use the piggy-back method so only one of us would get wet, and Curtis obliged under the condition that I provide the ride next time.

The second crossing was longer, but came with a rope and concrete barriers. Parts of those were still under water, but it was still more secure than the last crossing. We each crossed on our own this time.

Shortly after this, we met back up with the initial intersection and began the final stroll back to our car. Here we saw the first other hikers of the day, followed by a second group. Solitude in the wilderness on a new trail was exactly what we wanted, and we were happy with our decision to give this one a try. On our way home, we stopped to try out a newer Leonard’s Bakery truck near the Kaneohe mall and are pleased to report that it is just as good as the others. We highly recommend ending a hike with malsadas.

Altogether our hike was about 4.5 miles long. If you’re interested, you can check out our AllTrails recording here. Also in the area are the Pu’u Piei and Crouching Lion hikes.

You Signed Up For This

To say I knew nothing about what military life was like before becoming a Navy wife is an understatement. I grew up in Eastern Iowa, where there are no military bases, and therefore had no exposure to people in the military. In my mind, being military meant going to war or being overseas, and that sounded like the most dangerous job there was. It never crossed my mind that I might one day end up marrying into this world. The day that the man I loved told me he was considering joining the Navy, I accepted it with an open mind. My thoughts circled around moving around the world, writing letters filled with sweet nothings, going to fancy balls together, and proudly wearing a “Navy Wife” t-shirt. I had no idea how much this decision would end up shaping our entire life together.

Dreaming of our future together during our sophomore year of high school – May 2009

The first time Curtis ever mentioned joining the military was in April of 2009. We were in our sophomore year of high school, our young love beginning to blossom, and were planning our future together over Facebook Chat. Our plans were as follows: We would both attend Iowa State University together, Curtis would do Air Force ROTC, and we would get married no later than the fall following graduation (I marked October 12, 2015 on the calendar of my flip phone). Curtis would serve his 4 years or so, then we would get out and he would either go into engineering or teaching, and we would live happily ever after.

Time passed, and of course our plans changed over time. When senior year rolled around, Curtis began looking into Navy ROTC, but eventually decided against it when he received a scholarship to the University of Arizona. There were no solid plans for our future together the day he moved away, but we learned a few things from that first semester living 1600 miles apart: We liked each other too much to stay apart, but our relationship was strong enough to survive the distance long-term. When he came back for Christmas break, we made our relationship official and began scheming how we could put an end to living long-distance.

Spring Break in Chinle, AZ – March 2012

In March of 2012, I visited Curtis for his freshman year spring break. Right before I returned home, he mentioned that he was going to a job fair to look for internship positions for the summer. This meant that he potentially wouldn’t be coming home to Iowa for the summer like we had originally hoped. I left in tears. However, he learned from the job fair that there were no internships for physics or astronomy majors. In fact, there was only one booth interested in physics majors: the US Navy.

Curtis spent that afternoon talking to a recruiter, and later called me to tell me everything he had learned: There was a teaching position which he could apply for during his sophomore year that would pay him to complete college, then he would attend OCS and a school in South Carolina, and then go on to teach at that school. “This means I will be coming home this summer. And if I get into the program within the next year, I could make a decent amount of money so that you and I could get married next summer!”

Guess who liked that idea?

I responded by saying that I’d support him no matter what, but checked to verify that he wouldn’t actually have to deploy or be away from me if he were only teaching. Then I went on to research what it’d be like to live in South Carolina and started a wedding board on Pinterest. Yep, I could handle this.

May 2012

A few months later, Curtis returned home for 3 months of summer vacation. I was working as a newly licensed massage therapist and part time as a nanny, and he was detasseling corn and selling his plasma. Together we were planning our future, beginning to inform our parents of our plans, and enjoying every second before he returned to Arizona that fall.

At the beginning of his sophomore year, Curtis returned to talk to the recruiter and begin the long process of applying for the teaching position. However, when he began to inquire about the teaching program, the recruiter replied, “Listen, if you want to teach, go be a civilian teacher. If you want to be in the Navy, you should be in the Navy.” That argument was quite compelling to Curtis, and he called me that night to discuss it. My questions were, “What’s the longest you’d be gone?” “How long would you be committing to the military?” and “Could we still get married next summer?” When I got the answer I wanted for that last question, I was sold. I googled “military wife blog” and started doing a little research, which turned into shopping online for the perfect Navy Wife t-shirt.

Curtis told me what the application process consisted of, and the way he had heard about it made it sound like it could happen within that semester (my interpretation of this was that he could join the Navy by December then propose to me at Christmas). However, we began to get a small taste of the typical “hurry up and wait” rule that exists within the military. Curtis would be given paperwork or an assignment, he would complete it right away, then wait a while for the next step. The steps were as follows: the initial application, pass a physical in Phoenix, pass the security interviews, travel to San Diego to tour a boat, pass a phone interview, then finally travel to Washington DC for the final interview and hopefully acceptance into the program. The trips were continually delayed and the final interview ended up being pushed all the way to March. I was devastated, thinking there was no way we could pull off an engagement and summer wedding after that point.

However, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s, Curtis got on one knee and asked me to marry him. This meant everything to me, since we were still unsure of whether the military thing would work out — it was him saying to me that regardless of whether this Navy program worked out, he still wanted to start our future together as soon as possible.

A few months later, he finally made the trip to Washington DC for his interview, and was accepted into the Navy NUPOC program. “I’m gonna be a Navy wife!” I exclaimed excitedly to friends and family. I thought about all the potential moves we would make and trials we would face, seeing it all with rose-colored glasses playing out like a movie. Sure we would face many challenges, but each would bring us closer together, and at the end of it all he’ll come off that boat all handsome in uniform and I’ll be wearing a pretty dress and go running into his arms, and we would run off into the sunset together, happily ever after.

To say that I had no idea what I signed up for is a total understatement.

To be continued…

Finding our Home in Hawaii

It was an overcast day in Kaneohe, a small city on the Windward side of Oahu. We walked out of our third open house of the afternoon and were instantly hit by the humidity. The place we had just looked at was a decent sized condo tucked tightly in its community, with lush green plants surrounding the walkways and nestled under the Ko’olau Mountains. It was in good condition, the features in the kitchen and bathrooms were a bit dated but we could definitely make it work if it ended up being ‘the one.’

While house hunting, I was constantly imagining how my life would fit into each empty space. How we’ll arrange our furniture, what it would feel like to cook dinner in this kitchen, what the view will be outside our bedroom window. Each house or condo we visited held different variations of the life we could potentially be living. And honestly, as a first time home buyer with very little experience, I was just looking for the right feeling, the happiest version of my potential future self. I liked how interesting the layout of this condo was, but I couldn’t shake the combination of dark cloudiness and damp humidity that hung around me. I couldn’t see this place as being one that would spark joy during my long days alone.

Just for fun, we drove over to another condo on the bay that was way out of our price range. We had seen just about everything within our price range on the Windward side of Oahu, and were now just delaying the inevitable: picking out one and putting down an offer. We obviously couldn’t live in the hotel on the military base for our entire 3 years here, and knowing that we’d only be reimbursed for so much time spent in the hotel, the pressure was on to find a place and get escrow started as soon as possible.

After playing pretend, imaging a life in that way-to-expensive condo with the marble floors, granite countertops, and an incredible view of Kaneohe Bay, we walked back to our car and called our realtor, Jill. She understood the urgency of our position and had previously agreed to meet with us when we were finished looking around, with the intention of picking out one of the 12 places we’d looked at and writing up an offer. I called her and told her we were ready.

“Great!” she replied, “Where do you want to meet?”

She listed a couple of nearby coffee shops, then threw out the idea of meeting at one of the open houses, maybe any one in particular that had stood out to us. I looked down at the list I had made that morning of all the open houses in the Kaneohe/Kailua area. As I quickly scanned the list, none of the places really jumped out to me. I realized they were all just ok. Sure, all of these could work, but I wasn’t in love with any of them. Instead, my eyes drifted to the end of the list…to the only property we hadn’t gone to. It was an actual house, not a condo, but at the very top of our budget. We’d have to absolutely love it in order to consider it.

It was too much, but I realized in that moment that if we didn’t check it out, I might end up regretting it. “Actually there’s one place we haven’t gone yet, could we possibly meet there?” I described the property and the address, still not completely convinced, and I’m sure she could hear my hesitation in the question.

“I’m actually near there,” she said, “Let me drive by and let you know if I think it’ll be worth it.”

A few moments later came her reply: “Oh my goodness, you need to come over here now!”

With a nervous excitement, we began the short drive between Kaneohe and Kailua. As we crossed under the H-3, everything suddenly seemed brighter. The clouds disappeared and the sun shone brighter. This may sound like I’m making this up to prove that we were about to find ‘The One,’ but after several years of living on the Windward side, I know that it’s typical for Kailua to be sunny while Kaneohe can be more overcast because of its position along the Ko’olau Mountains.

We parked on the street and walked up to the house, met by our realtor and the seller’s agent. They let us explore on our own, waiting in the kitchen for us to come back with our questions. It didn’t take long to look around — the house was only 600 square feet. After looking at a dozen condos in person and many more online, we knew this was to expect for our price range. However, up until this point I had believed that there was no way we could afford our own stand-alone home on this side of the island. Everywhere else, I had imagined future-potential-me living packed in a townhouse or condo building with many other residents — I hadn’t yet gotten to picture myself in my own house.

We walked around the house and the yard, and I just knew. I was probably certain that this was the one before we even arrived, but Curtis needed a bit more convincing. I pointed out that he could actually have a garden here, and that we would do better having more of our own space.

He was beginning to agree with me, but it was likely because of my confidence that we acted so fast in putting down our offer. Yes, it had to be a shared decision — it was our first home after all. But I knew that with his job in the Navy that this would really be my home. I needed a place to feel comfortable and safe when he was gone, whether that be standing duty overnight or away for weeks or months at a time. I wanted a place that was cozy but bright, that would make me feel safe but also inspired.

After two years of living here, I can honestly say this place has been exactly that for me. I know that joy isn’t found in a home, but there are so many aspects of this place that inspire me and make me happy. I wake up to the sound of birds chirping in the mango tree outside my bedroom window, the rising sun lighting up the house. The cool, original wood floors creak under my feet as I walk into the front room and see the sunrise through the large window. The cool breeze blows through the windows and makes living without any air conditioning tolerable. I walk over to my kitchen sink, look out the window and see Konahuanui, the highest point in the Ko’olau Mountains. We’ve enjoyed getting to know this island by spending lots of time at the beach or hiking in the mountains, but this little house is truly my favorite part of the island. My own little slice of paradise.

When we leave, I think what I’ll miss most about this house is its simplicity. I don’t feel the need to decorate or find ways to fill this space because what we already own is more than enough. I have learned to live consciously, and how to make each little corner serve a purpose. I love how it makes me feel connected to the world outside while simultaneously giving me a place to be alone. I love how living in a small house allows Curtis and I to always be close together when he’s home. The process of moving to Hawaii was an incredibly stressful 6 months full of challenges and complicated logistics, but the day we moved into this house was the day that all that stress washed away, and I began to enjoy the beauty and good things about island living.

If you’re looking into buying a home on Oahu, we loved our realtor and would absolutely recommend her. Here’s her website if you’re interested: https://www.jillward808.com

Island Hopping on a Budget

Back when we lived on the Mainland, we used to go on weekend trips every month. We constantly had a list of places we wanted to visit, and whenever the opportunity struck we would simply pack up the car and go. We were able to go up to 4 days spending money only on the cost of gas — we could camp for free, hike and explore in the wilderness for free, and would bring food we already had from home. It was only a matter of finding the time.

These days, we don’t have much time off to travel — but it’s probably for the better, considering how expensive it is to get off this island. However, we decided to make traveling to all of the Hawaiian islands that we can visit a priority because it’s never going to be cheaper or easier than it is now.

In this post, I’ll outline the ways that we save money while island hopping, and share how much we spend to give an idea of how much you can expect to spend on a similar trip.

First, a few disclaimers: We are are currently living on Oahu and are in the military, so we take advantage of Hawaii resident and military discounts whenever we can. Also, when we travel, we spend basically our entire time hiking and exploring in nature, which is typically free or very cheap. We always opt to do things on our own rather than with a tour company. Our trips are usually only a few days long, so we pack them full of things we know are unique to each island and spend very little time relaxing, dining out or drinking.

Flights

The first big up-front cost for island hopping is plane tickets — this expense is pretty unavoidable! During our first year of living in Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines was basically the only way to fly between the islands. There were smaller companies such as Mokulele, but they were typically just as expensive if not more and had limited flight options. Now, Southwest Airlines has come to the islands and provided a little extra competition, so the prices aren’t quite as bad.

It helps to be flexible with dates and travel at non-peak times. We usually take the earliest flight out at 5am and return on the latest flight, around 10-11pm depending on the island. The best deal we’ve gotten was $35 per person one way to Maui, with tickets purchased a month in advance during a Black Friday sale. Besides that trip, we don’t always know if we will be able to take our planned leave, so we usually wait until the last minute to buy tickets, which can account for why those trips were so expensive.

Here’s what we’ve spent on flights for two people, round trip:

Maui (January 2018) $290
Kauai (August 2018) $316
Big Island (December 2018) $318
Maui (January 2020) $220 ($70 for one-way from Oahu to Maui, $150 for one-way Lanai to Oahu)

Driving around the entire Eastern side of Maui

Rental Cars/Transportation

For our style of travel, having a rental car is usually the best way to get around, so this has been another necessary expense when island hopping. Each of the islands has a bus system, but the buses don’t always go to all the places we want to visit. For example, there is no bus route for Haleakala on Maui, or Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park on Kauai, which are must-sees in our opinion. Not to mention we’d spend extra time waiting for the bus and stopping frequently, and all of our trips have had little flexibility on time.

Because we rarely ever rented cars on the mainland, I can’t say exactly how these compare, just that we think it’s way too expensive. Maybe if we tried Turo or something like that we could find something cheaper, but we’re all about convenience and reliability when taking these short trips.

It’s important to note that when planning vacations during peak seasons (summer, spring break, and around the holidays in December) you should always make sure rentals are available on the island you’re visiting when you book plane tickets. (This may work the same for hotels, but we wouldn’t know!)

Maui (January 2018, 3 days) $209
Kauai (August 2018, 3 days) $198
Big Island (December 2018, 6 days) $251
Maui (January 2020, 2 days) $170

Sleeping in the cabins on Mauna Loa in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Lodging

After paying for the flights and rental car, we can usually get away with a pretty budget friendly vacation all thanks to camping. We pack our small 2 person tent and compact sleeping bags into backpacking backpacks which make for large carry-ons, but since the earliest and latest flights of the day are usually pretty empty, we’ve never had a problem. However, I heard that Southwest gives you one free checked bag, which is another great way to bring your camping gear.

When camping, your main options are national parks, state parks, and county parks. We’ve never tried camping outside of those areas because we’d rather pay and receive permits up front than get caught or fined for camping somewhere we’re not supposed to.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t such thing as a budget hotel here. When we used to stay in hotels on the mainland, we’d just book a Red Roof Inn or Super 8 for $40-$70. Here, it’s nearly impossible to find a decent place for less than $100 a night. You’re more likely to spend >$200 a night at a resort. AirBnBs do exist on the islands, however they are currently illegal on Oahu and in certain areas of other islands so do some research to make sure your rental is legitimate!

If you’re military, there are additional lodging options on most of the islands where you can stay, such as cabins in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We’ve never done this, but check out the Facebook group Island Hopping for Military to see other people’s recommendations. (This is also a great source for finding out where you can get other military discounts!)

Here’s what we’ve spent while camping:

Maui (January 2018, 2 nights) $0 — camped for free in Haleakala National Park
Kauai (August 2018, 2 nights) $16 — one night in Waimea Canyon for $13, one night at Salt Pond county park for $3 (which could have been free had we both used military/HI IDs. Normally it’s $3 per person, per night.)
Big Island (December 2018, 5 nights) $30 — Three nights with a backpacking permit in Hawaii Volcanoes for $10, two nights in a walk-up campsite for $20.
Maui (January 2020, 3 nights) $10 — camped for free in Haleakala National Park for 2 nights, $10 to camp in Papalaua State Wayside Park ($5 per person, per night for HI residents; $10 for non-HI residents).

Additional information about camping can be found on these websites:

Camping in Haleakala National Park: https://www.nps.gov/hale/planyourvisit/drive-up-camping.htm

Backpacking in Haleakala National Park: https://www.nps.gov/hale/planyourvisit/wilderness-camping.htm

Camping in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/camp.htm

Backpacking in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/hike_bc.htm

Camping in State Parks (Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Oahu): https://camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/welcome.html;jsessionid=9553153D7D9425CFCBA83A10E5FD3FB8.lana (map of campgrounds on each island found here: https://camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/all,e-search.html)

Camping in County Parks:
Hawaii: https://hawaiicounty.ehawaii.gov/camping/welcome.html;jsessionid=4AB9BCA208B9EB98DC99FC27C8C5181F.lana
Kauai: https://www.kauai.gov/Camping
Maui: https://www.mauicounty.gov/409/Camping-Sites
Oahu (Honolulu County): https://camping.honolulu.gov

No, we did not eat this chicken — I just don’t have pictures of things we have eaten while island hopping!

Food

When we first arrive on any island, we first stop at Walmart to grab food for the majority of our trip. We’ll usually go out for a meal or two while traveling, but like to save money by preparing most of it on our own. We keep it pretty simple: oatmeal for breakfast, peanut butter sandwiches or tortillas for snacks/lunch, and canned soup or instant rice or noodles for dinner. Yes, there are plenty of delicious foods you should try when visiting the islands such as garlic shrimp, poke, kalua pork, and malsadas, but since we live on Oahu we have enjoyed all of these over time.

I’ll break down costs between Walmart stops and restaurants here. In case you’re curious, our favorite restaurant while island hopping has been Killer Tacos in Kona (which actually happens to be a Hawaiian chain). Some day I’ll write a separate post about our favorite restaurants on Oahu.

Walmart/Groceries:

Maui (January 2018, 3 days) $7 — We planned ahead for this trip and brought most of our food from home!
Kauai (August 2018, 3 days) $18
Big Island (December 2018, 6 days) $65 — This vacation required 2 Walmart trips, and the second happened right after we finished backpacking Mauna Loa when we were feeling calorie starved. After doing our shopping, we also picked up a pizza and ate the whole thing while driving to our campsite. Calorie starved indeed!
Maui (January 2020, 4 days) $33

Restaurants:

Maui (January 2018) $50 (One nice dinner at Da Kitchen in Kahului. We recommend the fried tempura spam musubi appetizer!)
Kauai (August 2018) $65 (two lunches at Paina Pono Cafe and Tiki Tacos, an iced drink from a McDonalds on a hot day, and two pieces of Lilikoi chiffon pie from Hamura Saimin in Lihue)
Big Island (December 2018) $57 (The aforementioned pizza in Hilo and Killer Tacos in Kona)
Maui (January 2020) $45 (two lunches at Jawz in Kihei and Plantation Grindz in Kahului, and a half-dozen donuts at Krispy Kremes in Kahului, the only Krispy Kreme in all of Hawaii!)

The only attraction we’ve paid to see — Iao Needle

Attractions/Entertainment

When you search ‘things to do on ___ island,’ you’ll likely find plenty of tours or paid excursions you can enjoy on said island. What you decide you want to see and do is completely up to you and your budget; for us, our favorite thing to do is hike, and we prefer to do so on our own. Maybe we’re missing out by not taking boat or helicopter tours, but we’ve never regretted skipping those in favor of taking the path less traveled. I knew we were frugal in this regard, however I was still shocked to realize the most we’ve ever paid to see or do anything is a $5 fee to visit Iao Valley on Maui. However, if we didn’t have a national parks pass, then fees to visit Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks would fall in this category. But even if we didn’t have the pass, we’d gladly pay the fees and support our national parks because both of these are absolutely worth seeing!

Taking the ferry from Maui to Lanai

Other

Here’s just a random run-down of other expenses we had while traveling. All of these expenses were explained in our post about our third day of vacation on Maui in January 2020.

Ferry to Lanai: $50 (one way for 2 people, including HI resident discount) This was so worth doing, and less expensive than flying to and from Lanai from Oahu.
Bus: $8 (for two one-day passes on Maui)
Lyft: $21
Taxi: $20 ($10 per person for a ride on Lanai)

Closing Thoughts

You’ll notice that Oahu isn’t on here — we never vacationed here before moving to the island, so we never experienced it as tourists. But I’d imagine that if we lived on another island and visited here, we would still just do lots of hiking for free, and take the USS Arizona Memorial tour for free. Camping on this island has never appealed to us (we pay enough to live here, why would we pay extra to sleep somewhere else?!) but there are options spread out around here, from beaches to mountains. If we did ever camp, I think Peacock Flats on the North shore would interest us the most.

I hope this post helped show you ways to save money and still have a great time traveling around the Hawaiian islands!

A Day on Lanai

Taking the Ferry from Lahaina to Lanai | Hiking Lanaihale from Sea to Summit | January 3, 2020

Our last day of vacation began before dawn as we quickly and quietly packed up our tent and waited for our Lyft. We were thankful that after all our stress from the day before, the only unexpected expense that came from it was a $21 ride. In hindsight, it may have been better to simply keep the rental car one more day, get an even earlier start by returning it and then taking the first bus from Kahului to Lahaina. That may have saved us time and stress, but it’s debatable whether it would’ve actually cost less.

Anyway, we made it to the ferry dock with time to spare and found a place to refill our water containers. Curtis had reserved our ferry tickets the day before just in case it had any chance at being fully booked. There are several different ferries that leave from Lahaina every day, but we knew we’d need to take the first one at 6:45 in order to get the earliest start possible on today’s hike.

view of backside of ferry out in the ocean with island in the distance

cliffs and small island off coast of Lanai

We sat on the top deck for our ~50 minute long ferry ride between Maui and Lanai. We loved every part of this — from getting to see several islands from a different point of view, to watching the sunrise at sea, to seeing a good portion of the cliffs along Lanai’s coast. I wish we could have this option to travel between more of the Hawaiian islands. We looked for whales but didn’t see any, as they usually use different straights, such as between Oahu and Molokai.

We arrived on Lanai around 7:30 at Manele Harbor and prepared ourselves for our hike. Our mission for the day was to hike across the island while hitting the highest point on the island, a distance of about 16 miles, in time to make our flight at 7:45 PM. We ate some of our snacks and threw away trash to make our backpacks lighter and made sure we had enough water for the day.

The first leg of the hike was a road walk to get out of Manele. We followed HI-440 North as it slowly ascended 1000′ to the center of the island. The road walk was only 3 miles, and the traffic light, as you would expect on the island with the smallest population. About a half-mile from our actual trail head, a man passing by offered us a ride, but we politely declined. We had walked this far, we might as well say we walked the whole thing, from sea to summit. Once at 1000′, the topography leveled out significantly and we made a turn off of the highway onto an old plantation road, and now an OHV track and the end (or for us, the start) of the Munro Trail.

Back in the late 19th through most of the 20th century, Lanai was known for being a producer of pineapples with the Dole Company, with most of the entire center of the island reserved for growing pineapples. But in 1992, due to rising labor costs, Dole ceased operations but continued to own most of the island until 2012 when the island (almost literally) was sold to Larry Ellison, a multi-Billionaire who intends to improve the island and make it sustainable.

All that to say, right now with the exception of the resorts, golf courses, and Lanai City, the island is vacant and undeveloped. As we walked the old roads between fields that used to grow thousands of pineapples, we felt alone, and we were alright with that. The road was flat as we walked north towards the summit ridge, the sun was intermittent behind the clouds, and we felt good, even with our heavy packs. There were a few points where different roads branched off of the one we took, and that made me a little concerned that we could find ourselves on the wrong path. We weren’t using AllTrails to conserve phone battery, so we had to consult Google Maps a few times to make sure we were on the right road. There were occasionally signs that didn’t make any sense or didn’t aid in helping us find our way. For example, we came across one that said “Panini Patch,” but didn’t see any paninis growing. How odd.

view overlooking land leading up to ocean

At about 6 miles in (3 miles from the highway), we reached the edge of the summit ridge and had our first (and only) look out over the windward side. Signs near here explained the history of the area and how, before the pineapple boom, cattle hands used to send their stock over the mountains at this point before they went down to the main harbor. A man named Munro owned a cabin near a now gone waterfall and would lead the cattlemen over the mountains. Before all that, this was considered a haunted site, filled with ghosts and spirits.

ancient Hawaiian temple with rainbow in background

We took a much needed rest from our packs, took pictures, had a snack, and took a side trip a quarter mile out of our way to the south to an ancient Heiau. This gave nice views of the center of the island. You could easily tell where the highway was as it was treelined the whole way. Everything else was a burnt red with scrubby trees and grasses. It was also here where we learned that Lanai only receives 30-35 inches of rain a year, but that it receives over 100 inches annually of ‘cloud drip’. Looking to the West we knew we would be in store for this and we continued the steep climb up the summit ridge.

The next 2-3 miles quickly gained the remaining 1500′ or so to the top of Lanai on Lanaihale. We soon lost the sun as we entered into the clouds, and the wind coming up from the East was strong. But despite all of this we did not get wet, or at least not soaked as one would expect in a cloud. Instead wherever we walked we would hear and see the cloud precipitate out on the Norfolk and Cook pines, and whenever the wind would blow it would scatter this ‘cloud drip’. It was honestly really interesting.

person hiking on a red dirt road in the fog

two people smiling on cloudy mountain top

We reached the summit where the trail leveled out nicely and we were able to enjoy the hike a bit more. Without AllTrails running, we weren’t sure exactly how far we had gone, and only vaguely knew how far we had to go. We figured that so long as the trail continued without branching, we would be fine.

We passed by some radio towers and decided that we must be at the summit, although there was no sign, geodetic marker, or post; not that there was a view or anything. And then the trail went down. Curtis found a nice machete on the trail, but left it for some other wanderer to have. I don’t think they let you take those in your carry-on.

Around this time (about 1:00 PM) the trail started getting windy and windy (ha, English). Since we had no frame of reference in the cloud, our minds began to play tricks on how far we had gone. We kept thinking that since we had made a turn, we were clearly coming near the end. Then Curtis would check his phone and see that we were still 2 miles out. If we were on a hard to follow trail that could have been dangerous, but thankfully we weren’t.

As we got near the end of the trail, we began to see more trail signs (none that made sense though, which was concerning at first) and indications of human life. Then we came out of the woods and found ourselves at a resort. An enormous ropes course resort complete with a Tarzan house in the center of a moat. There were also turkeys everywhere.

We made it as far as the main road and decided that was far enough. We didn’t have any plans in Lanai City and were bushed after hiking 16 miles, so we sat in front of the resort waiting for a cab, the closest thing to public transportation the island has. We had good conversation with the cab driver on the short ride to the airport.

When we went to check in for our flight, we were informed that we could transfer from our flight at 7:30 to one leaving in a half hour. Perfect! We made it through the VERY thorough TSA checkpoint (where they debated whether they should do bomb swipes on a package of unopened risotto… I guess being TSA at a small airport has its slow points). We thoroughly enjoyed our 30 minute sunset flight in a turbo-prop airplane, a first for both of us.

view outside plane window of wing and sunset

view outside plane window looking down on island and clouds during sunset

Back on Oahu, we got held up near our gate waiting for another plane to leave. Curtis opened the Honolulu bus app on his phone, because we had parked off of airport property and took a bus there to save money. It was then that he realized that for some reason, the bus schedule was ending early that night, and the LAST bus of the day would be arriving in 10 minutes. Suddenly, we went from thinking we were just happy to be home a few hours early, to being in a rush to get off the plane and make it to the bus stop on time! Once we were finally at the gate, we hurried off the plane and awkwardly ran through the airport, with big heavy backpacks and very sore legs from hiking all day. We came outside just as the bus was turning the last corner on the way to the stop and made it in the nick of time! We arrived back at our car, which was thankfully just the way we left it, and drove home, back to our sweet puppy. I’m kind of in awe that everything worked out the way it did, and thankful for another successful island hop!

Lahaina Pali Trail

Hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail | Camping at Papalaua State Wayside Park | January 2, 2020

After our first two days of vacation had gone off without a hitch, it was only a matter of time that something unexpected should happen. We had planned to spend our third day of vacation in Southwest Maui, and then take the ferry to Lanai on our last day. Things became a little bit logistically complicated here, but we thought we had it all figured out beforehand.

Since we were taking the ferry to Lanai and then flying home from there, we wouldn’t need a car on our last day, but we could only return our rental at the airport in Kahului (maybe we could’ve avoided this complication with other rental companies, but we had just gone with the cheapest option). We checked out the bus system and it looked like it would work out just fine — there was a bus that went from Kahului to Lahaina, and then others that went further up the coast, so we could get around West Maui that way. Curtis even found a hiking trail that started right off the highway at one point on the way to Lahaina and ended several miles down the road along the same bus route. We planned to camp that night in a county park that we thought was just North of Lahaina, then we could catch the first bus the next morning into town to take the ferry. It felt like we had thought everything through and were prepared, but unfortunately the plan started to unravel little by little that morning.

We got up before the sun and said goodbye to Haleakala as we drove down the mountain. When looking for a gas station in Kahului, we came across the one and only Krispy Kreme’s in Hawaii and naturally had to stop. Since they also had Wifi, we decided it was a good time to look up exact addresses of places we were planning to visit. First was the Parks & Recreation office in Lahaina. While planning this trip, we read online that we could camp at a place called Papalaua State Wayside Park. There were permits and rules and everything on their website, but no address or email to send in the permits — they must be submitted and obtained in person. The office had been closed the past 2 days for New Year’s, so today was the only day we could pick it up. After figuring out where the office was, I searched for where the actual campground was. It turned out to be nowhere near where Curtis had thought when planning — I’m not sure how this happened, but the campsite was actually 11 miles South of Lahaina and not just North of town. That’s fine, we thought, we would just have to get up even earlier and take a different bus.

We went and returned our rental car, then got on the bus and bought day passes for $4 each. After one transfer, we were on the bus headed for Lahaina. This is when the next complication came up — we realized that this bus makes minimal stops along the way. We saw on the bus app where each stop was and hoped that they actually had more stops than that…but no, about a half hour into our ride we were passing by the beach where we hoped to camp with no stops in sight. The closest one was in Ma’alaea, 5 miles away. We started to become concerned and began thinking through alternative plans.

After getting off the bus in Lahaina, we walked to the Parks & Recreation office and talked through our options. We could take a bus back to the airport, rent another car for a day, then drive it back first thing in the morning and take another bus to Lahaina. We could camp illegally at a closer beach (I gave that one a big fat ‘No’ immediately). We could try to stay in a hostel in Lahaina (a quick Google search told us that they were all booked and not that cheap either). We could just take a ferry to Lanai today and camp either at their one official campsite on the island for $80 (!!!) or take our chances with camping ‘illegally’ there (there seemed to be so much open vacant land, would anyone really care? While maybe possible, it would be a potentially expensive mistake to make if we were caught). Or we could do our best to go along with our original plan and take Uber or Lyft when necessary. We decided to go along with that, as long as there were still camping permits available.

We reached the office, and thankfully there were several spots still open. We were able to get a camping permit for $10 (it would be $20 for non-Hawaii residents). Since this was a longer walk than we had planned, we decided to take a bus back into Lahaina’s town center and figure out where to go from there. The bus only came by every hour, so we first crossed the street to hang out at the beach before going back to the bus stop.

We got on the bus for what was supposed to be a quick ride back into town…when Curtis realized he didn’t have his jacket. We knew he had it that morning and I remembered seeing it when we were at the permit office, so it had to be somewhere around that area. It seemed a little silly to be fretting over a second-hand jacket that we paid less than $10 for over a year ago, especially as the temperatures were creeping up to be our warmest day of vacation yet. But this rain jacket was such a good investment and we really do use our jackets a lot (and it proved to be very much necessary to make it through the next day, but more on that later). We arrived back at the the main stop in Lahaina, and decided that I would stay behind with our backpacks (because at this point without a rental car, we were carrying everything: our tents, sleeping bags, food, water…) and Curtis would retrace our steps and hopefully find the jacket and make it back to the bus stop before it came by in the next hour.

Thankfully this worked out, Curtis found his jacket and made it to the bus in time, and an hour later was back with me. We had our next step sorted out: We were going to take the Lahaina-Kahului bus to Ma’alaea because the trail Curtis had picked for the day started around there and ended near the beach where we’d camp that night. This way, we’d only need to pay for one Lyft ride early the next morning into Lahaina. We arrived in Ma’alaea around 2, strapped on our heavy backpacks, refilled water at a gas station, and walked along the highway to our trailhead.

Hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail

Our hike for today was the Lahaina Pali Trail, which is a 5 mile through hike from one point to another following a historic path over the foothills of West Maui. I guess if we had come with a car, we would’ve either had to only hike half the trail or double the distance by walking from one end to the other and back, so this way we were able to efficiently hike the entire trail. We did have to add an extra mile at the beginning for the road walk, and in the heat of the day with heavy backpacks that felt like no small feat. But at this point, we didn’t really have any other way to get to our campsite 5 miles away.

We finally reached the actual trailhead, and stopped to read the signs about the historical significance of the area. There were also very descriptive signs about the exact trail length, elevation gain, and conditions. They called it a rugged trail, which I wasn’t sure I felt up for, but again — we didn’t have a choice at this point. Besides, what else would we do, take a Lyft to the campsite and beach bum for several hours? …Ok, that doesn’t sound terrible, but it’s not our style.

Wind Turbines on Lahaina Pali Trail on Maui

Onward we walked, with only about 3-3 ½ hours left of daylight. The first 1.3 miles of the trail were probably the steepest, over a rocky trail that gained over a thousand feet in elevation. We took frequent breaks and drank lots of water. It wasn’t comfortable with the heavy backpacks, but I constantly reminded myself that this is what we want. We always talk about our desire to backpack, and this is exactly what we’re asking for.

Lahaina Pali Trail intersecting with wind turbines on Maui

After the 1.3 mile sign, the trail got easier and even had some shaded parts. The most interesting part came about halfway through, when we came across the wind turbines. If you’ve flown to Maui, you may know what I’m talking about: there’s a line of wind turbines that stretch up the side of a ridgeline in Southwestern Maui. We walked right past them, and it was really fascinating. First off, we learned that they’re really loud, like constant planes flying over (a point we had questioned when protesters tried blocking construction of similar turbines here on Oahu). There were informational signs there where we learned more about what they’re made of and other fun facts. After this point, we began our long descent down the second half of the trail. On this last part, we came across more hikers and enjoyed watching the sun set, making it to the end of the trail just as it dipped below the horizon.

Finally, we reached the end of the trail, where all we had to do was cross the busy highway and road walk less than a half mile to our campsite at Papalaua State Wayside Park. However, we arrived only to find a family with a giant tent already set up there. Curtis went to the dad and started to ask about whether they had a permit and tell them they were in our spot, but they turned out to be French and didn’t understand. “Oh, our reservation is under Lindsey…” he replied, which we knew wasn’t true because there were no reservations here, just first come-first serve permits that you have to get in person. But we aren’t confrontational people and weren’t up for arguing with foreign people, so we forfeited our rightful spot and went to talk to the campers that would have been our neighbors. Since they had also been to the office that day, we asked what spots they remembered being available, and made our way to one of those. We found one of them to be empty, but just in case, we waited to set up our tent until around 8. I have to say that out of all the things that stressed us out today, this was the part that got to me the most. After coming up with solutions and doing everything we needed to do to camp legally even though it wasn’t convenient, only to not get our campsite, annoyed me. I felt like it affected my sleep that night because I was constantly waking up wondering if we would get kicked out of this spot.

But the night passed, and thankfully everything turned out fine. I will say though that if you’re thinking of camping here, it’s right along a noisy highway and this was anything but a quiet night. In fact, camping right next to us was a family that had screaming kids AND was blasting music, but we couldn’t even hear those because of the traffic. Camping in either district of Haleakala was much quieter and more enjoyable, even though both areas can be crowded. And while we’ve camped “on the beach” before both on Maui and Kauai, this was the first time we had to camp on actual sand and not a grassy area near the beach, and sand got EVERYWHERE. Also, this was the most expensive campsite we’ve stayed at on Maui. But at only $10 and relatively close to where we needed to be the next morning, we couldn’t complain.

We ended our day with eating risotto and sausage on our camp stove. It rained off and on throughout the night and the wind was pretty strong. But eventually the traffic noise died down a little, and we listened to the sound of the ocean waves as we drifted off to sleep.

Iao Valley / Waihe’e Ridge Trail

Visiting Iao Valley | Hiking Waihe’e Ridge Trail & Waihou Spring Trail | January 1, 2020

Our second day on Maui focused on hiking around the West part of the island, starting with a quick visit to Iao Valley State Park. Much like Oahu and Kauai, West Maui is an older shield volcano that has been eroded away by the continuous rainfall in the higher elevations. In Maui’s case, this has left several VERY deep valleys going almost to the very center of the mountain. Two of these valleys are the Iao and the Waihe’e on the Southeast side of the mountain.

We made Iao our first stop for the day in order to beat the crowds, but also because there isn’t a whole lot to do in ways of hiking. There’s a $5 entrance fee, and one short trail that goes from the parking lot up to a vista of the Iao Needle. We walked up the steps, took pictures, found a letterbox, then went on our way. Along with the trail that goes up to the viewpoint, there are a few that loop around a pretty garden and walk along a creek, as well as an “illegal” trail that takes you to another viewpoint. My favorite part of this stop was just being in such a small valley surrounded by the tall cliffs of the West Maui mountains. On a clear day, you can even see the highest peak, Pu’u Kukui, right behind the needle.

Next, we drove North up the coast to our main hike for the day. I had picked out Waihe’e Ridge Trail kind of on a whim just by looking at AllTrails. Just by scanning through the listing, I thought it looked like the kind of hike we’d enjoy – a ridge hike leading up to a peak of sorts. Luckily, I was right, and Curtis told me this one exceeded his expectations. We drove up to the upper trailhead and got one of the last parking spots available — I guess a lot of other people had the same idea, to start off the year on the right foot by hiking in a beautiful place!

The trail began with a steep walk up a paved road that led to a water tank. After that first stretch, the trail grade was more gradual on a wide and well-maintained path. Overall, we were very impressed with the trail condition. The hike was around 4 miles round-trip and gained over 1600 feet of elevation. There were some switchbacks and some stairs built in, but the trail never felt unsafe even though it was a little wet (as compared to similar hikes on Oahu that would invariably require ‘ropes’ or eroded trail conditions).

Along the way, we came upon a bench that faced Makamakaole Falls in the distance, which looked impressive even from afar. At the top there were also views of Molokai to the North and across Maui to Haleakala to the South. My favorite part of the trail came right after a look out, where we were walking along the ridge with a steep drop off and the vast Waihe’e Valley in between us and the other mountains to the South. The trail was wide enough that it didn’t feel dangerous, but the other mountains just made me feel so small.

We made good time, taking short breaks and drinking lots of water, and finally made it up to the top. There were some clouds rolling in from the North, but we had made it in time to have a good view of the mountains and listen to some older hikers brag about their Hawai’i hiking – we were happy to note that we were familiar with most of what they talked about and had accomplished similar feats during our time here.

We were cautious walking down as the trail was a little slick, but thankfully the clouds brought only a light drizzle and a cool breeze. We made it back to the car after about 2 ½ hours of hiking. Click here if you want to see our AllTrail recording for this hike.

On our way back to Kahului, we went in search of a couple Heaiu’s (historic Hawaiian temples) but struck out on both and instead decided to find some lunch. This also took a few tries because many places were closed for the holiday. We eventually found a local Filipino spot that was open and shared a plate lunch. While there, we started looking for what we wanted to do next. We didn’t feel like driving the winding road up the Northwest coast, but it seemed like everything we were looking at — botanical gardens, tours, museums, distilleries — were all closed that day. Curtis found a couple other short hikes we could try, but nothing that could fill up the rest of the day.

We ended up driving to a nearby park in Kahului with a walking trail and made a loop around there for an hour. After living in one place for so long, and such a busy and touristy place at that, I’ve really come to appreciate small, quiet parks. After our walk, we began driving up to Makawao to the trailhead for our next hike.

At first, we thought we would go do a short hike in a nature preserve to find a letterbox, but then Curtis found another hike not far from that one that promised lava tubes at the end and that easily won us over. We drove up a long winding mountain road to Waihou Spring Forest Reserve and started out on the loop trail. The first half-mile was very easy as we made our way deeper into the forest. The forest is a research forest and has tall pine trees planted. It honestly felt more like a hike in Colorado than a hike in Hawaii.

We came to a fork in the trail and took the path to the right leading to the “creek lookout.” At the end of this flat and maintained path was a sign warning of a steep drop-off, and that’s where the real fun began!

After that sign, the trail became very narrow and hugged the hillside as it switchbacked steeply into a valley. With every step, I started to dread our eventual ascent more and more, but it turned out to be not as bad as we thought. In fact, the end of this trail was a highlight for Curtis — there were in fact lava tubes, but not at all like he was expecting. Our experience with lava tubes has been only in Northern Arizona near Flagstaff. There the tube is wide and long, enough for a person to stand fully vertical and not touch either side wall. Here, when we came to the spring, there was a steep cliff wall surrounding us in a tight valley. There were many holes along the cliff wall that were each entrances to lava tubes, some of which were connected to each other. I opted to stay behind, but Curtis didn’t let the steep, narrow path covered in leaves deter him from climbing up to the holes and going inside. He had come prepared with a headlamp and enjoyed going in one hole and then popping out another.

(Curtis) Geologically, it looked like the tubes were restricted to only a layer of rock maybe 25 feet tall, and that at some point in time when the valley was formed, the rock was carved away cutting laterally through the tubes, sorta like cutting across a wormy apple or wood. It does beg the question, were these tubes connected to a larger feeder, similar to the one in AZ?

(Jess) With it getting dark, we climbed back up the hillside and completed the loop. You can see our AllTrails recording for this hike here.

We ended our day with driving back up to Hosmer’s Grove for our last night camping in Haleakala. Before settling in, we went for a short walk on the Hosmer’s Grove loop trail in search of a letterbox. We came up empty handed, but it had been years since it was last found. It also didn’t help that the clue ended with getting you to one specific spot on the trail and then said, “You know what to do.” Nope, we sure didn’t! Back at our campsite, Curtis made tortellini on his camp stove and we stayed warm inside our tent.

Hanomanioa Lighthouse / Haleakala Sunset

Return to Maui | Hiking the Hanomanioa Lighthouse/King’s Highway Trail | Last Sunset of 2019 on Haleakala | December 31, 2019

For our 2019 holiday stand down, we contemplated going all out and taking a big international vacation. However, the financially responsible part of us reminded us that we’re likely moving and selling the house this year and that we should probably invest some time and money into improving it. We compromised by doing a quick island hop to celebrate the New Year. This way, we could continue to knock out some of our remaining Hawaii bucket list items. Out of all the Hawaiian islands that you’re allowed to visit, we’d been to Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii, and still wanted to see Lanai and Molokai. The trail we really want to hike on Molokai is currently closed, so that left Lanai. Looking at things to do on Lanai, it honestly seemed like everything could be knocked out in a day, and not many of those things appealed to our interests. We ultimately decided to do a multi-island vacation where we would divide our time between two islands. Fortunately this was made very easy and inexpensive to execute thanks to the one and only inter-island ferry between Maui and Lanai!

Once we had decided to return to Maui, it wasn’t hard to find things we wanted to do. When we visited at the beginning of 2018, our entire trip focused on backpacking the Haleakala Crater and then driving around the entire Eastern part of the island. I remember watching the sunset on our last night there, looking out to the mountains on the West side and realizing there was a whole side to the island that was still unfamiliar to me. Our goal of this trip would be to visit the parts of the island that we overlooked because the thrill of hiking Haleakala overshadowed them all. However, we also knew we had to return to the crater; after 2 years of exploring all over the islands, backpacking Haleakala still stands out as my favorite thing we’ve done.

We left early in the morning on December 31, with tickets we had found on Black Friday for only $35 per person. We watched the sun rise and had great views of Molokai, Lanai, and Maui from the air. After picking up our rental car, we first drove to Haleakala National Park to claim a spot to camp for that night in Hosmer’s Grove, because the first rule of camping in areas without reservations is to always make finding a campsite your first priority! Hosmer’s Grove is just inside the park entrance at around 7000 feet above sea level, and works the same way as the Kīpahulu campground on the Eastern side of the island. It’s free to camp, there are no reservations, there’s just a big green space with grills and picnic tables spread out and you can just walk in and find a spot. There were less parking spots and overall less space here than the Eastern side. One ‘downside’ was that it’s so far up the mountain that it takes a long drive to get anywhere else, but with the money saved on accommodations, it was worth it to us.

Once we had our campsite, we drove back down the mountain and began heading South. Another part of the island we had neglected to visit was Kihei and the Southern coast. There didn’t seem to be a lot of hiking there, but we wanted a more relaxed first day so it was a good place to start. Since it was now already late in the morning, there was a lot of traffic and the crowds were unavoidable. We drove past the resort town of Kihei and continued down Makena Road to the very end. There are lots of good snorkeling spots and beaches along the way, but the whole area was packed with cars and people. When we reached the end of the road and the “trailhead” for our intended hike, there were cars all over and it was difficult to find a place to squeeze in, but eventually we found a spot and we prepared for our walk.

Thankfully once we left the initial parking lot and beach area, the people were more dispersed and we were alone for our walk along the coast. The trail was flat and easy, but very exposed to the sun. We went from walking on sand, to dirt, to volcanic rock. The trail offered great views of Kaho’olawe island to the West, as well as the Southern slope of Haleakala. From here, we could see the lava flow pattern from the volcano’s last eruption, which is believed to be around 1790.

We followed the trail all the way to the Hanomanioa Lighthouse, and Curtis found a letterbox. There’s a fork in the trail along the way, and the other path goes for several more miles before ending at another beach which is supposedly good for snorkeling, but we opted to skip it today. That trail actually dates to the 1840’s and is known as the ‘King’s Road’ and has much history associated with it. The lava rock is challenging to walk on — definitely wear good hiking shoes for this, even though it’s just along the coast. You can check out our AllTrails recording here.

After the hike, we drove into Kihei to grab a late lunch. We had delicious tacos at Jawz Mexican Grill, then continued our drive back to Haleakala. We planned to stop at a lavender farm along the way, but it was closed due to the holiday. Instead, we drove up to the summit of Haleakala to enjoy the views and arrive early enough to get a parking spot for the sunset.

Once we reached the top of the crater, we bundled up and hiked the short Pa ka’oao Trail to a higher viewpoint. (We had neglected to do this last time we were here because we were so focused on the actual summit and then wanted to make sure we got a ride back down the mountain.) The winds blasted us at the summit and we found that we were vastly under prepared for the cold this time — last time we had our fleece jackets, gloves, and hats; this time all we brought were our rain jackets/windbreakers! After standing in the cold as long as we could bear, we went back to our car and read for the next hour while waiting for the sunset.

Currently, you need a reservation to be on the summit of Haleakala at sunrise, but there are no restrictions for sunset. I heard while we were there that they may start also requiring reservations for sunset soon, and we saw exactly why that’s necessary. By about 15 minutes before sunset, there were cars parked everywhere — the parking lot was completely filled and people were parking in any spot imaginable, even the middle of the road. But there was no denying it was worth being among the crowds to see the sunset from that high. We watched it drop behind the observatory, going from bright red, to orange, and finally fading as the dark set in. Western Maui was equally as gorgeous, reflecting pink and purple light. We couldn’t help but turn around and gaze upon Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in the distance with a little pride, thinking back to conquering each of those peaks. But one part we hadn’t thought about before was the shadow cast behind us by the crater itself. The whole setting was glorious and brought tears to my eyes…or maybe that was the bone-chilling wind. Nonetheless, it was the perfect way to watch the last sunset of the decade. (However, we still stand by the fact that the best way to witness the sunrise and sunset on Haleakala is by backpacking to the opposite side and having the whole view to yourself, like we did last time!)

We drove back down the mountain in the dark and settled in to our tent, doing our best to stay warm throughout the chilly night. It took a while for the rest of the campground to quiet down, but in comparison to the noisiness of the constant fireworks going on back home on Oahu, this was the quietest New Year’s Eve we’ve had in a few years!

April 2020

March 2020

Nakoa Trail

Hiking the Nakoa Trail | March 2020

You Signed Up For This

To be continued…

Finding our Home in Hawaii

Island Hopping on a Budget

Flights

Rental Cars/Transportation

Lodging

Food

Attractions/Entertainment

Other

Closing Thoughts

A Day on Lanai

Taking the Ferry from Lahaina to Lanai | Hiking Lanaihale from Sea to Summit | January 3, 2020

Lahaina Pali Trail

Hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail | Camping at Papalaua State Wayside Park | January 2, 2020

Hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail

Iao Valley / Waihe’e Ridge Trail

Visiting Iao Valley | Hiking Waihe’e Ridge Trail & Waihou Spring Trail | January 1, 2020

Hanomanioa Lighthouse / Haleakala Sunset

Return to Maui | Hiking the Hanomanioa Lighthouse/King’s Highway Trail | Last Sunset of 2019 on Haleakala | December 31, 2019

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Hiking the Nakoa Trail | March 2020

To be continued…

Flights

Rental Cars/Transportation

Lodging

Food

Attractions/Entertainment

Other

Closing Thoughts

Taking the Ferry from Lahaina to Lanai | Hiking Lanaihale from Sea to Summit | January 3, 2020

Hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail | Camping at Papalaua State Wayside Park | January 2, 2020

Hiking the Lahaina Pali Trail

Visiting Iao Valley | Hiking Waihe’e Ridge Trail & Waihou Spring Trail | January 1, 2020

Return to Maui | Hiking the Hanomanioa Lighthouse/King’s Highway Trail | Last Sunset of 2019 on Haleakala | December 31, 2019

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