Dave and Jada's Maui Honeymoon Travellogue:

Day 6 - Wednesday August 9, 2000

                Welp, this was it.  We've been voted off the island, and we're leaving tomorrow morning.  But as Jimmy Buffett would say, it's been a lovely cruise.  Today was cloudy and sprinkly on the east side of the island where we are.  So we headed to the Iao valley where a battle was fought between the ruling chiefs of Hawaii and Maui.  The battle was so bloody that bodies actually clogged the river that carved the valley.  There was a very short paved trail up to see the Needle which was used as a lookout to the tribes on Maui against attackers.  The valley was prized because all the main staples of Maui life were found here: taro root which is used to make poi and guava.  There are other trails back through here, but the whole valley is considered sacred, so tourists aren't supposed to go very far, and trails are not maintained through the jungle.  Oh, and there is also a rock formation that looks like the left profile of JFK.  Why?  I don't know.  I didn't take a picture.

                After we left the valley, we headed to Lahaina again for lunch.  We went to a place called BJ's Chicago Pizzeria on suggestion from my friend Leah.  It was good.  We had the "Nooner" lunch special which was individual 6 inch pizzas.  They had good crust and big chunks of tomato, but they committed the same folly that most "Chicago-style" pizza places make: they just ignore the sauce.  People, the sauce is the most important part!  The restaurant was open towards the bay so we watched the boats and parasailers on the water.

                Then it was back home since Jada wasn't feeling well.  She managed to get a sunburn during the drive because the sun was out the whole time we were on the west side of the island...and we had the top down, of course...even when it did sprinkle a little bit.  It still astounds me the number of people that keep the tops up.  Why did they rent the convertible if they aren't going to put the top down?

                We napped and read through the afternoon as it continued to rain on and off for the rest of the day.  Then we fired up the hot tub for the sunset, and we were not disappointed.  Reluctantly, we started packing for tomorrow's departure.  We've been trying to figure out what we could do for careers if we were to move here.  Jada could keep teaching, but I think I would want to work on a cruise ship or one of the other adventure tours. 

                That wraps it up for our honeymoon.  We hope to come back some day since we pretty much ignored the other side of Haleakala where all the big resorts are.  All the really good beaches are over there.  D'ohwell, next time.