Pirates Marathon

Last Thursday, my friend Omid and I went to a very special event - The Pirates Marathon at the El Capitan Theater. (Sarah didn't go because she couldn't sit through 8 hours of movies.)

For those of you not from CA, the El Capitan Theater is a place Disney owns right across the street from the Kodak Theater (where most big red carpet award shows are held) and the legendary Chinese Theater. Since Disney owns the place, you can expect a Disney experience at the movies. The whole theater was decked out with a pirate ship theme and they had costumes and props from the new movie.

Omid and I were lucky to snag tickets before most everyone else found out about the event. So, we got dead center, front row, balcony tickets. I think these are the best seats in the house as you have no other people in between you and the screen and its a great angle to watch a movie on the big screen.

We would watch all three movies back to back with about a 30 minute intermission between each where they would feed us in a special picnic area out back.

They did "giveaways" before each movie and the crowd was great. It is THE best way to watch a Pirates movie as the whole audience knows the backstory (with detail), will laugh at every joke (no matter how small), and will cheer for the big characters the first time they appear on screen.
We also had a few suprise guests.

Marty, the pirate from Captain Jack's crew.He had some funny scenes in the new movie, so it made it even more fun that he was there.

The Dog with the keys (which the new movie gives a new meaning to) and Mr. Cotton's parrot.

Admiral James Norrington, who appeared in all three movies. What happens to him in the third? You'll just have to watch.

But, the coolest guest was probably Naomi Harris. She places Tia Dalma, the voodoo witch lady who lives in the swamp in the second film (or the beginning of ride at Disneyland - either way you look at it). It was cool later because we realized she played a much bigger role (literally) in the third movie. It was also cool, because she looks soooo much different in real life from her makeup in the movies. But, it was the cool-est because she delivered her last line from Dead Man's Chest in character voice to the audience. "Would you be willing to sail to the end of the Eart' to fetch back witty Jack and 'im precious pearl . . ."

We had a blast - all 10 hours of it. The new pirates movie (that starts in Singapore) definitely left its mark on us.

ANIMAL PLANET

We left beautiful Hawaii to return to the nature preserve we call home. If you have been to our house, you know that we live at the bottom of a canyon where wildlife is abundant -- birds, rabbits, snakes and coyotes all live close by. In fact, on my walk the other day I saw 6 bunnies in the course of 40 minutes. However, living near nature is not always a blessing. Monday morning I was walking downstairs to the landing between the first and second floor where we have a huge window that looks out onto the canyon, and I saw movement right by the top of the retaining wall at the bottom of the canyon outside our front door. When I looked again, I saw it -- a coyote was eating a deer not 25 feet from our front door! It was the grossest thing ever because it was not on Animal Planet, it was right outside my door!! We called Animal Control, but didn't need them because the carcass has disappeared....

Also, apparently a snake and a cat got into a little tizzy right outside our front door while we were in Hawaii. Annie was at our house and she said that a cat was messing with a 3 foot snake and they took turns biting each other until they were bored and each went their own way.

Can't we just limit the nature around here to bunnies and birds?

Sunsets

We saw some pretty skies while we were on Maui. Here are a few sunset pics I snagged.

But here are my favorites

The Hike

We decided to take a guided hike through the "rainforest" on the north side of Maui. We would be guided to 4 or 5 waterfalls. We got up early (for being on vacation) and drove to Kahului to meet our shuttle van at 8am. Our guide's name was Kahi. Kahi means "eldest" as he is the eldest of 10 children and his wife is the oldest of 13. His family goes back 36 generations on Maui! the family owns about 3,000 acres of farm land up on the side of the mountain. He teaches elementary school and does the hikes on the side. But, you would have thought he had a PhD in Botany.

Kahi would stop at every other tree/plant to educate us. He would grab a leaf, pull up a root, pluck a fruit, or grab some flower and tell us to touch, smell, and eat all kinds of random things. We learned that just about every plant on Hawaii has some kind of medicinal use. And some are basically a doctors office with leaves.

The trees and plants were great, but the waterfalls were the best part.

This splash is me. I jumped off where the man up top is standing. It was about 25 feet.

This one was about 80 feet, so there is no way you could get me to jump off that one.

This is one of the falls of "Twin Falls".
This is the "other" falls of "Twin Falls". But as you can see, there is no water. It only becomes a waterfall in the rainy season.

Wailea Beach

Our hotel was next door to Wailea Beach. It probably has the softest sand of any beach we visited on the island. It wasn't crowded at all the first few days. Eventually a few more people arrived, but it never felt "crowded".

The Beach actually fronts the Grand Wailea. They don't take Marriott points, so it wasn't really an option for this trip.

When standing chest-deep in the water, you could look straight down and see your feet and the sand.

The Luau



Several sources said the best luau on Maui is the Old Lahaina Luau. Well, I went online and found out the whole month of May was booked already! So, I called and got on the waiting list. We were lucky enough to get a spot for Friday night.












The luau has lovely grounds and a very traditional feel.







They had a hawaiian band playing when we arrived and during dinner.












There were different people making traditional hawaiian crafts.





They cooked a pig in an Imu (ground oven), but it wasn't the same pork we ate that night :)

They had a large buffet with all kinds of crazy hawaiian foods. We sat at a table for 8 with some really nice folks.


I didn't get the greatest pics of the show, but here's an idea. Lots of scantily clad hawaiian dancing around. It was a very traditional show, without fancy fire twirling (although i REALLY wanted to see some fire twirling). We really enjoyed it.

We are in Hawaii!!!
We'll try to do a few posts while we're here.

Checking In

We changed our reservations only a few days before we were to arrive in Maui. We were originally booked to stay at the Rennaissance Wailea. It is going to be shut down for good in only 3 more months. But, the Marriott Wailea (almost right next door) is in the final stages of a $60 million renovation. So, the rooms are completely redone, the Mandara Spa is only 6 months old, and the fitness facility is completely remodeled. So, for the same amount of Marriott points we switched hotels . . . and boy are we glad we did!

First, we are right next to Wailea Beach, which is a wonderful beach!

Second, we can walk to the Shops at Wailea. Thanks to Seth Haye's suggestion, we are able to grab sandwiches from the deli at Whalers General Store and head straight out to the beach! We are also now addicted to Lappert's Ice Cream conveniently located at the shops as well.

Finally, we're not sure why there are so few people staying here right now. But, because the resort is not crowded and because I am a Gold Member with Marriott, we were upgraded to an Ocean Front Room. Which is 2 or 3 levels above our reservation value. Now, the hotel does not open onto the beach, but there are no obstructing buildings between our balcony and the ocean! Check it out.

Stay tuned for more updates.

It has a been a while since the last post, but we have been busy! We both finally returned from all our travels to jump right into Lectures week. We love that week because we get to connect with friends we do not get to see often. Most of our time was spent with the Spiveys, the Goldmans and we even got to see Kelli (Isaac) Duhaney for a short time, among others (Aunt Beverly and Uncle David included - how great is that!)! I am sure that Allen will have more to say about Lectures week when he gets around to adding to the post....

I want to blog about my fun time today at the Nordstrom Cosmetics Trend show! I go faithfully each spring and fall, but this spring was the first time I successfully coordinated the outing among friends! Seven of us woke up rather early for a Saturday morning and arrived at 8:00 am for the show. Each cosmetics counter has a time slot in the show where the lastest trends are presented with or without the use of a model and TONS of free samples are given for various products. Upon completion of the show, all 200 or so guests head down to the cosmetics area for more samples, gifts-with-purchase and make-overs. It is an all-around girly good time and I am so glad to ahve finally shared it with friends. I have the feeling that attendence may become a semi-annual event for us all now. ;)

We have also begun our countdown to Maui -- we leave on Thursday, so only 4 more days to go!