Tag: covid reflections.

Maui 2021

Day five

Krystal got up early and walked a mile down the street for takeout breakfast for my birthday. Eggs, bacon, potatoes and muffin😋 this time I got to eat all my bacon lol.

She finally finished up packing🙄and dragged her bag down the stairs.

I guess down was much easier than up🤣.

We headed for the airport side of the island to ease my fears of Krystal missing her flight lol. Drove over to Kanaha Beach. It was raining so there was hardly anyone there. We walked down the beach. Krystal had a hunch we would see something and she was right. There were turtles up on the beach. We kept our distance and didn’t bother them but it was funny. They would slowly open an eye and take a look at us. I could have sat and watched them forever.

Stopped at Goodwill and then Ululani’s for Krystal’s last shave ice. Lol. I think we ate it every day we were here.

Rain started coming down hard. Dropped Krystal off at the airport. Sad to see her go. It was a good trip.

Killed some time with shopping. I know, torture, right?

Checked into my hotel. Staying on Kaanapali Beach. I’m on the sixth floor and I have a beautiful view of the ocean. You can hear the surf crash onto the beach. It’s super loud.

Kris called ahead and had a big bouquet of flowers, Lei and a bottle of champagne waiting for me in my room for my birthday! I was so surprised. There was also a note to see the concierge desk for another surprise. I’ll have to go by there in the morning.

Walked down to Black Rock beach. There are a bunch of huge volcanic rocks that you can climb up and jump off of. Ummm, not going to attempt that. If I don’t tumble off from the climb I’m not sure if I would jump off. My only fear, unrestrained heights lol.

Maui 2021

Day four

Woke up early today. 6am. Hiking at Iao Valley State Monument. Krystal read about a secret hike so we are going to check it out. Got there early, 8:15am. And it is cold lol. I should have brought a jacket. The attendant asked if we were locals. Does it count if we look like locals? I think you get a discount if you are. It was $10 to park.

We walked the cement path up to the top. It was a pretty easy hike and I’m not cold anymore lol. Then came Krystal’s “secret” hike. A very well worn trail if you jumped the fence. So we did. We hiked along the side of the mountain until Krystal decided we should turn around. I think she was afraid I would fall off and it would be her fault. That’s fine. The bugs were starting to feast on me lol.

We took all the other trails down by the creek. Krystal wanted to jump into one of the pools but a guy already beat us there. He was layi g at the bottom, flat like he was dead. Oh well. That water was freezing. We were there about an hour and a half.

I read this thing that said that it was bad, even disrespectful to stack rocks anywhere on the islands. I suppose it means different things for different people but I took care of a couple of them. Krystal was horrified lol.

Drove towards Lahaina. Stopped at an outdoor craft market. They took your temperature on the way in. I was surprised mine was normal. I felt like it should have read at least 100 degrees lol.

Went down to the Banyan Tree. Shopped along the waterfront. Found Ululani’s Shave Ice. Delicious 😋 best yet.

Went looking for a good body boarding beach. When I pulled up, Krystal said to stop, don’t go too far into the sand….but I pulled up a little farther. We looked up and down the beach. No one was in the water. Hmmm. That’s suspect. We decided to leave. Ummm, I put into reverse and dug a hole with the back wheels. I looked at the control panel. Omg. It’s not four wheel drive! I tried to go forward and then backwards but nothing. Dug my hole a little deeper.

Just when I thought I would be stranded there forever a guy pulled over and asked if we needed help. Pretty sure he saw Krystal standing in back of the car, her big hair blowing in the wind😂🤣😂.

He was super nice. At first we tried to dig it out and put flat rocks behind the tires but it wouldn’t budge. So, he hooked a strap from his van to the Jeep, gave us a tug and we were free!

We tried to give him money but he wouldn’t take it. Said it was the aloha spirit😊 he was probably thinking, ” stupid tourists” lol. That is the last time I don’t check to see if I have a 4×4.

Traveled a bit down the road and found another beach. This time I backed in. Plus it was gravel not sand🤙🏾

We were getting ready to bodyboard and saw this rainbow raising up from the hills. I’m sure there was a pot of gold over there.

Rode some awesome waves. Even Krystal rode them. We thought we were taking video but were pushing the wrong button…so no proof she did it lol. Sorry Krystal.

Krystal found this warning on a map after we got back. 🤣🤣🤣

Walked down to the beach for Krystal’s last sunset.

Maui

Packing.

Yes. I started packing three months ago. As per my personality I now am wondering if I could just do carry-on. I’ve always wanted to jet down the breezeway with one tiny bag and a backpack. The question is, do I take with me what I will need or just the essentials and purchase the rest while I’m there. There are advantages to doing just carry-on during this pandemic. Noone else is touching your bag, you don’t have to stand around with all the other travelers waiting for your bags to make an appearance and there’s not as much concern with bag weight.

One carry-on bag plus a large backpack?

What do I truly need that cant be in my bag or takes up space?

1. a knife or some kind of protection to carry with me.

2. Towels

3. Blanket

4. Pillow

5. Gluten free food

6. Body boarding fins that I’m not allergic to.

I had packed everything in the big checked bag three months ago. Then I switched to the small carry-on and then to the medium checked bag. I was able to fit all my stuff in the smaller bag but it didn’t leave room for anything I wanted to bring back. I would have to mail my dirty clothes back or purchase a bigger bag while over there to make it home. So, which did I choose? After three days of contemplation, analyzing, list checking, sleepless nights of packing and repacking I packed the medium checked bag along with my backpack and told myself to go put it out in the truck so I don’t repeat my crazy 😂 so that is what I ended with. I hope I don’t regret it.

With that said, Krystal just started packing the night before the flight. Two hours before bedtime lol. I’m not sure we’re related.

Thirtydays

No candy or chocolate 😁

Well, it’s been one week now with no candy or chocolate. I’m not going to lie. I had THE worst headache all last week. This may have also been due to the fact that my doc said to cut back on the caffeine……so no Mt. Dew lol or coffee.

I went through all of my cupboards last night. Really I was just looking to throw out all of the expired food but I stumbled upon the motherload lol.

So, what did I do with it? Well, I took it to work of course and put a sticky note on it, ” free to good home” 😂🤣😝 it was either that or throw it in the garbage can but I didn’t trust myself not to go dumpster diving. Hahaha.

As to how I’m feeling. Pretty good. I think the whole withdrawal symptoms are gone. I’ve been drinking a green drink every day. These aren’t all fancy, just orange juice or coconut water, frozen power greens, flax seed and peanut butter powder. They don’t taste all that bad. My body is probably going to go into shock though lol.

Thirtydays

One and done😁

Well, I did it! 30 days and no online shopping. This was easier than I thought it would be but I don’t think I could do it for a whole year. I guess the big question is what did I learn from this? That I shop a lot. LOL. Online. I buy stuff that I don’t need or that maybe I could find locally. I do have a confession to make. Through out the month I did look at stuff online. I put things in my online cart. I just didn’t purchase anything. I contemplated. I researched. I deleted. I added it back in. The thirty days gave me the time to decide whether I really needed it or just wanted it. In the end there were a few things that I did purchase. Things that I will need for the foxpartyofone vacation I’m planning next month. Stay tuned for that blog update🌴😎🏄‍♀️

Today starts the next thirtydays.. I’m thinking since I need to get in shape for next month, no candy or chocolate for February. 😲 and if you know me you know my sugar is my weakness. So fingers crossed🤞

Day 14

It’s been two weeks and I haven’t purchased anything online😁. When I look back at it, I feel like this thirty day thing is more about a breakup with Amazon and social media advertising than it is online shopping in general. There are things I need that I can only get online. Like contacts and cat litter pads. So I guess I can’t completely stop shopping over the internet. I think my original wish was just to stop impulse buying. I think one of the major contributing factors to that has been the pandemic. Originally, when we had the stay at home order I spent a lot of my free time surfing the internet. Mainly for those squirrel moments. Lol. Ideas that came to me that would have been forgotten in real time but not in Covid time. Covid time made it too easy to buy stuff with the click of a finger. Instead of getting out of bed, taking a shower, getting dressed, driving to the store and taking the chance that they had the item you are looking for. Thirty days has made me step back and analyze whether I need it or want it.

Thirtydays

Well, it’s 2021. I survived 2020 and I’ve been thinking about my New Years’ resolution. Yeah, the one I never keep. I guess a whole year is way too long for me to keep a promise to myself. I think I am going to try it thirty days at a time. Four weeks. One month. It’s not that long. I think I can do this.

I compiled a list of twelve things that I would like to improve upon. Twelve things that I should or should not do. There are the standard resolutions in there and then some off the wall. With that being said, my first pick is a tough one. No online shopping for January 😲. I feel like with the pandemic and Covid I got into the habit of buying stuff online. Which doesn’t really help the local economy. Not anything I really needed. Just stuff. Garbage I could do without. Things that caused clutter. So, day one. No Amazon or any other websites that Facebook and Instagram think I need to see. Which is a whole other problem in itself that I won’t get into right now. Wish me luck😊