maybe the sun was closer than usual today

Its monday.. and im pretty sure its some sort of holiday. Well i've had a very productive month. Kirstin and Jamin came to visit for a couple of weeks, so we packed in as many activities as we could. I think im still recovering. We had a lot of good times. So I figured I'd try not to be so lazy and post some pictures from their visit.
As for post visit... not too bad either. Had the day off, so surfing, beaching, napping, and BBQ'ing cheesy dogs and steak at sunset on the beach with friends was the itinerary. Oh! and brooke and i got to try stand-up paddling today, which was really nice. So now i am home, a bit sun-burned, and feeling quite relaxed. Here's some pho-toes.

So here you see a rather poor photograph of some spinner dolphins that we got to meet on a boat ride. I took Kirstin and Jamin aboard the 'Pride of Maui' for a snorkel excursion.. and low and behold, a detour led us to a number of hump-backs and spinner dolphins. Which all came right up to our boat. We had a couple female whales and babies come check us out. I could literally have reached over the side and poked one in the eye if i were so inclined. It was pretty amazing. And we got to see some competition pods duke it out over a female. So all in all a very active sight-seeing day. Oh yeah, and we snorkeled some beautiful spots full of eels and turtles and octopus, etc. Unfortunately i left my camera behind this day so I didnt get any footage at all of the whales coming up to the boat. shame on me. Later on in the week we rented kayaks and went back to the area where we saw all these amazing creatures. After paddling out about a mile and a half, and singing to the whales, 5 massive adult humpbacks ascended right beside us and stuck around for a while to check us out. Nothing makes you feel tiny and vulnerable like sitting in the middle of the ocean in a little plastic floating banana next to a 50 ft behemoth that could fling you into outerspace with one flick of its equally large fins. Fortunately I had brought an underwater camera and captured it all on film.... UNfortunately.. the film didnt wind and the whole roll was exposed and ruined. Just my luck.

Here you see the lovely couple at 10,000 ft. at about 4:30 in the morning freezing. We went up to see the sunrise at Haleakela... only we got there a little earlier than planned. So after about 3 hours in the biting cold, we were ready to see the dang sun come up already. But we tried to stay in good spirits and make the best of it. Actually the stars were all still out and it was absolutely amazing. Shooting stars everywhere. Its a whole nother view at 10,000 ft. from sky to sea.

I believed this is a spooked Nene bird. Rare but occasionally spotted atop volcanoes early in the morning wearing about 20 layers of clothes.

The obligatory trip out to Hana. Actually it turned out to be a really nice day. The waves were huge at black sand beach, as you can see and we watched them pound the rocks below us until i started to feel my rock jiggling- then decided it was time to move.

Okay, this photo is one of my favorites. Not because of its breathtaking scenery or artistic composition by any means... (in fact im pretty sure it was just some crummy snap shot Jamin tried to take of his wife walking down the harbor) But closer examination will reveal what i think is a chunky kid falling over a canon. haha. It may help to click on the image to see it enlarged to appreciate it in full view.

Spooked Nene sighted near 7 sacred pools. Appears to be scaling a Banyan tree.

Chilly bath under a waterfall.

Sunrise...

Sunset.

Charming arent we? It was this trip that I discovered something that blows sliced bread out of the water... optical lenses in snorkel masks. Wow... how did I not think of that sooner? Like wearing big rubbery glasses under water. Which meant I could actually see everything. IMAGINE.

Well, there are lots more pictures, videos, and stories, but quite frankly... im pooped.
All-in-all, a great couple of weeks. We also got to have a couple bon fires on the beach at night, spent time at maui brewing co., and had some bbq's. Man.... i love it when people come to visit. :)