Misdirection

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the posts about the YOUNG quilt history, and I have more to share. However, I must tell you what's been happening in my life. I'm not home! In fact, while I'm in the US, I'm technically not on the continent!!

So where am I? I was "forced" to get out of the country and not tell a soul, not wanting to trust myself or anyone else. 

What happened was totally spontaneous, and I mean spontaneous. To clarify that a bit further, DH and I haven't been on a vacation together for YEARS—possibly 15 - 20 years. It's an experience! And we NEVER do anything spontaneous - at least not of this caliber. 

M has been bugging us for months that we fly to Vancouver to meet her new guy. I've met him once before and got to know him by following his IG. While we've had opportunities, it's a challenge to coordinate our schedules with their work schedules, and it just didn't happen. 

When they said they would be in Hawaii (I KNOW!!!) for vacation with his family, we thought -- why not!!! We've known for a while they would be here, but very recently one morning, we looked at each other and said WHY NOT? 

And so the lies and deception started. To make it even worse, we are babysitting Bear!! So after finding someone (she's a gem, to be sure) to look at the dogs and the house, we booked tickets and a condo and were off. 

We didn't tell her, and no one knew. The timing was perfect for me, as I was supposed to be at a quilt retreat this week, so my schedule was completely clear. DH was doing business on the West Coast, so it all came together. Although I'm sorry to miss the quilt retreat, this has been a blast!

From their posts, we knew where they were—be careful what you post!!!! So we knew we were close to them, but we were not 100% sure. 

We planned to lay low for the first day and then call and surprise them. 

We went to lunch and found this "Canada" place among the foot trucks. 

Canadian food truck

 The sign says it used to be Tim Horton's. We thought it was pretty funny and had a great lunch. Then we wandered through the market on our way to find something I can't remember now. 

Imagine our shock when we ran into M!!!! No flipping way!!!! I didn't see her, but she spoke to DH—"Dad?" I said. We had an appointment and had to leave, and left the poor child standing there shell-shocked! What could I do? SHE ruined our surprise!!!! 

We wanted them to be together! So DH and I regrouped and then called her later in the afternoon. The poor kid was so confused!!! No kidding—her parents would never vacation together, and what the heck would we be doing in Hawaii? And more importantly, who was looking after Bear? 

We also did NOT want to interfere with their plans, but we hoped to meet up with them several times over the next couple of days. But on OUR terms!!! 

We've since had dinner and got everything straightened away. OH MY GOSH—what are the flipping chances? 

But we're also here to have some vacation time. We're right on the beach (well across the street from the beach), and it's glorious. 

One of the Maui beaches

I haven't been in the water yet. We had booked a couple of excursions, and between those and some walking, I'm exhausted!! I need naps and lots of them. 

Yesterday we went whale-watching in a catamaran, which was a blast. The first hour was great, and I was surprised at how calm the ocean was in the catamaran. Then the wind came up in big gusts, and while there were much larger waves, the catamaran was still a smooth ride. 

Whale watching!

And yes -- we saw whales! Not a ton, but enough to keep us happy. I was just glad to be away from quilting!!!! I didn't even care if I saw a whale. I'm so excited to be on a break!!! The month of March nearly killed me!

There are loads of feral chickens around here. I'm a bit surprised, to say the least. Who knew there were feral chickens in Hawaii? 

Feral fowl prowl everywhere - even the restaurants

This morning, we were up super early (2 AM) to catch a bus that would take us to the top of the Haleakala Crater (at 10,003 feet). We were at 9,763 feet. It was cold and dark. The road was long and twisty, but the bus driver knew where he was going, and everything was good. 

I brought my down sweater and a jacket, and they supplied us with big fleece-lined ponchos. Again, the weather cooperated. The wind from the previous day was gone, and the temperature was decent. It was still cold as we waited for at least 30 minutes before anything started to happen. I look much colder than I was in this picture. 

Waiting for the sunrise in my fleece poncho

This was a photo I took when we first got to the top. My phone did pretty well in night mode when snapping this picture. 

The inside of Haleakala

About one hour before the sun came up, the sky started to change color, and it became pink; then we saw purple clouds, pink clouds, golden colors in the sky, and then yellow. Before we knew it, the sun was "burning" the edge of the clouds like a lit piece of paper. It was a spectacular sunrise. Someone said a Hawaiian chant to honor the sun. Then we were totally blinded by the sun as it was bright. I had brought my sunglasses, but still!!!

Sunrise on Haleakala Crater

There were many clouds below where we were standing, and it was very cool to watch the sky change over the course of that hour. It was well worth the trip. 

Then, we were bused to a restaurant, which used to be a sugar cane plantation, for a wonderful breakfast. The meals are so good and huge that we seem to eat once daily!! 

And it wouldn't be a vacation in a new state unless I get a souvenir from Geocaching! I found two geocaches close to the condo. 

My geocaching virtual souvenir

We have some crazy excursions planned for the next few days, and we hope to see M and Dillon again! They are busy, and so are we! But that's OK- seeing the look on her face was fun, and I felt so bad about leaving her there, but she messed up the plans! Poor M!!!! 

In hindsight, I have to say that that meeting was meant to happen because both of us had no plans to walk that way - it just happened. There is a reason for that - I don't know what, but there was a reason!!! 

So yes, we'll get to spend a bit more time with them before we all leave. But right now? I feel like I need a nap—yet again!! Good grief!!! It's not good to get up at 2 AM, even if that feels right by my time at home (there is a 6-hour time difference). That means I should be going to bed very early here! 

On that note, I'm out of here. I promise no more misdirection!!! 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!!