Hawaii Surprise

Surprised? So was Toni’s mom Collen after Mike—the Admiral--Mclaren organized a Top Secret campaign to jet all the kids to Waikiki Beach in Oahu for their 30th anniversary dinner. And so, we found ourselves in one of the world’s most famed beaches reveling in the delight of a surprise. In the next 7 days there was plenty of sea, sky, and solitude as Colleen and Mike, Kata and Judson, and your very own Toni and Ben avoided Tsunami warnings, Humpback Whales, and sunburn.

The Surprise Dinner

Ladies and Gentlemen we present to you Mr. and Mrs. Mclaren at the courtyard of the Westin Moana Surfrider Hotel, the famed “First Lady of Hawaii”. Notice that giant tree in the background? Planted in 1904, the Banyan Tree now stands 150 feet wide.

Remembering the fallen at Pearl Harbor


The USS Arizona Memorial, located underwater, at Pearl Harbor marks the resting place of 1,177 sailors killed during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces. We were surprised to see oil (notice the shimmer on the waves) as we looked down to the Arizona a few feet below—a result from recent saltwater erosion to the oil tanks.

Ka'annapali Beach, Maui



After two days in Oahu we crossed the pond to the exotic Maui island where we made camp at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas. The resort was magnificent, but it was quite difficult to accomplish any relaxing as we witnessed over a hundred Humpback Whale sightings and more than a few breeches (pic from the web) during the week. The Humpbacks give birth in the warm and safe waters of Maui before migrating to Alaska to refill their blubber supply on over 2000 pounds of krill in a single day. Amazingly, we could hear the whales singing as we snorkeled in the ocean.

A Day of Adventure: Volcanos & Rainforests & Deserts Oh My!


Haleakalā National Park, Elevation 10,023


The Road to Hana


Wai’anapanapa State Park



South of the Volcano sits a barren church and desert-like topography

After swimming with sea turtles and attempting to make headway with our novels we were ready for an adventure, little did we know we would see the moon, the rainforest, and the desert in the same day. Our alarm woke us up at 3:00am for the race to see the sunrise on top of the king of Maui, the Haleakala Volcano. When we arrived the weather reports betrayed us as we could only see a hundred feet, but the barren moon-like rocks and 10,000 foot elevation kept us on our edge (for pic-perfect view see National Geographic photo). By 8am we arrived down mountain in the upcountry, filling our tummies and hearing fantastic stories from our waitress Cathy, who moonlights as a cattle and goat farmer. Next up was the legendary and treacherous road to Hana, where the Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was filmed. We lost count of the waterfalls just as we wondered whether there were more fruit stands than falls. We had a picnic lunch at the black sand beach of Wai’anapanapa State Park where Judson and Ben explored an ancient trail which snakes along the ocean past blowholes and sea arches. After passing through the end-of-the-world town of Hana we decided to brave the dirt road around the back side of the Island only to discover a desert like world where among other things Charles Lindbergh was buried, Cattle ranchers worked tirelessly and Goats roamed freely, GIs trained for D-Day back in 1944, and mysterious old churches sat dormant under the majestic slopes of Haleakala. As we drove back to the warm beaches of Ka’anapali we wondered if we had ever seen such cumulative beauty in one day.

Once Again, A Big Thanks to the anniversary couple for making this trip happen. –Ben and Toni