Nichols Family Maui Vacation!

Nichols Family Maui Vacation

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Up early due to the time difference of 5 hours. Today is beautiful! Much less humid. The sky and ocean are now much more vivid. We try the buffet at the poolside outdoor cafe for breakfast, and it's almost as good as the more upscale Swan restaurant. For those who haven't been to Hawaii, most establishments are somewhat or completely open air, since foul weather is a rarity. The only thing about dining outdoors is, you sometimes have to fend off hungry birds!

After swimming in the morning, Sarah went to the spa for a facial. Lunch at the poolside cafe, then a nap before getting picked up for horseback riding in the ranch van.

Being the furthest away, we got a tour of the western end of the island as we picked up other riders. Some of the resorts on this side of the island were exceptional, and we only saw the entrances. Once all the stops were made, we entered a mountainside pineapple field for a short drive to the horse ranch which was situated in the middle of a plantation. Although we were only a fraction of the way up the mountain, the view of the ocean and neighboring islands was spectacular. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a chance to stand around taking pictures of the view, but you can see it a little in the left picture below.

After a hurried briefing, we went to the stables for horse selection. All the horses are named for actors and actresses. With Sarah leading the group on "Cheryl Crowe" behind our guide, Danielle followed on "Antonio Banderas", then Rad on "Michelle Pfeiffer", and Paulette on "Claude van Damme".

We started off meandering through the pineapple fields with a pleasant cooling breeze and then into a gorge with much foliage very similar to a rain forest. In fact, the mountain gets 300 some inches of rain each year, while the coastal areas, on this side of the island, only get around 20 inches. Our guides showed us many different types of plant life, among them mango and wild coffee trees. The terrain in the gorge was quite arduous and the horses' ability to climb up and down it was impressive. They were working hard though, and became quite hot, as did we with very little breeze in the trees. Returning to the ranch, the horses were washed and cooled down while we were treated to fresh Hawaiian fruit and soft drinks.

On returning to the Hyatt, we decided an ocean swim would be a good way to cool us off. We enjoyed body surfing and splashing until Sarah and Rad were tumbled and cart wheeled by one of the bigger waves. We had had enough, and it was just as well since the sun was setting on the ocean, and we sat on the beach watching it and listening to music from the nearby luau. A wedding was also in progress and they took pictures near the beach with a beautiful sunset for a backdrop.

Then MORE swimming at the resort pool at dusk. (Did I mention we brought the kids?) Everyone was pretty wiped out from a long day, so it was room service for dinner and quickly to bed.

Go on to Day 3

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