Maui, Hawaii — Courtney Haas

Jul 8

Jul 8 Maui, Hawaii

Growing up I always said I would some day live in Hawaii. Now keep in mind this is coming from a child that had never been to Hawaii; didn’t really even know that there were multiple islands and was basing it completely on the fact that she loved going to the family beach house on weekends when her father didn’t want to read the mission story for Sabbath school.

Looking back though, this makes sense even today. I still love the beach. The combination of salty air, rushing waves and warm sand beneath my feet all makes for a completely settled and content me.

Today I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Hawaii twice. First in 2014 when I went to Kauai with Ryan’s family for spring break. And secondly this year, when Ryan and I finally saved up enough time off from work that we were going to go and spend a week of pure relaxation with his parents in Maui.

Needless to say Hawaii has yet to disappoint. The simplicity of island life has a way of making everyone your friend. The cares disappear, agendas don’t exist and even the days seem to go slower as if begging you to stop and enjoy the sun rising and setting.

Since we were there for a week of bumming, I won’t bore you with all the details because there really were a few days when we didn’t do anything at all besides lay on the beach. But that is part of the beauty of vacation right?

So here are a few of the highlights for me. The first full day on the island we went snorkeling. A seemingly small feat to most people reading this, but for me it was a first. It was the first time for me to see a new world I had only dreamt about.

I love the Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo, so let’s be real, this was freaking incredible. Every little fish that swam in front of me caused me to squeal excitedly through my snorkel to get Ryan’s attention as he guided me gently along the coral reefs. According to him we didn’t see anything too extraordinary, but to me, to my naïve little eyes, it was brilliant.

One of the other highlights for me came in the form of a paddleboard. While I’ve never Stand Up Paddle-boarded (SUP) in the ocean before I’ve been several times on lakes. Same thing, right? Not exactly, but same principal so that’s a good starting point. It was our last day and after multiple failed attempts at accomplishing one of my few goals, see a sea turtle in the ocean, I had pretty much come to terms with going home without meeting any little squirts.

Then it happened. Ryan and I were heading in to the beach from paddle boarding and he advised me to go first and he would follow after to make sure that I didn’t have any problems getting the board into shore. As I paddled my tired little arms towards beach I heard him call out behind me, “Turtle! Quick Court, turn around and come back this way.” I dutifully followed orders and pushed through the exhaustion of trying to make my strokes deeper and longer as I attempted to propel myself faster through the water. It didn’t make too much difference, but I should definitely get an A for effort.

After pulling up beside Ry, he informed me the turtle had been right where I was. Sadly he was no longer there. We waited a few minutes hoping that he might resurface but finally we decided to give up, this time with Ryan taking the lead to go into the shore.

That’s when I saw it. A huge, adorable turtlehead popped up in front of me. I don’t want to make it sound like I lost my cool…. but that is what happened. I excitedly rushed forward to intercept the turtle and I watched as he gracefully dove beneath me into the clear blue sea.

The satisfaction that I felt while staring into the ocean watching something so old and beautiful moving gracefully through the water was amazing. My trip was complete. And my desire to live in Hawaii was once again reaffirmed.

While not today or even in the foreseeable future, there is always the hope, dream and desire that someday, I will live in Hawaii. Until then I’ll settle for delightful family vacations filled with adventures, tons of firsts for me and way too much gelato and pineapple.

Aloha.