Maui

We decided to explore the Wailea area a bit more today so we stayed close to the "garage" for breakfast. We tried a place that the local raved about and it was just OK. I think it is just too hard to live up to the Gazebo. 

Jackson having breakfast friend rice AGAIN

Once we'd finished breakfast we headed to an area called "Big Beach." Sometimes they keep things simple around here and that's OK! :)

You just cannot get a feel for it in my little video, but the waves at this beach were no joke. When we arrive the lifeguards were warning folks against body boarding because the waves were just breaking too hard.

It looks calm, it was not

We had a body board with us from the Airbnb, but we took it out further and just used it as a flotation device. It was a ton of fun. We would go out and bounce in the waves until we got tired then we'd come in. At one point we were out (without the board) and saw a woman body boarding (against the lifeguard's wishes) get just absolutely destroyed by a wave. Instantly there was blood all over the beach and she was not moving. The lifeguards moved quickly to get her out of the water. Meanwhile, we are in the water. We had just started chatting with a local guy when this happened. He told us etiquette was to get out of the water so the lifeguards could focus just on the injured woman. Just then the undertow started picking up and getting back to shore became much harder. Now, I'd been working on my swimming skills but not enough not to panic a bit about the blood in the water (sharks!) and the force of the waves and everything else. The local guy was able to help me keep calm-ish and we got into shore without issue. Unfortunately our stuff had a front row seat to the lifeguards assisting this injured woman. I could not turn away.

The lifeguards assisting the injured woman

I cannot begin to explain how impressed we were with the lifeguards. They moved in so quickly and with such skill. The woman was unconscious with a broken nose and a broken shoulder at best. They feared a broken neck or back, too. We'll never know. Without those lifeguards, though, she was have almost certainly died in those waves. After that, I stayed on the beach. Jackson did not, of course, but he is a MUCH stronger swimmer than I am.

It started to rain so we left the beach. We started to just head back to the garage (Jackson insisted we call it that- ha!), but I wanted to continue exploring so we turned left and ventured down a small road.

We found a desolate beach

It turns out that we were going through an area that was used for the military's target practice. I, naturally, made Jackson get out of the car and snap some photos!

The earth's reaction to target practice

Yes, that is a warning sign about unexploded
ordinance in the area

We eventually finished our exploring of the target practice area and headed back to the garage to clean up. We had a gift card from my birthday to Outback Steakhouse so we went to the location near our place. You guys, it was delicious! We did not expect much from a chain here in Hawaii (sometimes they just cannot get the same ingredients here), but it was darned good! The fact that it was free (thanks, Dad and Diana) did not hurt! From there we headed back down to Wailea to catch sunset. Clearly sunsets are a very important part of the day here!

Cloudy sunset

Still awfully pretty

Back on the Coastal Trail!

It was a much cloudier night, but the sunset was still beautiful. We took a long walk along the trail again and just enjoyed it. This side of Maui is certainly worth seeing!