I'm sure you all feel very sorry for me. Probably even more-so if you know the reason why I can't take anymore vacation right now, is because I just went on vacation to Nuevo Vallarta two weeks ago. Boo-hoo.
Well, it worked out fine. I was able to get up at 4:45am to make my 5:00am call (9am MDT). It was one of the requirements for me to be able to "work from home" while I'm here.
E was kind enough to lend me her car, so I drove her to work (not more than a couple of miles away) and on my lunch hour, I ventured out to the city. I found my way to Kahului just fine and made a trip to Costco and Walmart to pick up some necessities that I either couldn't bring with me, or I happened to forget. The most important one being a monitor for work. So now I have a nice little setup in the living room, where I can take my 5am call without disturbing anyone.
And, more importantly - I found my way back home from Kahului.
"Home" - for the next couple of months is a town called Makawao that is in upcountry Maui. It's famous for it's Hawaiian cowboys, or paniolo, and I seem to be arriving just in time for the 4th of July weekend rodeo, which is supposed to be a big event.
Since I am working Colorado based hours, which put me on a 5am-2pm schedule, it's leaving my afternoons open for exploring. This evening we took a trip to a nearby town called Haiku, where we stopped at a Kombucha bar called Maui Kombucha. E's description of it did not sound good at all - "it can be bitter, but sometimes, it's ok'" - but I did tell myself now is the time to try new things, so I did. I picked a Jamaican Ginger concoction and it was fine for me. Of course, my first comment was "I could use this to make Moscow Mules" at which point our server, Joe, said he would join us for that.
About Kombucha: Mistakenly referred to as a mushroom, Kombucha is a Symbiotic Culture Of Beneficial Bacteria and Yeast, or a SCOBBY. When the culture, which resembles a gelatinous pancake, is placed in an infusion of tea and sugar and allowed to ferment, the result is a refreshing and rejuvenating beverage rich in probiotics, amino acids, enzymes, and B vitamins.
While we were there, we also ordered the Fusion Bowl, which was saffron quinoa, layered with cream of asparagus soup and local greens. Not bad, but not my fave. While I might have kombucha again, I probably wouldn't do a repeat on the Fusion Bowl.
Funny thing, I also noticed their "digital signage", which was created by displaying three word processing type documents side by side. It was super fancy (and when I say super fancy, I mean, not fancy at all). But I did notice that they updated it immediately, when they ran out of one flavor of Kombucha and had to update the Flavors of the Day.
Maui Kombucha
http://mauikombucha.com/
The evening continued as we took a scenic road trip from Haiku to Paia, stopping at my first beaches in Maui. Hookipa Beach, near Haiku is a local's favorite and is known for some of the best surfing waves. We also saw some roosters. Yeah, I said roosters. They're all over the place. And. They have no flipping idea when dawn is.
After we enjoyed our view and un-buried our toes from the sand, we drove back towards Makawao through Paia, stopping at a local grocery store called Mana. E likes to call it a hippy store, and it's totally fitting. My friends Nick, Tyler and Hana might have been impressed to know that I bought a vegan chocolate chip chocolate cookie and couldn't help but think of them. It was probably more delicious than the ones they brought me from Whole Foods in Denver, so that's saying something. Guess you'll have to visit Maui to be the judge of it...
It was a lot to take in for the first day, but I managed to get home and warm up some Totino's pizza rolls and share some of E's leftover "plate lunch" for dinner.
# of in-house Gecko sightings: 1
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