JUNE 8 -- We arrived at Kahalui Airport and there were no lines. We breezed through the agriculture inspection and security. Our plane was waiting for us. No getting around it, we are going home. :-(

Our flight was light (about 1/2 full -- this is a good time of year to go) so we could stretch out a little for the flight home. In five short hours our wheels touched down at PDX. From 87-degrees to 51-degrees...that's progress, huh? Then it was home to reflect on the week that was. Some simple things we'll miss:
The genuine people and characters that appeared on the show...


Great golfing - who cares what we shot. Just soak it in...
 

The abundance and rustle of the palm trees swaying in the trade winds...


The peace and serenity of warm nights at the Sheraton-Maui...


The local brew...can we get this here in PDX?


The occasional gecko greeting you -- this one on a plant outside our rooms...

The smell of the flowers...some whose shapes we've never seen before...


We could go on and on.  And we may, Monday from 4 to 7. Aloha for now. - M&D

JUNE 7 -- So while we were working hard on the island, here's what the wives were up to...

...They staked out a secluded stretch of beach just the other side of Black Rock. Very few people cared to look over the rock to see what was there, except the wives. Their own little paradise. One of the nicest things we enjoyed was the hospitality at our home base, the Sheraton-Maui. Everyone is so nice, making sure to greet guests with an "Aloha" and a smile, even if you were just coming back from a walk. And every night we were greeted in our rooms with this:

....The sheets were turned back, flowers on the pillows, and every night a different card with a piece of Maui or Sheraton trivia on it - each one relating to the islands and/or its people. Hospitality is alive and well here.
After the show yesterday most of us took off for a swim off Black Rock (the water is so WARM!) and then a lap around the lagoon pools of the Sheraton-Maui. Our show ended at 4pm every day so there was plenty of 'day' left for activities, but this was the first day we had nothing scheduled. So it was nice to hang with everyone and enjoy our own mini-luau -- and toast another fabulous day on Maui. Then reality hit. We saw this:

...Mike Oaks, our on-site engineer, packing up the equipment for the last time. It meant we really had to leave this paradise to come home. It won't be impossible to do, we miss our kids, and we will take many wonderful memories and experiences home with us. But we will miss this view from our "studio," that's for sure.

It's 5:22 and we get to see a Maui sunrise one more time. The birds are chirping, the hotel staff is setting up breakfast out on the patio, some joggers are beginning to make their way across the grounds. The sound of the surf is carrying up to our rooms a little louder than we remember the past few days -- it must be saying "Aloha Ahui Ho." (Goodbye, until we meet again.) -- M&D





JUNE 6 -- OMG! All of a sudden it's our last day from Hawaii! Noooo. After the show we took off with some of the GHA winners for the Rusty Harpoon sports bar to watch the NBA playoff game. Everyone there was rooting for the Lakers. Ugh. Glad to see they lost. (Guess you know who is writing today's entry). Ever seen those para-sails at the beach? Ever wondered what it looks like from up there? Wonder no longer, here it is...

Mark and Dave took a tandem ride (together at the same time) and Mark brought a camera. What a view! When we talked about a Great Hawaiian Adventure we weren't kidding! There are videos of the take-off and landing on the GHA page (click link above). We also have a video from OUR vantage point which we will post later on. It's incredible, you will really feel like you are taking off. We first have to clean up some of the audio as one of us was rather nervous about the flight and voiced his concern with a choice word or two...we'll let you guess who that is! LOL! So, after extending to 800 feet and being dipped in the warm waters of the Pacific, we were reeled in for a landing. That's the deck hand from UFO Para-sailing communicating instructions to us. We were supposed to land 'standing up.' Didn't turn out that way. There's a video of that, too, which we are posting.

We have tons more pictures than we can post and we'll get them all up on the website by weekend's end. CHECK OUT THE ADVENTURE CAM on the GHA page -- it's on during the broadcast. We have had it mostly pointed at US during the show, but yesterday we pointed it to the pool. If you have any requests as to where we should point it, EMAIL US! (the e-mail links are to the left).  FInally, late yesterday we had a few clouds roll in (just a few) -- but it made for an unbelievable sunset. People streamed to the beaches to capture it on film, was we did for you. 

It's 5:40am here now, no time for spell checker, we have to run...tee time. We'll post again tomorrow!  Aloha. -- M&D

JUNE 5 -- We've done so much in 3 days...it seems like two weeks ago we landed. Last night was the Royal Lahaina Hotel Luau, and the KEX contingent (Mark and Dave, the crew and the winners) received a royal welcome. Mark's got the shaka-bra thing down, Dave needs a little work.


Luau's are traditional Hawaiian celebrations, only this one added other Polynesian cultures, including real fire dancers from Samoa. This guy was called "The Chief."


This particular luau is considered one of the top luau's on the island. Once we post pix in our GHA photo gallery, you will see why. Earlier, during the show, Mark and Dave challenged each other to jump off of Black Rock, a hallowed lava jetty where the ancient Hawaiian warriors proved their worth. Legend said if you jumped, bad spirits would collect you and keep you under. If you were right and pure, you survived the jump. We are happy to report that both Mark and Dave are good and pure. These shots are from the video that our webmaster took to record this historic jump. Dave's on the left, Mark on the right. For the record, Dave took so long at the top of the cliff that someone almost pushed him! As for Mark he went in straight as an arrow -- the water is about 13 feet deep and he slammed into the bottom, hard. Not unlike his Zip Line landing. Thankfully it was just sand down there, not coral.
   

And what would our account of all this be without a sunset picture. This was last night's sunset at the luau, which happened to be right on the beach.

Today it's para-sailing. We'll take a microphone into the sky, if we can work it out. We'll at least have pix. Until 4 (to 7), Aloha! -- Mark & Dave

JUNE 4 -- Everyone is having trouble sleeping here. We are all up at 5am. Of course, we are on PDX time, at least our bodies are. Kills the nightlife, everyone tanks at 8pm! Yesterday we were on a walking tour of Kaanapali Beach with Thadd, a local historian. You'll hear more of him today. Here we are at a stop along the tour with winners of the Mark & Dave Great Hawaiian Adventure.


Last night it was a magic show at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel. Great magicians and illusionists. Here's one who made everything disappear from cards to tennis balls. Even up close he had us fooled.


The illusionist grabbed our own Adam Crowell (web guy) to help cut his assistant in half. Adam, ever the skeptic, couldn't figure it out.


Yesterday on the show we ALMOST had a Hillary concession. Mark thought she'd end it, but all she did was promote her web site. Now we are convinced she gets a check from Google Ads. We'll see what today brings. Oh, the sun is beginning to appear, the skies are clear, the birds are chirping, the air is calm...another day in paradise. And we have an early appointment.  18, in fact. Aloha. - M&D

JUNE 3 -- Reflections on a busy day.



Monday was ZIP LINE DAY. Maybe you heard us talk about it on the air, and you really should check out the pictures and video on our GHA page (click link above). Here's Dave gliding in for a landing. You can barely make out the launch platform in the background. Zip Line: now THE "must" thing-to-do on Maui.


Tip: There are two Maui Zip Line tours, Kaanapali and Haleakala. The Kaanapali Zip line tour is a better bargain because you get more lines, the lines are longer, and a view second to none. 


Hard to enjoy the view when you fear for your life. The tour was 4 hours long. Total Zip Time: About 3.5 minutes. But they were the most terrifying/exhilarating 3.5 minutes we've spent in a long time. If we thought Sunday was busy, Monday afternoon we were wondering if we bit off more than we can chew. Since the show ends at 4pm (local time in Hawaii) the temptation is to cram as much as we can into one day. So we excitedly added 9 holes of golf into the schedule after yesterday's show. We had two hours to complete 9 holes. Not an easy task at a big course like Kaanapali Kai. Here Dave was just getting ready to chip one on to the green and the giant Sugar Cane Train rumbles by. As he swung the train engineer blew the whistle. Dave almost fell over. The ball landed in the trap. I think the train engineer did it on purpose.

After finishing the 9 in record time we dashed back to join our listeners for a reception and prime viewing of the Sheraton-Maui's Cliff Diving Ceremony. Everyone appears to be having a good time, at least they were over cocktails at the Lagoon Bar. We are lucky to have to best listener's a show could ask for. A benefit of being "hate-free"?  Mark and Dave capped off the night with a dinner at KIMO'S with the patient wives. They will get their say on the show this week...if we have time!

Check out the Adventure Cam during the show today. It's a live feed from poolside. Looks like another beautiful day. As we type this it is 6AM. Here's the sunrise lighting up Lanai across the channel.

Aloha...for now. Mark & Dave

JUNE 2 -- We made it, we are here. It was impossible to post yesterday -- we never got to a computer until almost 2am Portland time. More on THAT during the show today. The flight was great. The Sheraton-Maui Resort is a gem, as evidenced by this view:

This was taken with the camera set on PANORAMIC. The pool area  just to the right of center is where we will be when we broadcast live from Maui. We aleady have a ton of pictures and will upload them ASAP. There are already so many we will have to post them in batches. Adam has the ADVENTURE CAM ready to go (so click the link above during the show). It's 5am here (8am in PDX -- who can sleep?) and we are getting ready to go on the Zip Lines. We'll have sound and pictures when we get back, shortly before air time. Okay, here's another one for now. You will enjoy this sunset photo of the 'cliff-diving ceremony' they have every night here at the Sheraton-Maui Resort. We'll explain what the legend is on the show later on, but boats from all around converge on this spot every evening at 6:45 for sunset at Black Rock.

Now it's off to the Zip Lines! Aloha. - M&D

May 31 -- The activities have begun and we haven't even left Portland yet. Seems Mike Oaks finagled his way on to an outrigger canoe at Kaanapali Beach. That's something WE wanted to do. "Too bad," said Oaks. "The races are only today - and you aren't here. So I filled in for you." That hurts. Here are some more cell phone shots.
   
To tell you the truth, we can't tell what the picture on the right is of...oh, we know it's part of the outrigger - and what else? (Surely, when M&D arrive we'll post REAL pix on the site using a REAL camera...but for now, this will do.) Mica was the leader of this expedition, so let's throw some love his way. Everyone had a blast. 24 hours from M&D's arrival. -- M&D

May 31 -- Here's the FLIGHT TRACKER. You can follow Mark and Dave to Hawaii after 10:00am Sunday. It's almost like you are on board.

FLIGHT TRACK MARK & DAVE

BTW, we tried switching our seats online so we could all sit together and messed up everything. Now we are scattered all about the plane. Great. Looks like a full flight.

May 31 -- Speaking of full, the activities itinerary has finally arrived.
Sunday: Arrive Sheraton-Maui, home of Mark & Dave, 4 to 7.
Sunday PM: Fireside Story Telling / Trip to Lahaina
Monday 6am: Zip Line w/Syyline Eco Adventures
Monday PM: Cocktails with winners and Cliff Dive Ceremony
Tuesday AM: History Tour
Tuesday PM: Kupanaha Magic/Dinner Show, Kaanapali Beach Hotel
Wednesday 6am: Golf
Wednesday PM: Luau w/listeners @ Royal Lahaina Hotel
Thursday AM: Parasailing at Dig me Beach, Whalers Village, Kaanapali
Thursday PM: Ulalena
Friday 6am: Golf
Friday PM: Dinner at Kaanapali
Saturday AM: Sleep in.

May 30 -- Two days to go. We will post daily, more often if we can. The links below the M&D GHA logo will take you to the page where you can look in on us during the broadcast and check out pictures and videos of the trip. The Cult Communique went out today inviting people to track our flight on Sunday. Mike Oaks, our engineer is already on site and, as we drove home through the slog of the evening commute on Thursday, sent us these pictures he took with his cell phone.

   

Pretty mean, huh?  We'll talk to him this afternoon about that. The pictures above are (left) the island of Lanai from the highway to Lahaina, (center) Kaanapali Beach looking south, and (right) Black Rock at the Sheraton-Maui. -- M&D

May 28 --  So you think our weather HERE has been strange? We are days away from the Great Hawaiian Adventure! We'll post a schedule of our activities shortly. In the meantime, Mark and Dave and the support staff are wondering "What is the weather going to be like?" well, here was some disconcerting news. It was SNOWING on Maui yesterday (Tuesday). Yep. At the top of Haleakala volcano at 10,000-feet....snow. It was closed to visitors. Here's a photo of the summit...

Not to worry. This system will pass (it's headed for the mainland) and the forecast for our first three days is as follows:

Leeward West Maui-

SUNDAY --Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs 78 to 85. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

MONDAY -- Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs 78 to 85. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

TUESDAY -- Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs 78 to 85. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

We can live with that....more soon.

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