2012-5-28 PDX-HNL-OGG and Maui Hill Resort:

2012-5-28 PDX-HNL-OGG and Maui Hill Resort:

The day finally came and I was on my way to PDX.  My sister, Carolyn, picked me up and we headed back to Dallas, Oregon, for a couple days.  Then we spent the night before our Maui flight in a hotel by the airport.  On the 28th (Memorial Day), we were on our way bright and early (to me!) to catch our 10:30 flight to OGG.  Since Ken and I usually travel to Hawaii from STL all in one day with a couple stops and long layovers, this travel day seemed to go fairly quickly.  Only long part was the 2 1/2 hour layover in Honolulu.  Originally we were suppose to fly non-stop to Maui---one of the big reasons why we picked Maui over Kauai, but Hawaiian decided to eliminate that flight and keep an extra 8000 of my miles that I used to book the non-stop instead of a connector flight---I was not too happy about that, but Hawaiian didn't care!  The only good things about it were the views of Honolulu and Maui county as we flew over them.
 Not sure what part of Oahu this is, but there looks to be some great snorkeling there!

    This is Waikiki Beach.

 Diamond Head

 Olowalu on Maui, close to mile mark 14, on Hwy 30.  Great looking reef there, too!

 windmills on the north mountains of Maui.

 Finally arrived in OGG about 4pm (7pm Pacific Standard Time) and Carolyn headed off to get our rental car.  Carolyn had reserved it, so she got to be my chauffeur for the week.  I did bring a Garmin, which came in very handy!  Soon we were on our way from the airport.  First stop---Walmart---since it was on our way to the condo.
Check in at Maui Hill was a breeze.  It is in the more residential and "affordable" town of Kihei on the dry southern part of the island.  Even though I knew it wasn't too close to the ocean, we did get a bit of an ocean view.  Our 2 bedroom condo was very nice.  It even had an unlocked "owner's" closet with beach chairs, snorkel gear (although I brought my own), and other "toys".  It was also nice having air conditioners in the living room as well as each bedroom.  The kitchen was small, but adequate. 

pool by the office.  Love the sitting area under the big, flat topped tree!

View from our unit

I spent many mornings on the large lanai waiting for Carolyn to get up.

The large livingroom with an odd empty space behind the couch table.

 from the far end of the livingroom looking towards the dining room (entrance door to the right of the dining room), small kitchen all the way back, the bedrooms out of view to the left.

 the 2nd bedroom.

 master bedroom with en suite bathroom.

 Some views while walking around the resort.

 Usually I'm in Hawaii in Jan. or Feb., so it was a pleasant change seeing even more flowers and greenery---especially all the colorful fragrant plumeria.

 and all the flowering trees.

 and bushes

 and ground flowers

 The resort is large and has lots of beautifully landscaped areas and wide open lawn areas.

 We even used the bar b q pits by our unit one night.

 practice putting area.

 even shuffle board

 and a path that led down to Kihei Rd. by the ocean.

 more views along the border of the property.

 lots of bougainvillea, too. 

 and the Hawaiian State flower---the yellow Hibiscus.

 some beautiful plumeria next to our unit.

  I would definitely stay here again.