Operation Big Thunder: the Dole Whip Conspiracy COMPLETE

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hey there nemesis.

Haven't posted for a while due to work/life/work/sleep getting in the way.

Good to hear from you, Brian. Hope things calm down enough so you can enjoy the holidays.

On the Hawaii front, send me a message and I can give you a few tips on the Road to Hana and Maui. We're heading back again for spring break so I can provide some updated references after April 1st.

Sounds good to me!

Of course I could also provide some additional references on April 1st, but I wouldn't trust those.

It's not that I don't trust you, it's just...well, I don't trust you.

I will give 1 tip here, on the Road to Hana there are a couple of "must stops" that will add time to the day. When we did this last year we left Wailea at 7:30 am and got back at 7 pm. One of our favorites was the "parrot guy". He's fairly early in the drive but totally worth the stop. For $20 he takes your camera and poses the birds with you and does a full photo shoot. (see the back of our Christmas card for an example) Also the girls and I swam uder a few waterfalls, walked on the black sand beach and saw the grave of Charles Lindbergh. (yes, that Charles Lindbergh).

The picture was very cute! Swimming under waterfalls sounds pretty awesome, too.

Just wanted to stop by and wish you and the family a very Merry Christmas.

Thanks Kathy! Merry Christmas to you too!

 

[Wherem I Now]

I fell way behind on your updates here but have finally caught up. This was a GREAT trip report and as usual an interesting read with lots of fun built in.

Congratulations on pulling off the surprise. Reading about it here was fun and hearing the excitement in your voice as you talked about it on the Podcast was great!

Also, congratulations on your upcoming trip. That sounds like an awesome experience for you and the rest of your family. I'm excited for you and a bit envious as well (but mostly excited).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family and thanks for sharing your vacation memories with us!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I fell way behind on your updates here but have finally caught up. This was a GREAT trip report and as usual an interesting read with lots of fun built in.

Hey, Mike's back! Thanks for catching back up.

Congratulations on pulling off the surprise. Reading about it here was fun and hearing the excitement in your voice as you talked about it on the Podcast was great!

It really was a lot of fun. I'm glad we did it, because we'll always have that memory. Until I become senile.

Also, congratulations on your upcoming trip. That sounds like an awesome experience for you and the rest of your family. I'm excited for you and a bit envious as well (but mostly excited).

Thanks! A lof of things had to fall into place in order to pull it off, but I hope it will be worth it!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family and thanks for sharing your vacation memories with us!

Merry Christmas to you and thanks for reading!

 

[KatMark]

Happy New Year to you and your beautiful family.

 

[marvali]

Mark, Happy New Year to you and your family!!!

 

[summerw]

I've lurked all your trip reports. Love the reports, love the kids, although I'm partial to the Scotty's expressions. I did a lot of awwwwing over the part with Sarah in the water. I hope one day she reads it. I enjoy reading so much how you love your family.

I'm happy for you and your Hawaii trip, although I'll be sad there'll be no wdw trip report next year. I live in ca so I've been to Hawaii a few times, with family, for work etc. I'm glad you have family on Maui as it's the best island, IMHO, with the best beaches for families. I'm sure they'll take you on the plantation tour which i think you all would love. And i hope you consider surf lessons and pick where ahead of time to ensure the beach doesn't have copious underwater rocks and they have the styrofoam long boards. I am clumsy and even I managed to stand on that. Definitely Honolulu traffic is worthy of your fear. Have a great trip and I hope you and the fam had a great new year's.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Happy New Year to you and your beautiful family.

Happy New Year to you and yours, Kathy! I hope it's off to a great start.

Mark, Happy New Year to you and your family!!!

Happy New Year Marv! Hope you were able to have some quality time with your crew over the holidays.

I've lurked all your trip reports. Love the reports, love the kids, although I'm partial to the Scotty's expressions. I did a lot of awwwwing over the part with Sarah in the water. I hope one day she reads it. I enjoy reading so much how you love your family.

Let me say a belated and thanks for reading! I appreciate what you wrote. I love my wife and kids to pieces, and I just hope they know it and never doubt it.

Scotty is unique, isn't he? I can't believe some of the stuff he comes up with.

I'm happy for you and your Hawaii trip, although I'll be sad there'll be no wdw trip report next year. I live in ca so I've been to Hawaii a few times, with family, for work etc. I'm glad you have family on Maui as it's the best island, IMHO, with the best beaches for families. I'm sure they'll take you on the plantation tour which i think you all would love. And i hope you consider surf lessons and pick where ahead of time to ensure the beach doesn't have copious underwater rocks and they have the styrofoam long boards. I am clumsy and even I managed to stand on that. Definitely Honolulu traffic is worthy of your fear. Have a great trip and I hope you and the fam had a great new year's.

Thanks for the tips! I don't know if we'll be able to do too many "excursion"-type activities such as surfing lessons or boat tours or diving due to budgetary constraints. We're stretching just to be able to go. But we'll make our own fun!

 

[summerw]

Thanks for the tips! I don't know if we'll be able to do too many "excursion"-type activities such as surfing lessons or boat tours or diving due to budgetary constraints. We're stretching just to be able to go. But we'll make our own fun!

You can definitely rent snorkel gear, beginner's surfboards and paddle boards for cheap from local shops. We usually rent a cooler, a few chairs and a boggie board with the mask built in for the less experienced swimmers. Some even rent out beach towels. You could probably watch a surf video online and cover the basics.

 

[podsnel]

Great, great, great TR- I can't tell you how many times coffee blew out my nose (I think I may have a little issue.....) while I was reading...

Can't wait to read about your Hawaiian adventure!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

You can definitely rent snorkel gear, beginner's surfboards and paddle boards for cheap from local shops. We usually rent a cooler, a few chairs and a boggie board with the mask built in for the less experienced swimmers. Some even rent out beach towels. You could probably watch a surf video online and cover the basics.

I need to call my cousin and ask what kind of snorkeling/surfing gear she and her kids have on hand--maybe we can do this really cheaply!

If I do try surfing, I don't need to have anyone shoot video for the TR, right?

Great, great, great TR- I can't tell you how many times coffee blew out my nose (I think I may have a little issue.....) while I was reading...

Can't wait to read about your Hawaiian adventure!

Why, thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully you didn't mess up your monitor too much.

Your TR is helping me immensely with the Hawaii planning!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

For any of you interested in the Hawaii planning or planning your own trip there in the not-too-distant future, I got some travel guides for each island for Christmas. These were recommended to me by numerous people as the best ones to use:

http://www.hawaiirevealed.com/

So far, I'm really enjoying them and they seem to have great information both in the form of detailed maps and info about little-known secret attractions. I recommend them as well.

Between these guides and Trip Advisor reviews I'm starting to whittle down the lists of diners and dives to visit.

Not sure where to go for my 15th anniversary dinner with my wife on Maui yet, though. I guess that's a nice problem to have.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

If I do try surfing, I don't need to have anyone shoot video for the TR, right?

Ohhhhh yes you do!
We expect you to enshrine every wipeout and face plant that occurs.

Consider it a moral imperative.

Just slap a filter on the camera to cut down on the glare reflected from all that pastiness.

 

[afwdwfan]

Ohhhhh yes you do!
We expect you to enshrine every wipeout and face plant that occurs.

Consider it a moral imperative.

Just slap a filter on the camera to cut down on the glare reflected from all that pastiness.

Nah, let's be fair. We'll give him an afternoon to practice before he has to capture surfing activity for posterity. I'm sure even after a few hours of practice, it will still be highly entertaining, and he'll be so red that the pastiness won't be a problem.

 

[that's nice]

For any of you interested in the Hawaii planning or planning your own trip there in the not-too-distant future, I got some travel guides for each island for Christmas. These were recommended to me by numerous people as the best ones to use:

http://www.hawaiirevealed.com/

So far, I'm really enjoying them and they seem to have great information both in the form of detailed maps and info about little-known secret attractions. I recommend them as well.

Between these guides and Trip Advisor reviews I'm starting to whittle down the lists of diners and dives to visit.

Not sure where to go for my 15th anniversary dinner with my wife on Maui yet, though. I guess that's a nice problem to have.

I have the Maui revealed book... Granted we went in 2004 but I'm sure not much has changed since then. If you'd like to use it I can ship it to you.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Ohhhhh yes you do!
We expect you to enshrine every wipeout and face plant that occurs.

Consider it a moral imperative.

Just slap a filter on the camera to cut down on the glare reflected from all that pastiness.

The filter is a must! You guys might still need a welder's mask to protect yourselves from the glare.

Nah, let's be fair. We'll give him an afternoon to practice before he has to capture surfing activity for posterity. I'm sure even after a few hours of practice, it will still be highly entertaining, and he'll be so red that the pastiness won't be a problem.

I've wiped out enough just boogie-boarding that I don't even know if I want to experience it while trying to stand on the board. Many years ago I was riding waves at a beach on Maui near Hana. They started churning in the afternoon and getting higher, but that made for longer rides, so I kept at it. They started getting 5-6 feet high, which is a bit intimidating, but the rides were still really good. But then I finally caught a wave just slightly late. When you do that, you ride all the way to the top of it, while all of the water beneath you gets sucked back into the body of the wave. So you look down several feet beneath you and all you can see is sand...

That's not a good feeling.

Next thing you know, you're tumbling rear end-over-teakettle, your head/neck/back hurts, you have a mouthful of sand, and your family/friends are doubled over in laughter. This is called getting Maytagged.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I have the Maui revealed book... Granted we went in 2004 but I'm sure not much has changed since then. If you'd like to use it I can ship it to you.

Thanks Tim! I got the latest edition, so I should be good to go. Know any good places for a nice dinner with the missus?

 

[that's nice]

Thanks Tim! I got the latest edition, so I should be good to go. Know any good places for a nice dinner with the missus?

We stayed at the Grand Wailea for our honeymoon. If it is just going to be you and the wife check out Humuhumunukunukuapua (yes, that is the name). It is set over a little lagoon. You can pick your own pacific lobster that is swimming below you (I wanted to do that but it was $75b min 2.5lbs!!!) I got a filet and lobster tail for around $60. This meal will not be cheap but the experience was awesome and romantic.

Awarded twice, "Best Resort Restaurant;" and "Best Ambiance" by Maui NewsBest of Maui Readers Choice, 2009, 2010, 2011, respectively.

Awarded "Best Table for Two," and "Most Romantic Table" by ISLANDS magazine's "Best of the World's" editor's choice, 2009, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

I just checked out the menu and it doesn't seem out of line with an upscale meal.. and the lobster price went down to $58lb... THAT's A STEAL!!!!!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

if you are looking for a good local place that has decent priced burgers try mouse mcgillycuddys...we have eaten there for dinner...wed is a good night for that its a u call it burger for only 6.95 cant beat that price at all.

we have also eaten there for breakfast. i recommend the hearty hawaiiain breakfast...awesome and was full till dinner the fried rice that came with it was one of hte best i have had...even for breakfast.

best part it fronts to the ocean, can see it from most seats in the place...

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

We stayed at the Grand Wailea for our honeymoon. If it is just going to be you and the wife check out Humuhumunukunukuapua (yes, that is the name).

Gesundheit!

Wasn't that Steve Martin's character's name in The Man With Two Brains?

It is set over a little lagoon. You can pick your own pacific lobster that is swimming below you (I wanted to do that but it was $75b min 2.5lbs!!!) I got a filet and lobster tail for around $60. This meal will not be cheap but the experience was awesome and romantic.

Awarded twice, "Best Resort Restaurant;" and "Best Ambiance" by Maui NewsBest of Maui Readers Choice, 2009, 2010, 2011, respectively.

Awarded "Best Table for Two," and "Most Romantic Table" by ISLANDS magazine's "Best of the World's" editor's choice, 2009, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

I just checked out the menu and it doesn't seem out of line with an upscale meal.. and the lobster price went down to $58lb... THAT's A STEAL!!!!!

Sounds like a great spot! I'll have to work out whether it's in the budget or not. I know I have to make allowances for the fact that everything is expensive over there.

if you are looking for a good local place that has decent priced burgers try mouse mcgillycuddys...we have eaten there for dinner...wed is a good night for that its a u call it burger for only 6.95 cant beat that price at all.

we have also eaten there for breakfast. i recommend the hearty hawaiiain breakfast...awesome and was full till dinner the fried rice that came with it was one of hte best i have had...even for breakfast.

best part it fronts to the ocean, can see it from most seats in the place...

Thanks for the tip! I love the name right off the bat!

 

[middlepat]

If you're looking for upscale romantic, try Mama's Fish House.

Also Joe's is a great "nice" place for families. Also if you're a fan of classic rock, Joe uses to produce some of the biggest concerts in the late 70s early 80s and there are some cool memorabilia items there.