Whale Watching, Now with MORE Whales

At the end of December, I went on a whale watch and wrote about how whales are hard to photograph.     Being wild animals and all, they are definitely not interesting in posing.    And it's hard to pose anyway when you have to swim to stay alive.       

February is peak whale season.  The 22nd was the Great Whale Count.  1,311 whales were counted by volunteers all over Maui.     Over the weekend I went out with some friends on a Pacific Whale Foundation whale watching cruise.

Whales everywhere!    

Mom whales.   Calf whales.  Primary escort whales.   Competition pod whales (these are the guys who are fighting with each other and the primary escort to win the girl).   

If you are in Hawaii right now, you should be out on a whale watch.    Unless it's dark.   Then you should be planning yours. 

Or drinking a Mai Tai.   

World Whale Day 2014

Yet another celebration I can get behind:  World Whale Day.

Yesterday there was a big festival in Kihei, including the 34th annual Parade of Whales.     This was my first time attending a parade here in Maui.     Who doesn't love a parade?   Especially one celebrating our special winter visitors, the humpback whales.

Next week, I'm going on a Pacific Whale Foundation whale watch.    The whales have really been out to play the past month and I've been able to watch them from the beach, but I'm excited to be out in the water again and see them up close.

Have you been to any festivals recently?     If you were going to create a celebration for your favorite animal, what would it be?

Whales Are My Reward (don't hate, relocate)

I am three months and two days into this new adventure that I creativity call Life in Maui.  

No doubt I picked a good year to get promoted and move to a tropical island. 

 

Because winter.

 

I've experienced winter every year of my life.    There has been snow.   There has been ice.   There have been days I wished I could stay in bed.    

 

Note:  if you want snow days, the hospitality industry is NOT for you.   

 

But this winter seems to be super special.   Family and friends in Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois are all sharing the same story.   This winter is cold and sucky.   

 

My sister sent me the weather forecast for this evening back in Colorado.   -13 with a "RealFeel" of -12.    At this point, the "RealFeel" is damn cold.   

 

Who is excited for this?

Last week our paychecks were slow in arriving to Maui because of the snow in Atlanta.  

Which prompted this ice breaker question in one of my training classes.

 

I'm still caught in the wonder of living here.    And there will still be wonder even when the polarvotexpocolypse is over and it's spring on the mainland.    Tonight on the way home I decided to stop at one of the beach parks to watch the sunset.    I was woefully over dressed.   I had on pants.  Structured Pants.   And shoes instead of slippers (aka flip flops).  

 

 

This was my reward.

Hello sunset - good to see you

Some days it's like the Discovery Channel or Nat Geo should be here filming.    While I was waiting on the beach for the sunset, a whale came out to play.    Waving his fins.  Breaching.   

Right here.   On a Wednesday after work. 

Whales. 

That speck coming out of the ocean in this picture is a humpback whale.  

 

A big move can be stressful and crazy.  
The fun of learning, exploring and enjoying your new home is the reward.

Iao Valley, Maui

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

Tomorrow is the day.    The state of Colorado has been going crazy.   Everything and everyone is #unitedinorange.    I'm now two for two - moving away the year that my home team goes to the Super Bowl.     That other team being the Indianapolis Colts.   I saw a Broncos flag flying proudly when I was running errands today.   But mostly I've been seeing the excitement in my Facebook newsfeed.

 

Last Saturday I went to Iao Valley State Monument.   It was beautiful, lush and green and to be focused on something that was not the ocean was a change (island life problems, you know).     If you are a Hawaii resident, parking is free (yay me!).      There aren't a lot of hiking trails, but you can wander and explore more than just the stairs up to the view point.     

 

Just another day in paradise.

 

(Go Broncos!)