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Hello!  Since the comment function was not working for Debby, I am giving her notes a separate entry -- we hope you feel inspired to create your own journey to Paradise:

Spring Break in Hawaii!

The weather:  At Kapalua it was cloudy and windy -- it seemed sunnier at Kaanapali beach.  Gorgeous scenery, though!

Travel:  All went very smoothly except for a flight delay leaving Kauai.  It was fun to get the fresh leis at the airport and the hotels!

Food:  The food was great!  Lots of fresh fruit.  On Maui, we particularly liked the Pineapple Grill in Kapalua.  We also ate at Mama's Fish House and the Banyan Tree at the Ritz.  All of the dinners were beautifully presented.  And also very expensive!  We had appetizers in the outdoor bar at the Ritz on our first afternoon.  It was great -- very tasty lemongrass chicken skewers and Maui lemonades.  We also had a good breakfast at the Kula Lodge after visiting the volcano at sunrise.  It overlooks a really pretty little garden that you can wander through after you eat.

Activities:  Both the Shore Trips whale-watching and snorkeling outings were great.  They went out on time, the people running them were friendly and fun, and we saw lots of wildlife.  We saw several groups of whales on the whale-watch tour, include a mother and baby.  On the snorkeling cruise, we went to a really nice spot with a cool reef and lots of fish.  We saw one sea turtle from the boat.  I had never snorkeled before, and the crew were really good about helping and encouraging me.  Turned out I got the hang of it, had a blast, and was the last one back on the boat!  On the way back we saw lots of dolphins, including Spinner Dolphins that jumped out of the water and put on a show!  It was a great day, with the weather warm and sunny, too.

Haleakala Volcano:  This was really cool, but also really COLD!  We were prepared for it to be cold, because we had been amply warned, but we didn't bring our hats, gloves, scarves and parkas!  Still -- seeing the sun come up over the volcano and the clouds was pretty neat.

Shopping:  We did some shopping in Lahaina, and spent a little time at Whaler's Village (Kaanapali).  There are some cute shops in both places, especially for jewelry in Lahaina.  We bought a couple of nice pieces.  Whaler's Village is a convenient place to park for doing things in Kaanapali.

Accomodations:  On Maui we stayed at the Ritz-Carlton.  This is the place Pleasant Holidays got us in when it was sold out!  It was really nice.  We had a great ocean-view room with a patio.  Loved the little extras --  amenities like free parking, free wi-fi, and free bottled water in the room.  On Kauai we stayed at the Grand Hyatt, also very nice, but there were a lot of kids.  We would go for a more quiet and romantic place the next time.  However, we were glad we chose a hotel at Poipu -- we just wish we had had another day for the beach and snorkeling!  One day, we saw an endangered Monk Seal on the beach, which was cool.  We kept hearing that we should be able to see the turtles, but we never did.  Both hotels were beautifully landscaped.

Don't have pictures ready yet -- but I'll send them along as soon as I can.  Love, Deb