Beautiful Maui

We arrived in Maui on Sunday evening. The time difference between Hawaii and CST is 4 hours. It makes it confusing trying to contact Sam back in LA. As a result, we didn't get to "see" Maui till the next morning.

I was wide awake at 5 a.m. the next morning. Our first day was a day of exploring the area around the resort. On a walk along the beach I saw a Hawaiian cemetary, the Maui canoe club,

Hawaiian birds and the beautiful landscape.

Today (Monday) we sailed via a catamaran to watch whales. Maui is the wintering grounds for humpback whales. They spend 4-5 months here breeding and having babies before heading back to cooler waters. The whole time they are here they do not eat. We saw quite a few whales spouting or diving into the water. We were also able to hear their calls when the captain of the boat lowered a mic into the water.

Tomorrow I'm off on a waterfall/rainforest hike. Report to come....

Louisiana - Cane Bayou with Erhard & Herta

Kim and I had met Erhard & Herta in Washington DC a couple of months ago, and were taken by their adventurous spirit. They shipped their beautiful MAN RV from Germany earlier this year to fulfill a lifetime dream of visiting and traveling across the US. Thanks to the modern miracle of the Internet and email, we have been in touch with our new friends over the weeks, as we both made our way down the East Coast, through Florida, and eventually here to Louisiana.

As avid paddlers, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of showing them the beauty of our bayous and marsh. We met at Fountainbleau State Park earlier today, and spent a few hours exploring Cane Bayou, just east of the Park.

Erhard insisted on paddling my narrow & twitchy "Impulse", and after a few moments of uncertainty, mastered the craft like a professional!

Although the Bayou is still recovering from the ravages of Katrina, we were able to enjoy some of the beauty, helped along the way by egrets, herons and an occaisional hawk or osprey.

The day was delightful, cool temps and a crystal blue sky heped us celebrate the recovery of this precious State resource.