In 2009, my daughter, Karen, became a flight attendant for a small regional airline. Small as it was, though, it gave her flight benefits—not only for her, but for her parents, as well! That meant I would, finally, be able to see some of the places I'd longed to see…like Hawaii!

Each island in the Hawaiian Island archipelago is pretty much unto itself. Here in Arizona, if I want to visit, say, California or New Mexico, I can just drive there. But it's expensive and time-consuming to travel from one island to the next. Most visitors pick an island for a trip and explore that. So I researched, trying to find which island would be most suitable for me, a person who isn't wild about crowds and "touristy" things, and decided that Maui would come first.

One reason I chose Maui was that it was the only island I could find that had a camper rental company on it.

A Trip To Maui In Winter

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 2/27/2009		Page Views: 1,477
Hashtags: #Places #Photography #Maui #Hawaii #Camping
All about the day I flew on my first trip to Hawaii.
Estimated reading time: 12 minute(s) (2629 words)

Maui, like all of Hawaii, has two seasons: Summer and Winter. Winter, which runs from October to April, is when most of the rain falls. But it's not a solid rain like some places get; it tends to come down in sudden light showers. And so, when I had a chance to fly to Maui, said by many to be the prettiest of the Hawaiian islands, even though it was in winter, I took it.

The Hana Coast

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 2/28/2009		Page Views: 1,198
Hashtags: #Camping #Travel #Photography #Maui #Hawaii #Haleakala #Kipahulu
I spend a day driving and photographing along Maui's scenic Hana coast.
Estimated reading time: 7 minute(s) (1562 words)

Every turn—and there were many—revealed some new wonder: A waterfall, a gorge, a flowering tree, a breathtaking seascape. The top speed limit was 20 mph and in many places was 10 mph; rather than holding me up sometimes I went slower for safety. There weren't many cars on the road but the ones that were there seemed to belong to tourists who were also looking more at scenery than for other cars. Fortunately, there were a lot of turnouts but if there had been more, I'd have taken more pictures.

The Seven Sacred Pools of Hana and the Pi'ilani Highway

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 3/1/2009		Page Views: 1,436
Hashtags: #Places #Photography #Camping #Maui #Hawaii #Haleakala #Kipahulu
Continuing my journey around Maui's eastern half.
Estimated reading time: 9 minute(s) (2138 words)

As I had camped at the Haleakala National Park's Kipahulu campground on the Hana Coast, I of course had to visit the Seven Sacred Pools which is part of the park. There are, in fact, many more than seven pools; there are dozens of various sizes and in the summer are popular swimming spots. Because of the storm still raging atop the volcano, however, there was flash flood danger and so the pools were closed to swimmers. The trails leading to them were open, however, to photographers and non-swimming hikers.

Last Morning In Maui

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 3/2/2009		Page Views: 1,122
Hashtags: #Camping #Travel #Photography #Maui #Hawaii
I reluctantly spend my last day on Maui.
Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s) (1017 words)

I awoke in my camper on the beach, to the first blush of sky and the soft rush of waves lapping the shore…and a young man just outside the camper window. He wasn't looking in, but seem to be tugging something. I lifted myself up on one elbow and saw that he was pulling a sea kayak out of a trailer loaded up with them.