Aloha

Greetings from Maui! It’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to update this blog. This week I’ll share some pictures and notes from a trip to Maui. I’m in Hawaii for an event at the Ritz, but staying at the Hyatt which is preferred. We have 100% of the Ritz this week and it’s nice to be separated from the crowd.

Driving from the airport to the Hyatt, I was surprised as to how dry the island was. I know it’s volcanic, but my last experience on a tropical island (Mauritius) was so lush and green in comparison.

The hotel is beautiful – African penguins and swans in the lobby. The room is huge and a balcony that overlooks the ocean.

Saturday I had a 2 AM wake up call and joined a tour of Haleakala crater where we watched the sunrise. It was 30 degrees, no wind, but glad I brought lots of layers! We could see Oahu, the big island, Lanai, Molokai islands. Visited “science city” where all the solar telescopes are including one that’s 14 stories. This location is the fourth best viewing position in the world and the largest telescope can track an object the size of a basketball more than 20k miles away. We’ve also seen several silver swords – a plant that only exists on Haleakala. If you touch the plant, it dies, but otherwise has life expectancy of 70 years.

We saw these mini craters inside a large crater – looked like a movie set. Definitely the coolest landscape I’ve seen so far. The tour concluded at a nearby golf course for breakfast (after being awake for 7+ hours!)

Spent the afternoon working with some colleagues but the time flew by thanks to our view (see below.) One of my drivers today was a Celtics fan and couldn’t get over the fact that we watch games at night versus it being an afternoon social activity. He’s used to watching sports at 2pm! My driver was also excited to talk with me about Victorino from the Sox – I can’t escape Boston sports!

Hotel room view