1st Day on Maui

Well, this is my 1st blog post ever so hopefully it's good.  I've started this blog to share my wonderings with others as well as to have notes that I can look back on.
Since Janel and I have moved to California we've taken a lot of trips but they have mostly been short weekend adventures or visits to family.  Therefore, we decided that it was time to take a trip that would be longer with just the two of us.  We had thought about South America but settled on Hawaii.  We honeymooned on the Big Island seven years ago and had been wanting to go back since then.  We're going to be here for nearly two weeks, spending time on both Maui and Kauai.
Today we flew from San Diego to Kahului (I'm still not sure how to say that word and noticed that the pilot and flight attendants on the plane always said we were going to Maui instead of trying to pronounce Kahului).  My friend Daren was nice enough to watch our cat while we're gone as well as take us to the airport this morning.
We arrived in Kahului around 1:15 pm and retrieved our luggage quickly and then proceded to spend over an hour waiting in line at the rental car place.  That's an hour of vacation we won't get back.
After getting the car (a minivan instead of the compact we reserved) we headed over to Northshore Hostel to check in but discovered that we couldn't check in until 5pm so we headed up the Iao Valley, which is nearby.  The guide book stated this valley was the site of a massacre of the Maui people by the Big Islanders in 1790.  The Iao Valley State Park is a small park that is not too far from Pu'u Kukul, the highest point on the west side of Maui, one of the wettest areas on earth.  It was a nice little park with some short paths and a water garden with taro growing in the pools.  The prominent feature is the Iao Needle, a short way up the valley from the park.  The map we have shows longer trails leading out of the park and up the canyon but we didn't pursue any of these since it was getting late.
From Iao we returned to the Hostel, checked in, and went to the grocery store to get some provisions.  Supper was simple and we are now relaxing, figuring out what the plan is for tomorrow.  I have posted more pictures from today here.