Off the Wall in Maui: To Mr. Tater

Pat found the gold...

ALOHA! phinally our internet is working and Pat's computer is letting me upload photos!!!! ahhhh! i am SO excited this is working ( i better not jinx it before i finish!) Well the past few weeks have been pretty laid back. Patrick went hiking the crater of Haleakala ("house of the sun") for 4 days. Haleakala is the volcano that created the island of Maui. You can read all about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haleakal%C4%81 There are a ton of pics from his adventure, so enjoy!! use them for your background! ha...some of them are the most amazing landscapes i've ever seen! i cannot wait to go and see it for myself! Supposedly, on the first side of the hike it is like you are on Mars-so dry and the terrain is all rocks and dust. The second half is very lush and green with a lot of beautiful plants and trees. I got Pat to help me caption his hiking photos so you will know exactly what each picture is!
It is going good so far! we love where we live-it is a central spot in Kihei with a lot to do right outside our front door. We also found a truck! We call it the beast-and it truly is...a beast. But nonetheless it is amazing to have transportation. It is a stick shift and i have tried to drive one once and almost ran into a ditch! so i don't see myself learning very soon! Pat is my chauffeur for now! ha. I have been working a lot the past few weeks because our company has been so busy doing shows-like the Maui County Fair that just passed! They have a fair set up on Oahu year round and once a year they bring all the equipment over to Maui for the Maui County Fair. It was a lot like the Jackson Fair-as it had plenty of rigged games, good food and desserts, and enough rides to satisfy you! We rode the swings, the zipper, and the pirate ship! It was a lot of fun! I felt like i was back at the fair on a school night in junior high! it was grrrrreat! ...even though Pat didn't win me a gigantic unicorn. (sigh...)

I think that is all for now! i promise i will try to update sooner and more often! My computer died for good and Patrick's computer does really weird things and is quite temperamental,so it is hard to get it to do what we want, when we want. I hope this post has enough pics for everyone because it has A LOT! enjoy! we love you all and miss you dearly! Feel free to write us an e mail or send us a letter! our address is:

Crews and Thiel Residence
106 A Alahele Place (MAKE SURE YOU PUT THE A)
Kihei, HI 96753

Oh, and Mike and everyone else out there...have phun phishing, brah!! keep us posted!!

hanging out at Three's-Steve, Pat, Ley, and myself.

First look at Haleakala

Pat remembering Mr. Tater-we miss you! everyone can watch the documentary Patrick made about him here http://vimeo.com/12082050

the beginning of Sliding Sands trail - about 8 miles from the first cabin.

Pat and Adam in the beginning of the hike

first stop-Holua.

Mars.

center of the crater.

first cabin

NeNe (pronounced nay nay)

lava tube

heading towards Paliku

second cabin...Paliku!! finally- 8 miles from first cabin

rainbow!

crater critters-Brent, Alex, Derek, Adam, Pat

full moon mid day.

view from Paliku

the moon pie guy.

halfway up the V gap to the very top of the crater

tip top of the crater

the point...coolest spot of entire trip.

above the clouds.

view from the point-big island in the distance

made it to the Kaupo store-unfortunately, no cold beer!

the end of the hike

this is what he looks like when i go to work every morning-all snuggled up to my blankie!!!

alohaaaa! Ley, Christine, myself, and Shaunte (and Pat)

at Diamond's with Shaunte and Pat

my toes in the water...butt in the sand...not a worry in the world, a cold brewski in my hand-life is good today!

big beach.

big beach.

the shore break! insane! look how clear the water is though!

My frist taste of a cigar-nasty!-i don't get the obsession

thats the shore break behind pat-it was probably 10 feet high-so scary crazy

Sno cone! with ice cream at the bottom! Sharks blood! so goooood!

808 clothing! my job!

driving to walmart-the most amazing sunset over the mountains-you can see the clouds break up the scene

our pronto pups at the fair! a little taste of home!

we got our tix!!

on the swings!

ley and pat riding the zipper

patrick's family-his wife, shaunte and their lil hawaiian baby

could have been a good one-on the pirate ship!

ever seen a fair with palm trees??

Katherine, me, and Christine-Toga party for Katherine's birthday!!

believe it or not this is our landlord!! haaa

Patrick, Ley, and Adam

at the Toga Party-this guy by us is a local, but he went to Tulane...how crazy! small world!

Keawakapu Beach for sunset after work last night! We actually met another Mississippian...his name was Mike McCraney and he played baseball at MS State back in the day...his son is a soph at state now-Kelli, i bet Kolby knows him! very nice man!