Maui...the Valley Isle, truly a magical destination. My grandma and I recently had the privilege to spend 10 days on this island paradise. We stayed at the Lahaina Shores Resort, right on the beach in West Maui. It was a great place to stay, very quiet and genuinely Hawaiian. Over the course of 10 days we put just over a thousand miles on our rental car and covered literally every corner of Maui.

 Our first day we drove all the way around West Maui, an experience not for the faint of heart! The road is very narrow, barely wide enough for one vehicle, with two way traffic and many 5 mph single lane blind corners. The views and local flavor were well worth it. The next morning we got up at 2AM and visited the 10,000 ft. summit of Haleakala Crater for sunrise—truly unforgettable.

 Almost every morning, we enjoyed amazing snorkeling with sea turtles and myriads of tropical fish. One whole day was devoted to driving the road to Hana; we saw so many waterfalls we could hardly keep track of them. We also enjoyed a ride on the world’s largest passenger submarine, the Atlantis, and went zip-lining on the slopes of Haleakala.

 One of my favorite events was sunset—each day no matter where we were it was amazing. On our next to last evening we watched the sunset from the top of Haleakala—absolutely awesome. We were reluctant to leave—Maui will be my first choice among the Hawaiian Islands to return to someday.