Maui Adventure - Day 2 - Speed Bumps and All

[Composed 1/2/2026]

We spent the day exploring 'Upcountry' Maui, and to be brutally honest, it was a bit of a roller coaster. I awoke at 4:30am with my body and my Garmin watch announcing that I had had zero recovery from the night before. Yet, we had a delicous breakfast overlooking the nearby island Lanai getting bathed in the morning sun.

Our first stop of the day, and one we were eagerly looking forward to, the Komoda Store and Bakery had a sign on the door announcing they were closed for the week we are visting. On the other hand, the 6 mile loop hike we planned for went off without a hitch.

The Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center happened to be between exhibitions and there were no local artists at work on site, so it wasn't the cultural gem we'd hoped it would be. Still, the nearby Kula Botanical Garden provided an excellent space to stroll among botanical wonders. While smaller than many municapally operated botanic gardens, the place held its own when you consider it's a family operation which has been in business since 1971. We got to ooh and ahh at plants both foreign and domestic.

Meals, other than breafast today, weren't especially stellar. But, I did throughly enjoy the 'Aloha Maid' "juices" I picked up at the hotel's convenience store last night. We had a credit to use and I bought the drinks on impulse. Sure, they are just sugary drinks posing as authentic fruit juice, but as a hiking recovery drink or to provide a jeg-lag pick me up, they totally hit the spot. Throw in some electrolytes, and you've got a solid gatorade competitor right there.

I also really enjoyed the Kaimana Jerky I picked up at Walmart yesterday. Seriously, this stuff is gourmet! The Sinaloha tortillas I picked up at Walmart are also a notable win: while they taste just like any other packaged tortilla, these have the advantage of being a Hawai'i brand; that just makes them feel more authentic. The fact that I'm spreading peanut butter on them, like a hungry backpacker, and not using them in a proper Mexican or Hawaiian meal is besides the point.

Even the weather got in on the cup-half-full-or-maybe-half-empty business by providing relatively cool, frequently cloudy weather with plenty of rain. Yet, this also made for the perfect chance to catch rainbows, which we did throughout the day and always brought plenty of joy.

Of course, there's really no contest: to be together, in a new place, getting to explore, means that even the bumps are a good thing. They tell me we're out here having a real experience.

Notable Creatures

The hotel keeps flamingoes on site. And while this feels like cheating, they are amazing creatures to observe and photograph.

The Visual Arts center may have not lived up to its hype, but the gaggle of Java sparrows visible from the parking lot were a real treat to see. They feel delightfully exotic, even though they are not a native bird.

Jackson, Kula Botanic Garden's resident chameleon, is a stunning specimen. Like the flamingoes at our hotel, it feels a bit like cheating because he's not a wild creature. But still, he's gorgeous.

Maui Adventure - Day 1 - Getting There

[Composed 1/1/2026]

How It Started

How It's Going

We're in Maui, Hawai'i! It took us about 20 hours to get from our driveway to the hotel's lobby, but man, was it worth it.

I appreciated that as we sat in the American Lounge waiting for our flight to board, a small snow squall passed by, giving a dramatic weather flourish to our leaving. The snow was insignificant, and didn't impact our flight.

Using Windows 11's Mobile Hotspot

Our flights were smooth and uneventful. One highlight is that I tried using Windows 11's built in 'Mobile Hotspot.' The idea is that I connected my laptop to the plane's Wifi, and then turned on the hotspot, which allowed my and Shira's cell phone to connect to the laptop and share the connection.

My first attempt to do this resulted in our phone's connecting to WiFi but not having Internet access. I assumed that the plane's connection was somehow doing some voodoo to keep our devices from functioning.

However, chatting with Gemini, revealed that the issue was a Windows networking glitch. After tweaking a handful of settings and rebooting, I was able to make the hotspot work as expected. Making use of the hotspot was delightfully convenient, and something we'll definitely do in the future. If you in flight WiFi and Windows, then you should know about this capability, as everyone has multiple devices that need the web.

I've asked Gemini to summarize the key steps for getting the connection working and I've included them below. Most importantly, especially on a long flight, know that you can fiddle with this to make it work.

To restore internet access to your Windows mobile hotspot, follow these two steps to reset the connection bridge and the broadcast service:

• Step 1: Re-initialize Connection Sharing
  • Press Win + R, type ncpa.cpl, and hit Enter.
  • Right-click your active internet source (e.g., Wi-Fi or Ethernet) and select Properties.
  • Under the Sharing tab, uncheck and then re-check "Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection."
  • Ensure the correct hotspot adapter is selected in the dropdown menu, then click OK.
• Step 2: Restart the Hotspot Service
  • Press Win + R, type services.msc, and hit Enter.
  • Locate Windows Mobile Hotspot Service in the list.
  • Right-click the service and select Restart.
  • If the service is not running, select Start and ensure the Startup Type is set to Automatic.

Once these steps are complete, toggle the Mobile Hotspot switch in your Windows Settings off and back on to refresh the broadcast.

Cold Soaking: Gone Right?

Another experiment I tried midflight was a cold-soaked meal. With 14 hours of flying, I knew we needed to bring along plenty of food to keep our energy up. At home, I combined a couple servings of Rollin Greens Ground Taco mix with a serving of minute rice in Tupperware. During our last flight, I added enough water to the dry mix to cover it and let it sit for a good 30 minutes.

I've tried a handful of attempts at cold soaking and the vast majority of them have been a bust. So my expectations for the Rolling Greens were low. I figured I had nothing to lose.

The result: it tasted amazing. I'm not sure what magic Rollin Geens has put into their pea protein crumbles, whatever it is, they are cold-soaking gold. I added in some Moon Cheese for a bit of crunch and the meal was a 5 star affair.

The primary catch I've found is that Rollin Greens is hard to source. I picked up the package of Taco meat as an impulse buy while we were in Miami on a totally different trip. It seems like the best place to order it online is from Walmart It's relatively expensive, but given that it checks the box for taste and nutrition, I'll buy it again.

To be brutally honest, Maui has yet to blow us away. Landing, the scenery wasn't as lush and tropical as I expected. And we've done little more than check off TODO items (rent car, stock up on food, buy an extra pair of pants because I left my hiking pants at home(!)). Still, I'm optimistic that this changes tomorrow. We had one goal today: get here, and that's done.

So Maui, I'm ready: blow me away!