Sand Blasted Dermabrasion!!!

Today was another blustery day in paradise with lots of white caps on the water ... a good day to explore upcountry!!  I didn't venture out on the beach because the winds are strong enough to provide a unique kind of dermabrasion ... sand blasting of your legs!!  Amazingly, it can also get into the lens of your camera causing havoc!!  When you go to the beach in Hawaii and no one is there, it's a good sign that you shouldn't be there either!!!

This island being a volcano, pretty much everything is UP hill, including Makawao town, where I chose to do some shopping while Cyndae checked on her rental house.  Makawao is considered the cowboy town ... right up my alley ... and they DO have a rodeo here, but you probably won't see any cowboys or horses unless it's Saturday morning and the kids have been sent to get donuts!!

You will find lots of stores with colorful characters willing to talk your ear off!!  From cowboy gear to unique arts and crafts, there's lot to see here.  Definitely stop at Komoda Bakery at the top of the hill for the best pastries!!   I wanted to show you some, but it was Wednesday and they are closed.  Some spoils of the day ... this purse made from hand-sewn tribal cloth from Thailand.  Each section of material is from a different tribe.

Jewelry jewelry everywhere!!!  As you can imagine, there are lots of jewelry stores and galleries whose prices give me heart attacks ... like the $22,000 ceramic giraffe!!  If you know where to go however, you can score great bargains ... like this 1-1/2 inch opal turtle necklace (without chain here) for 50% off.  

On to the Shops at Wailea, Maui Clothing Company has the best prices on jewelry and clothing ... and you just might meet someone from your old stomping grounds!!!  The sales gal was from Lone Pine California, where my mother spent time as a child.  We exchanged stories before I purchased this beautiful coral-like bracelet for $20.

The Whalers General Store is another bargain spot with a great deli in the back making wonderful sandwiches.  The front case is usually full of gelato ... but this time had these funny round balls called mochi ice cream in several flavors.  I'm brave ... lets try some!!  Hmmmm maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.  The outer covering is pounded sticky rice ... tough and very chewy, not at all pleasant!!!   The one with lilikoi ice cream was tasty, but the mango was awful as was the tiramisu!!!  Unless these are your thing, I'd definitely pass them by!!!  

You can tell we've been to Hilo Hatties ... that's where you get the shell necklace as you enter the building.  This appetizer set will fit in my motorhome nicely ... in fact, I think the new motorhome theme will be "Beachy"!!!  There are many awesome decorating and entertaining items here at the Sand People store.

Finally, the piece I couldn't resist!!  This purse is by Desigual from Spain.  It has pockets all around the outside to house everything you could ever want in your purse!!  They kept saying it made a great gym bag ... but I don't think I'd take anything I paid this much for to the gym!!!  It will however, make a great carry-on bag to carry most of my purchases back home.  We passed on the $116.00 pair of shorts with matching $120.00 shirt.

You never know what you'll find here on Maui ... and when I looked up the location of a bead store to find some for a knitting project, we met a lovely lady whose going to give us hand-blown glass bead wire wrapping lessons today.  Not exactly on my "vacation" list, but never pass up the opportunity to learn a new craft.  Finally recovering from hiking we hope to get in some snorkeling soon!!