Maui Hawaii

We went to Maui and Molokai Hawaii May 4-19.  It was a little cooler than usual this trip.  Cooler than Maryland.  We haven't had a major vacation for 5 years, so it was nice to see some place beautiful.  I will be posting some of my favorites on the blog as I go through the thousands of pictures from beginning to end.

We started in Kula, Maui, halfway up the Haleakala Volcano, which hasn't erupted since 1790.

The gardens on the property were beautiful, with a huge purple Jacaranda tree, this curved garden and a terraced garden sloping down the back of the property.

The Kula Lodge also had a huge purple Jacaranda tree out front, similar to this one. 

The view from the Kula restaurant or a nearby property shows the west end of Maui and the island of Lanai in the background at sunset.

We spent much of the day starting at sunrise at the volcano, where it was quite cool and windy.  This panorama is actually made from eight photos, since the area is so vast.

There are quite a few silversword plants, that are unique to the area, up at the top few overlooks.

Kent Island Powerboat Show

Jim loves boats, so I voluntarily went to the recent boat show.  We visited yachts we could never possibly afford and saw plenty of useful gadgets.  There were lots of fiberglass boats and only a few wooden boats.

I like to photograph some of the small details on the boats like this boat horn.

There was an interesting repeating pattern in these posts and their reflections.

This gazebo on the grounds looked extra romantic, surrounded by spring blossoms. It was tough to get an angle without lots of cars in the parking lot!

The day ended with a lovely sunset, complete with a boat.

Redbuds are A'Bloomin'

In St. Mary's County the parking lots are full of beautiful flowering trees.  The cars in the background usually turn the photos into snapshots, so I just enjoy the flowers with my eye instead of a camera.  I tried my best to keep the cars out of these particular photos.  I especially liked the parking lot in Callaway where the Redbud trees were everywhere.

 

 The reflection is from the moon roof of my car!

The shadows on the wall were interesting.

More Spring Photos

Think Pink!

Just some pictures within walking distance of my current job.  Sometimes good photos are closer than you think.

Cherry tree in noonday sunshine vs afternoon 

Cherry tree blossoms

Red dogwood

Spring has Sprung

Just a few flower pictures to brighten your day!

Easter Sunrise

We celebrated Easter morning at the Ruddy Duck Restaurant on St. George Island.  Good food. Lovely view.

http://www.ruddyduckbrewery.com

The Osprey Pair

As I showed on March 16th, the ospreys are back on their nests.  I saw 2 on my way home yesterday along route 5. 

Here are a few shots of this year's osprey pair.  They generally mate for life and often return to the same location, so I don't know if this is a new pair or not.  You may recall that our male osprey died last year, and might have been killed by another bird.

They have already had one argument with the neighboring osprey, according to Jim.