Home from, or perhaps returned to, Paradise

Ah, our trip was wonderful and surreal. We arrived in Maui after midnight and navigated in our musty economy car in the dark to find our accommodations. Neither of us had traveled by air for quite some time and boy, have things changed. There was the charge for each check in bag (two) and then the steady invitation to BUY a snack or meal on our 5+ hour flight. Thank goodness my mom, a more recent and experienced traveler, encouraged us to stash granola bars in our carry ons. We stumbled into our room a little unsteady on our feet and stunned by the proposition that the only people we had to worry about was ourselves . . . we adjusted quickly;) The above pic is the very first I took -- early the next morning as we wondered the beach in front of our condo. There is a three hour difference between home and Paradise which meant we were up early and dragging our feet by 8 or 9pm. 
We decided that the best way to spend those first early hours was to explore and take pictures. We found tucked away beaches, fishermen working with their nets and even more adventuresome tourists snorkeling before the sun could be said to be properly in the sky. 
The two above pics was found on a wonderfully unique beach at the end of an out of way 4x4 accessible road -- we walked. Beautiful vining flowers crawled along the sand, coral and shells were plentiful along the water's edge . . . there was a lone camper on the beach with his tent. He seemed to be collecting treasures at the water's edge. Unfortunately, there were many dead fish in various stages of decay on the beach. We theorized that a rather lively 4th of July beach party resulted in mass fish carnage. We didn't take pictures . . . aren't you glad?
Our first sunset. Never fear, I got lots of opportunity to try my brand spanking new polarizing lens. This is just to wet your appetite;) 

We arrived in San Francisco near midnight Friday night and at my parents' on Saturday morning. Our sweet children were very excited to see us and we were ready to be home. Yesterday we made the 11 hour trek back to Portland. There's a to-do list a mile long to settle in and prepare for work tomorrow but first we'll savor being home.