25 days on Maui

I was under the impression that my honeymoon at two weeks long would probably be the longest vacation I would ever take during my working lifetime. Obviously I was wrong.
25 days in Maui! Crazy, but true.
Of course, this wasn't to be a true vacation. See, my parents live on Maui and have for the past six years. Unfortunately my mom's health has taken a turn for the worse and my husband and I knew it was time to come out and lend a hand. Thankfully, a combination of our presence and medications from the doctors have put mom back on the road to better times, which we hope will last for a long time.
Not to brag or anything, but this is probably my sixth visit to Maui since our honeymoon eight years ago, which entailed a week on Maui and a week on Kauai. When you come to the island so many times, you begin to see things that you normally wouldn't as a one-time tourist.
For instance, in Kihei, where my folks live, it's fun to see the peacocks cross the main road. In fact, you must always be on the lookout for them because they'll walk across whenever the urge strikes and drivers, who are only traveling a modest 30 mph, stop in awe as these cool creatures strut by.
It is worth the drive up-country to visit the Maui School of Therapeutic Massage up in Makawao where students studying massage offer one-hour massages for $30.
On the way over to Kihei and Wailea is the SPCA, a fairly non-descript building where you can visit all the cute dogs and cats that are up for adoption. In fact, on this visit we actually got mom and dad to adopt the cutest cat you've ever seen. It will be good for them to have a cuddly creature around the house to keep them company once we have left.

Airport comfort. An oxymoron?

I'm not sure if I've just been traveling too much this year or if I've just turned into one of those weird people who notices fun and unusual things in airports now.

Then again when you are forced to spend nearly four hours in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, it is hard not to notice all the cool stuff.

For instance, let's say you suddenly have a craving for an iPod Nano. Or maybe you have an iPod but you want better earphones. Or you desperately want a pair of those iTheater glasses. If you are traveling when this desire strikes, don't worry. The Dallas airport has a vending machine for iPod products. How awesome is that?!

All you do is pop in your credit card, punch in your selection, and out pops a new iPod or a new iPod accessory. It's almost better than chocolate except it will put a bigger dent in your wallet.

Thankfully, my iPod is fully equipped so there was no need to splurge. What we did splurge on, though, was first-class seats. No, not first-class seats on the plane. We can't afford those even though flying first class would be on my bucket list, if I had a bucket list. These first-class seats were comfy, leather massage chairs in the terminal that only cost $5 for 15 minutes.

We had three hours to kill so what's 15 minutes and $5? Plus, as you sit there having a massage, you can also put on the headphones and select from a variety of soothing tunes. It's a great place to grab a power nap.

Another great place to stretch out in Dallas is in the terminal chairs themselves at your gate. Believe it or not, they have a selection of chairs around that come with foot rests. What an incredible idea! To my surprise and my luck, not all of these chairs were taken. For the life of me, I couldn't understand why anyone would pass them up. I didn't waste any time snagging two for us while we waited for our group number to be called. My hope is that maybe more airports will add this luxury.

As you can see, I get excited by the little things in life. A little extra bit of comfort goes a long way in my book.