The jet lag makes us wake up around 4:00 AM. We decided not to fight it on Day 2 and went to the gym again. After a good sweat, we came back to the hotel just after sunrise. We walked by the lu’au stage and noticed these sweet tiki dudes.

The Cyclones were playing in the Alamo Bowl at 4:00 PM Hawaii time, so we decided to change our plans and not drive to Hana. Instead, we ventured out around the western part of Maui. We had zero plans, just decided to go where the road took us. First stop – Kapalua Coastal Trail. It was a little rainy, a lot cloudy, but it was worth getting a little wet. When the lava off of the ancient volcano hit the sea, it cooled and made amazing rock formations.

We continued our drive past the golf course where the Sentry tournament will be held next week. The rest of the drive was full of beautiful ocean views, really narrow winding roads, chickens, cats, and the occasional mongoose. And it was hot and humid…hence the glistening faces.

We got back to Lahaina around 2:00, so we found a couple barstools at MonkeyPod and had some appetizers and drinks. I noticed the guy sitting at the bar next to me had a giant ring on his right hand. I kept trying to subtly see what it said. First thought was Notre Dame, then Super Bowl…turns out it was an NFL Alumni ring. My bar mate was Kurt Petersen, played for the Dallas Cowboys in the late 1990’s. He was a good sport about letting me try on his ring and get a photo. He was a BIG dude.

On our way back to the hotel Jay spotted a baby humpback whale breaching off the coast. This picture is basically impossible to see, but the little black spot in the ocean is a jumping baby whale!

And then it was game time!! We parked our Cyclone booties at the Ka’anapali Grill in front of a TV. For a while we were the only ISU fans in the place, so we took some heckling from Washington State fans. Then a few other Cyclone fans rolled in. At one point during the game, everyone’s phones erupted at the same time. Flash flood watch. I was nervous for a second until the bartender told us to follow him if there was a real emergency. 🙂 Unfortunately the game didn’t end up like we hoped, but it was a great season Cyclones!!