THE MAUI HOUSE - Part I

For 30+ years, Mr. Ralph and I (and Kate) vacationed in Maui.  All those years we stayed at the same condo complex, Sugar Beach.  It boasts 7 miles of sandy beach.  Great for walking and shallow into the ocean, which is great for kids.  A very family oriented location and we had seasonal friends ... since we usually planned around school vacations.

Every year, we would go to open houses.  Eventually hooked up with a realtor who year after year would cart us around.  Leslie MS, you are an amazing friend.

When Mr. Ralph retired at age 75, I had surreptitiously arranged for a three month sabbatical to see if we really liked Maui ... or did we just like being on vacation there.  I rented a furnished apartment and a beater car so we could just live there.  As usual, we asked Leslie to show us around.  The perfect little house and finally, just within our reach.  We had some quick thinking to do. 

Kate was out of the nest, the Oregon house was too big and too much maintenance although I wanted a tiny place in Lake Oswego so we could go back and forth.  Just in case she ever got married and had children. 

We DID like living there and we were quickly learning where to go for less expensive food (and yes, there is a Costco and Walmart).  Cheap eats for when we wanted to go out.  Enjoying the beach and ocean and sunshine costs nothing! 

On March 10, 2014 we bought the Dream.  Two days later Kate called to say she was pregnant … due in October.