First just a little background. I'm 64 and husband is 58. I haven't been to Hawaii since 1982 and he's never been. I always knew I wanted to return but frankly after living in tropical Florida for 25 years, I wasn't sure I would have the same appreciation for Hawaii. After we lost our last pet, I finally started thinking it was time to find out. I arranged the trip myself using my past knowledge and help from TA. I had a difficult time deciding what I wanted to do.... well not that really... more of a difficult time deciding what to leave out. I was all over the place...We ended up with 5 Kauai, 5 Maui, 7 Oahu. I also wanted him to appreciate each island for what it offered so the order was important even though I knew Oahu would be a shock after the other two. I was also a little concerned that my fuzzy mind might book a condo on one island while flying into another but thankfully, all turned out quite well. Whew... you can imagine how great I felt once we left the house with no more decisions to make and that is way too much info..LOL..
Nothing exciting in this first read…just the traveling details ..more for my record than anyones enjoyment.
We flew out of Tampa using AA with a short layover in Dallas to Oahu and onto HA into Lihui for our first island. We are first going to Kauai, then Maui and winding up on Oahu. I had many theories what the order of the islands should be. We started in Kauai because... well just because I wanted to. My first trip to Hawaii was in the 70s with an escorted tour. I'm remembering two full days on Kauai and the day we were to go to the north shore it was pouring down rain. Frankly I was "toured out" and skipped the tour. I've always regretted it when I would see pictures of Hanalei. So for that reason, I chose Kauai for our first island. I was really excited to go there. And so it begins....
We did a last minute sleep, park, fly reservation in Tampa since we had a very early flight. It cost just a tad more than the offsite airport parking. A bonus was that the Holiday Inn Express was right next to a Bahama Breeze so we quickly glided out of the stressful packing mode and into the vacation high. Sitting outside on a lanai having dinner was perfect with some Carribean music in the background..not hawaiian but at this point Carribean will do.
The airport shuttle got us there with minimal down time but enough to make sure the American Agent got our luggage to LIH on the same record locator as HNL. I was a tad concerned that she was multitasking but it was all labeled correctly. They sure move passengers in such a hurry hurry mode that it can be daunting to keep a level head.
We made it to DWT with no problems, but boy after that it wasn't great fun. While wondering around Dallas during the layover (checking out what food to buy for the flight), we missed the announcement that our flight was delayed and a change in gates. Imagine returning to the gate and all the people are gone! All these crazy thoughts were flashing through my head trying to figure out where I had messed up! I started running in a panic and the agent quickly calmed me down and explained the situation. Whew! So even after the delay we still sat on the plane for over an hour before take off. Wow, I’m thinking there goes our flight connection in Oahu, but hey at this point, it isn't life and death.
The flight crew apologized for all of this but that’s just the beginning. The seats themselves are terrible. I think they're the same seats I sat in back in the 80's. I've flown 3 discount airlines and had way more room and comfortable seats. Our backs both hurt the entire flight. And the space, John is 6'8". As much as he tries not to, his knees are in the poor girls back in front of us. We tried to buy exit row seats or bulk head but couldn't get them. I was really po'd when I saw really short people in them. Gone is American and their glory years when they were really a treat to use. BTW, even though it wasn’t announced, my wine was all free because of the delay. It didn't totally ease the back pain, but it helped ; )
 |
| The very first picture taken in Hawaii |
 |
| Here's a picture taken later of our rental |
I would have enjoyed driving around a bit, but we wanted to get to Hanalei Bay Resort before dark. Oh I did get a glance at the old Coco Palms and like others have said, it was very sad to see. I never stayed there but I did have drinks in the lounge and enjoyed the torch lighting ceremony in the late 70's. I'm so happy that I got to see it.
We found Hanalei Bay Resort around 9 PM and settled into unit 3304 booked through AlohaCondos.com Such a lovely, lovely area. This entire place of Princeville is nothing like I imagined. Not in a bad way, just different.
 |
We're were very close to the pool but not all that close to the water but I was happy with the view. It would change every few minutes as the sun rose higher in the sky.
 |
| I took this picture our first morning... |
I loved the condo.. our bedroom was in the loft and was very nice. I could see that the bathroom being downstairs could be an issue but I lived with it. I think we arrived in Kauai around 5 so I'm not sure what time we reach HBR, but we were really for bed.
So we're here... for real we are here. There are no plans written in concrete for this trip. I have lots of ideas but no set plans.. I'm soooo excited ....tired but excited!
No comments:
Post a Comment