Return to Kauai
After 12 hours of travel, we’ve made it once again to the Garden Isle.
Our day began promptly before 5am as we rushed to get ready before our 6:15am taxi. We made it just fine and were virtually the first to arrive for our 8am flight. We always seem to over-estimate the time we will need. American Airlines has streamlined the check-in process so well that we only lose time in the security check-in. But even that went quickly.
On the flight to LA, we had an extra seat in our row, so that made for a more comfortable flight. The only hitch was that we sat on the ground in LA awaiting our gate to be freed up. Every five minutes or so, they would tell us that it’d be just a few more moments. One of us had to go to the bathroom and didn’t appreciate the delay.
On the flight to Kauai, we weren’t so lucky as our row was totally filled. Curiously, the "extra" was traveling with his wife, but sitting in a separate row. Maybe that will be us in a few years? But anyway, there were extra aisle or window seats to be had, but he never budged. In fact, a couple of lucky people got to "rack out" (lay down) in a row that they had to themselves. As a long-time AAdvantage member, this made me slightly crazy.
Suzanne will tell you that the cramped row was secondary to the kicks in the back that she sustained from the 2-year-old sitting behind us. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her lurch forward on occasion.
But alas we’re on vacation and we’re here, so everything is rolling off our backs. Upon arrival, we decided to stop off at Duke’s to have beach-side hamburgers. The picture you see is representative of the view. This locale is one of our favorites and quickly put us in the vacation mood.
We are now hanging out in our familiar rental house. Our bodies tell us its 11:15pm, but the local time is 6:15pm. So we’re battling to stay up to combat the jet lag. Of course, its still beautiful. On the way in, we saw the waterfalls that spring up after a hard rain. The Koi appear to be thriving in the pond. But sadly, the mosquitos are still as thirsty as ever.
So upcoming trip highlights are:
- Kayaking on Monday. No, not the whitewater kind. Think about the log ride at Six Flags except its even slower! If we have trouble navigating it, I won’t be telling any of you here.
- Dinner on the beach on Tuesday. This is not marshmallows and a fire, this is steak and several courses around the steak. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a great sunset to go with it.
- Couples massage on Friday. I’m 41 years old and have never had a massage. Last week I told Suzanne to schedule herself a spa day. Instead, she scheduled us a massage on the beach. Without my prompting, she requested that I get a lady to do my massage. I’m such a homophobe.
- A guided hike by this guy. This will be the following week and we’ll be on the West side of the island toward the Na Pali Coast. We expect to get great pictures. And Andy, the tour guide, is an interesting dude. We’ve exchanged several emails along the way and follow his blog. He’s a former mainlander, but works remotely from the island. This is something that we’ve dreamed about, so it should be interesting to hear his stories.
Around those events, we’ll get a few Java Kai (the local Starbucks) episodes in. I’m particularly looking forward to lunch at Tropical Taco sometime soon as well. And then, of course, we’ll beach ourselves and maybe actually get in the water!
