We began our day as most any Sunday, getting ready for church. Afterward, we tried to leave as soon as possible, but that's always SO hard! We are thankful for friends and family who prayed with us, blessing our trip....
Once we arrived back home, we had about two hours to throw in the last few things, change clothes, etc and head to the airport. Our plane left about 5:30pm....short flight to our first stop....loooonnnnnggggg layover (3+ hours).......then flight to SFO, arriving around 11:30pm local time (2:30am home time!). Eric's parents picked us up and we went to the hotel they had reserved for us to stay in. It was about 1:30am (again, 4:30am body clock) til we went to sleep. A short 'nap'.....up at 5:00am to get ready, eat breakfast and catch the 7am shuttle to the airport.
As you can see here, no one was quite ready to get up! The kiddos slept sideways on the bed...such fun memories! Even baby Sophie came along....she looks wide awake though!
Soon, it was time to load up the kiddos in Gpa & Gma's Tahoe and say our good-bye's. They were SO excited! I won't lie....WE WERE TOO!!!
Our flight was scheduled to leave SFO at 9:27am. I was not necessarily looking forward to the 5 1/2 hour flight! Biggest bummer of the morning....I forgot to take my Leatherman Squirt out of my purse (I've actually taken it through security MANY times) and the snooty SFO security girl made me relinquish it. I was ticked, but I knew I had to let my frustrations go....I prayed God would help me with my attitude and soon I was able to move on with my day :0)
The long flight really wasn't that bad. We tried to get some sleep since we hardly got any the night before. On the plane they played a 'Halfway to Hawaii' game. We were given some info....such as the time we left, expected arrival time, headwind, speed, etc. and we were given forms to guess the exact time-down to the second!-we would hit the geographical halfway point! That took up some of the time, plus they showed two movies....but I just snoozed as much as possible. BTW, we were pretty close on our guesses for the game, but not close enough. They gave away a CD as the prize. We ended up buying one just like it anyway!
Here is our first view of Kaua'i! We arrived at noon (6pm body clock). Thank You, Lord, for a safe flight!
By then, we were completely running on adrenaline! All thoughts/feelings of tiredness--GONE! We made quick phone calls home to let family know we made it safe, got our luggage (and leis!) and headed to the car rental counter. Soon we were on the shuttle to the car lot where we picked out a Chevy Malibu....and away we went!
We drove to Kapa'a, where the Kauai Coast Resort is, to check in. Since it was only early afternoon, our room was not ready yet (which we totally expected), so we decided to try to find something to eat. Wahooo, was just up the road, and was recommended to us by some family members who spend about a month every year on Kaua'i. It became our favorite spot to eat, but it may just be because it was the FIRST place we ate! I dunno, though, the food was incredible! Oh, and the atmosphere...ahhh....such calming, relaxing Hawaiian music filled the air as we sat on the lanai in the warm sun and island breeze.....{sigh}
Eric ordered the BEACH BOY CHEESEBURGER--Choice ground sirloin with cheddar cheese, grilled Maui onions and mushrooms, served with steak fries. I had a very scrumptious TERIYAKI GRILLED CHICKEN SANDWICH--Seasoned chicken breast topped with grilled pineapple, served on a sesame bun with wasabi mayonnaise and steak fries. Ooo la la!
After enjoying our first delicious meal on the island, we headed to Safeway to get some groceries. It was hard to buy for 2 people when I'm used to buying for 5! We got a few breakfast items, fruit, stuff to make fresh salsa, some drinks, champagne, etc. Hmm, a few small bags...cost as much as a weeks worth of groceries at home! Oh well, we were prepared for that :0)
Eric's phone rang, indicating that our room was ready, so we went back to the resort to put our groceries in the fridge. Here is the view from our lanai....pure beauty.....God's wonderful creation! I didn't take pictures of our room until the last day--dumb on my part, cause then it was messy--so I'll post them when I get to that day!
After getting things a little settled in our condo, we left quick, trying to make it to Kauai Fruit and Flower Co. aka 'The Pineapple Store'. We had no idea what time they closed and didn't look at the sign when we pulled in. Had I not gotten so enamored with the humongous plumeria trees...and taking pictures of them...and smelling them...we would have made it inside before they closed!
We felt like we knew the owner of the store, even though we'd never met him. My brother and his wife met him on their trip to Kaua'i 7 years ago. We've heard so much about Chucky Boy Chock and have listened to his music for several years. He is a neat brother-in-Christ....who just exudes joy and smiles! He is a pastor, singer/songwriter, and so much more. He is a very busy man, so we had to stop back in several times to try to meet him!
We left there after 'drooling' over the flowers and drove to Lihue...stopped at the mall, got Starbucks, then headed to Wailua Falls. You can drive right up to a lookout...no hiking required! So beautiful!
We returned to the Resort and walked around the Coconut Marketplace which is right there on the grounds. It's just an bunch of little shops/places to eat all in an outdoor mall type building. We shopped til they closed at 8pm, then walked over to the pool area. It was dark by then, and the tiki torches were lit...ahhh! We sat there, soaking up the ambiance--crashing waves, waterfall at the pool, crickets/frogs?, brilliant stars, crescent moon, swaying palm trees, gentle breeze....and oh, yes, the occasional rooster crow! Then we returned to our room for showers, champagne and sleeeeep....
Thus ends our first day on Kaua'i.
1 comment:
I have never had a desire to visit Hawaii (I'm more of a rustic cabin in the mountains next to a lake girl) but I am loving visiting vicariously through you. Can't wait to see the rest of your trip!
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