We're baaaaaaack

Thanks for the notes, everyone. We made it home last night after two days in the air or in airports waiting for connections. It's a loooooonnnnggg way back home from Hawaii. We left at 10:30 or so Monday morning, finally arriving home at about 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Phew! Retrieved our car from a friend (cost for 11 days of car sitting - one pineapple) and hit the road for a quick dinner and the long road home.

So tired, that I even asked the hubby to drive most of the way - I slept while he drove, that is how tired I was. (I don't like to passenge with him driving - call me weird)

Hawaii was lovely - Ali is beautiful, as are her family. Linky is a kick. I have photos of each of them, but will wait until they see them and get their approval before showing them here. I know Linky's pic is online, but also know that Ali's is not. So permission is needed first. Thanks for understanding.

However . . . there are LOTS more pics to share. Are you SURE you wanna see? Okay, a few at a time.

This was our first time to Hawaii . . . did you know that the Honolulu airport is pretty much open to the world? I mean, there are these lovely gardens below an open bridge (between terminals) where you can go down and smoke (ack!) or just look at the fish (Koi) or help your kiddos walk out their kinks . . .
Click for larger view.

And, with all of that open space you have to expect that critters will join you, right? Right.

After a snafu at meeting Linky during our wait for the connection to Hilo (sorry again, Linky) we joined a long line for open seating on the flight. That was fun - I had never seen such a thing - all open seating for a huge jet. It works somehow. The atmosphere on the plane was jolly and boisterous. The folks were happy to be going home or looking forward to a new adventure or returning to a loved vacation spot. We felt right at home.

Getting the rental car was a snap (thanks to priceline) and we were off to find our rental home. THAT was not as easy . . . I got turned around looking for the right "K" named street off the main road . . . and by the time I got THAT worked out it was dark. Yes, dark - did you know that the sun sets in Hawaii and it gets DARK??? (well, in Alaska tonight it is now 10:55 p.m. and, while the sun has set, there is plenty of light left out there to read road signs) The K road we were on had LOTS of other K named roads (interspersed with P named streets and M named streets . . you get the idea) and it was getting darker by the minute. After turning around several times we finally found the house, got it opened up and the water turned on, the hot water heater's power turned on, and the sheets on the bed.

Then the hubster was hungry so it was time to try to find a store or place to eat dinner. Drove back to Pahoa Town and stopped at the Cash N Carry to pick up a few things for breakfast and a light dinner - got scolded by the cashier for being there after closing time . . . the guard had let us in, for heaven's sake! She tried to amend her statements when she found out we were from Alaska and invited us back. We told her that we probably would not come back - and we didn't. But we did go back to Pahoa several more times (just not her store).

Back to our home away from home - beginning to cotton on to where it is. The following day we counted the streets from a certain landmark and never got lost going home again. ;-)

Wake up comes early to our little area . . . 4:30 a.m. That was not a planned wake up time for us - after all we had been awake for nearly 48 hours by the time we fell asleep the night before. However . . . that did not deter the rowdy rooster who crowed us awake at an ungodly hour . . . every day . . . he would start his errr-errr-roar and would shortly be joined by another . . . and another . . . and yet another . . . until the neighborhood rang with their calls. Then EVERY bird in the world woke up and joined in with chirps and twitters. All I could do was lie there and giggle.

It became sweet music to my ears as the schedule never varied until that final night when the first rooster did not awaken until 5 a.m. (It was overcast and rainy and I guess he slept in - heh)

We had made arrangements with Ali to meet her and her hubby for Mother's Day brunch in Hilo that next morning. It was a bright and beautiful morning - sunny and H•O•T! We met them at the Hawaiian Naniloa Hotel right on the shore - had a table just inside the open lanai out of the sun (thankfully for my tender Alaskan skin). This porpoise statue was in the entry way . . . a picture for the Ladybug:

We were entertained by this guitarist singing sweet Hawaiin songs. He was joined during one by his wife who danced a hula to a song written by the singer's brother-in-law. Turns out it was the singer's birthday that day and we all sang to HIM!

Well, that is enough for tonight - just enough to whet your appetite. And, I've only touched on the first two days of our stay!

G'night, all.

Posted by Purplemoose at May 19, 2004 11:40 PM