Thankfully, last year my sister in-law and brother-in suggested we all take a trip together to Hawaii this summer. Everyone agreed and moved around their schedules so we could have June 13 through June 21 free for the trip.
My in-laws live out in California and vacation in Hawaii regularly. They volunteered to plan the whole trip. They are both artists but missed their calling as travel agents. They said they prefer the island of Kauai and were going to procure and Air B & B on the island for the trip. They also planned our itinerary for each day of the trip. All we had to do was show up. Easy, peasy.
Well, I thought it would be easy, peasy, until my wife's alarm went off at 1:30 a.m. on June 13. I had only been asleep for an hour. Our flight to Seattle was scheduled for 5:45 a.m. The wife likes to be early for everything. I, on the other hand, prefer to be late, especially when it involves waking up much too early.
I fell asleep for another hour until wifey woke me up and instructed that I get ready to go to O'Hare. She had ordered a cab to come to the house at 4 a.m. Oh, it was painful to get ready on just two-hours sleep but I was able to bathe, dress and be ready by 4 a.m.
However, at 4 a.m. the cab did not show. My wife called the cab company. No answer. At 4:15 a.m. we loaded into my car and drove to O'Hare. I had hoped to save some money by taking a cab over the long-term parking fees at O'Hare. Oh, well.
We found the long-term parking lot but it was full. Yikes! Luckily, a security guard gave us a voucher and told us to park in short-term parking and hand in the voucher when we return from the trip.
We parked then set out to find Terminal 5 and the Delta departure gates. O'Hare is massive and a chore to navigate. It may be the only airport in the world that has a train to carry passengers from terminal to terminal.
We entered the airport at Terminal 3 and weaved our way up three flights of escalators until we found the train. There are practically no seats on the train and I found it difficult to maintain my balance standing as it rode through the terminals.
In Terminal 5, we entered the long line for the TSA security which went fairly quickly. Before long, we found our gate and boarded the plane where I promptly fell asleep. I woke up a few times because the seat was soooo uncomfortable. It was four hours or so to Seattle. I was in sorry shape when we arrived for a six-hour layover that turned into 8. I pretty much slept most of the time at our gate to Hawaii.
Once on the plane to Kauai, I tried to sleep during the four-hour or so flight. It was tough. The seats on Delta planes are incredibly uncomfortable. I limped out of the plane once in Kauai.
The in-laws had arrived a few hours ahead of us and procured a rental car and paid a local artist to place lays over our heads in the baggage claim area. I am so lucky. My in-laws are so sweet.
It was around 9 p.m. Kauai time and we drove to the Air B & B in the dark. Nary a street light, though the roads are filled with reflectors which seem to light everything up. The Air B & B turned out to be a four-bedroom house on a golf course. It was beautiful. I went straight to sleep.
I was awoken by a freakin' rooster at 4 a.m. Ugh! Turns out the whole island of Kauai is overrun with chickens. Apparently, there was a hurricane in the mid-1990's that destroyed a bunch of chicken coops and set a large number of chickens free. In the last 30 years, these chickens, with no predators on the island, have procreated unabatedly and now roam everywhere. Yes, freakin' everywhere. I have never seen anything like it. The rooster screamed every morning at 4 a.m. I wonder if it is legal to kill those chickens.
Everyone was up early. The in-laws had filled the kitchen with groceries and we cooked up a massive breakfast. I felt like I was hung-over but prepared to go to the beach. The in-laws took us to a local beach. I was a little concerned because there were no life-guards and my kids are not the strongest swimmers. The kids went right into the water. I covered myself in sun-block lotion and went to sleep.
Initially, I was not going to go into the ocean because I am afraid of sharks but I could not help myself and went in. The water was wonderful. The scenery was amazing. There were chickens everywhere. I also heard quite few southern drawls from the other folks on the beach.
We spent all day on the beach. The in-laws packed a picnic lunch. I later learned that I did not put on enough sun block as my whole chest and stomach were sun burned. Ugh! Once back at the house, my sister in-law cooked up some Italian sausage in tomato sauce. It was tasty.
I had a tough night sleeping and struggled the next day. The in-laws planned a tour of a coffee plantation. The tour was pretty cool and interesting. Apparently, the company that operates the plantation began farming sugar cane in Kauai around 100 years ago. They started to grow coffee on some of their land in the 1980's. Foreign competition pretty much killed the sugar cane business in Kauai and by the 2000's they converted all of the sugar cane to coffee. We enjoyed many cups of tasty coffee that morning.
After the coffee plantation, the in-laws drove us around the island where we visited several small towns. I did not last very long and spent most of the afternoon sleeping in the car. There is a five-hour time difference between Chicago and Kauai time. I really struggled to adjust.
The next day, they all went to the beach while I lounged at the house, trying to adjust from the jet lag and time change. The sister in-law cooked up salmon for dinner. Tasty. The next day, the ladies went to get their nails done while the guys went for a bike ride. Oh, I struggled on that bike ride but the scenery was amazing.
For dinner, we went to a Tahitian restaurant. I learned that the island of Kauai was formed from a volcano around 5 million years ago. The first humans to inhabit the island arrived on log canoes from Tahiti around 1,200 years ago. The food at the restaurant was funky. I had some sort of chicken thing. It was good.
I expected to see Polynesian food everywhere like from the Polynesian restaurants that I grew up with in the Chicago area. No such thing, apparently. Though, I did read that rocker Todd Rundgren lives on Kauai and operates a Tiki bar restaurant with his wife. I really wanted to go there but nobody else was interested. We seemed to eat this poke stuff all over the island which consists of rice, veggies and fish or meat or tofu. It was okay. I was really hoping to find a pu-pu platter. No such luck.
The next day we drove to the other side of the island which was real touristy but had beaches where giant turtles rested every afternoon. It was pretty cool hanging out there and looking at those turtles. Of course, there were chickens as well. Lisa got upset when she saw kids chasing the chickens around. I hoped the kids killed those freakin' chickens. If I ever hear another rooster again, it will be too soon!
The next day, the in-laws took us on a hike near the house. We hiked down a cliff made from ancient lava down onto a rocky beach. Lisa and I struggled on that hike. I brought along a piece of candy in case my blood sugar dropped. Well, it dropped and I needed much more candy to bring it up. Lisa started asking other hikers if they had candy. One mom offered some kiddie yogurt. I gratefully accepted and it gave me the fuel I needed to hike back up the cliff.
Back at the house, the sister-in-law cooked up some Italian meatballs. My family likes its Italian food. The ladies come from an old New York Italian family. Their mother made the best Italian food I have ever tasted. They are getting pretty good at cooking it up themselves.
We did more of the same for the rest of the trip, exploring beaches and small towns. It was really fun. The scenery was dazzling.
I really enjoyed our trip to Hawaii. I am not sure if I would go back because the flights there and back from Chicago are long and brutal. Anyway, I have now visited 44 of the 50 states. I am just missing West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alaska. I would really like to see the Carolinas and Alaska. I am not sure if I need to go to West Virginia, Mississippi and Arkansas... but if they have card shows, you never know! No card shows or card shops on Kauai, which was a little disappointing.
Now for some photos: