Hawaii - Chapter One

Hawaii – Chapter One

I am on the way to Hawaii for 8 days! Yay!

It took me a week to pack. Why? My bag is small. Very small:

Contents: 4 bathing suits, 2 cover ups, 3 dresses, pair of white jeans, 3 pairs of shorts, 2 belts, a black skirt, 5 shirts, 1 lightweight sweater, pair of J.Crew metallic gold slippahs (apparently this is Hawaiian for flip flops), 1 pair of Rainbow slippahs, 1 pair of pajamas, my robe, and less than 3 oz. liquid bottles and toiletries. No problem going through security, thank goodness.

I bought the ticket a month ago and have been reading and researching Oahu since then.  I hope to try to surf, see some whales, snorkel, take a day trip to Maui, lay out, eat shaven ice and amazing tuna (most likely separately), and find a seashell for my grandmother.

So after planning this trip for over a month, how did I forget to ask Will what to do when I get to the airport? Hah. I have no idea where I need to go or how I should get there. Taxi? Bus? Or will someone be there? If I bus or cab it, where exactly am I going? I know I asked Will which town they lived in, but can’t remember and can’t find it on my phone. And the saddest part of this story is that I didn’t realize the lack of information until my seat-mate and I were talking about expensive cabs in London. Now that I have become more laid back, I am beginning to be too easy going and not worry about such details. I’ll have to straighten up before I get to Europe.

Speaking of Europe, I am using the same duffel to pack for my 49 day Euro-trip. Hmph. How is that going to work?

The flight from Atlanta to Honolulu has turned out to be 10 hours long.. didn’t know that before either. It hasn’t been too bad (3.5 hours to go), but I wish the plane had WiFi. I was under the impression that all Delta flights did, and it is frustrating to be expecting one thing and getting another. Regardless, it is a comfortable ride. My seat-mate is a pleasant retiree from South Africa who is using the next several months to enjoy traveling. Compared to hers (South Africa to ATL now to Hawaii), my trip seems to be relatively short – the total trip for her is some twenty odd hours. 

After arriving at HNL, transportation was not an issue - Will came and picked me up, we met Landon at the house, changed and grabbed surf boards. It was beautiful. Sorry I don't have any pictures yet.. I'll work on that tomorrow. We surfed until just after sunset.. perfect. I actually did pretty well; the boys rated me as "exceeding expectations," so now I have even more to prove before the end of the week. I caught two waves, which means I stood up on the board and rode it in. Yay! Who knew I could do it?

Now that I am completely exhausted - I have been awake for 21 hours, took a Benadryll and a cough syrup on the plane, and surfed for an hour and a half - we are watching Willy Wonka until I completely crash. 

Tomorrow I am going to do a driving tour to explore the island and figure out what's my fave. I'll work on getting some photos!!