Day 1 - Maui to Kauai

February 17, 2006

I woke up early again this morning (around 6:00am).  We did some more packing, and at 8:00am, we met up with Bernie & Barb to head to Starbucks.  Had our beverages and pastries, and then went back to the resort to have some snorkel lessons.  Barb had never snorkeled before, so we started out in the pool.  After she got a little used to the gear, we went down to the beach and tried it out for a bit.  Our snorkel lessons completed, we went back to the pool and just splashed around until 11:00am.  We then went back to the room, showered up, and finished did the final pack. 

We checked out of the Kea Lani and headed towards the airport.  Before leaving Kihei, we stopped at Eskimo Candy (a fish market).  Since it was noon, it was rather busy.  We split an order of the fish and chips.  The fish was Opah - which was very tasty.  We then hit the road to the airport.

As we got into Kahului, the weather was all backed up.  Traffic was creeping along ever so slowly and I was getting a bit nervous that we were going to miss the flight.  It seems that there was an accident on the other side of the road, but everyone was slowing down to rubber-neck.  We needed to fill up our car, but just before we were about to turn into a station near the airport, one of the employees put traffic cones in the entrance, so you couldn't drive in there.  I'm not sure what the problem was - but that meant that we had to find another station.  Hapa was not a happy camper at this point.

We did manage to get to another station on the other side of the street and fill  up.  By the time we got to the rental car agency, it was 1:30pm (and our flight left at 2:00pm).  Luckily we were able to catch a shuttle right away and went to check in with Aloha.  The gal checking us in said that our luggage might not make the flight, since we were cutting it close.  That was fine - since we knew that they would follow on the following flight.

So, once we got our boarding passes we hurried to the security check-in and went straight to the gate.  It was 1:45pm by this time.  However, our plane hadn't arrived yet.  All that rushing and running for not.  It was about 20 minutes late getting in.  As we were standing there waiting, we saw the luggage carts come out (on the tarmac), and our luggage was on it.  So, we didn't have to worry about whether our luggage made it or not.  We boarded the flight and settled in for the first segment to Honolulu.  The plane wasn't completely full, so we had an empty seat between us.  This time, we were offered juice along with the coke products.  So, I am not sure why they didn't offer juice on the other Aloha flight.  Oh well, I was happy getting my juice. Thank goodness for the juice, otherwise I was going to have to listen to one grumpy holiday traveler again !

When we arrived in Honolulu, almost all the passengers got off.  We moved to seats closer to the front, so that we would get off the plane quicker in Kauai.  The flight to Lihue was completely full - there seemed to be a school group and a tour group that took up most of the seats.  When we arrived in Lihue, Randy went to get the rental car while I waited for the luggage.  It took quite a while, but finally our luggage came out.  Randy came by with the car right away, and we headed to Starbucks to meet up with our friends Blaine & Lisa (who had arrived on an earlier flight).

We did a bit of shopping at the nearby Long's Drug Store, and then we hopped in our cars and headed to the resort.  Blaine went with Randy in the convertible, and I went with Lisa in their car.  Because it was Friday evening, there was a lot of traffic - and it took much longer than usual to get to the resort.  We checked in and settled into the unit.  After a little while we decided we should go and get some supper, so we headed back to Lihue.

We were originally going to try a place called Genki Sushi in Kukui Grove shopping center.  However, when we got there, it was a 45-60 minute wait.  I'm not waiting that long.  So, we hopped in the car and headed to Kapaa.  Kintaro's was also busy, so we ended up going to La Playita Azul (a Mexican restaurant), which was next to the Safeway, and we were seated immediately.  I had the fish tacos, and Randy had a fish burrito.  Blaine & Lisa split the enormous seafood burrito.  It was all very good.

After supper, we went next door to Safeway and picked up some groceries.  We then headed back to the resort.  When we were about 5 miles away, all of a sudden the headlights on the car went out.  They would only work if Randy put on the high-beams.  Luckily we weren't too far from the hotel, so we only blinded a few people with the high-beams on the way.  I love these wonderfully maintained rental cars !

We watched a bit of TV, but at 10:30 I was totally bagged, so I went to bed (without updating my journal).