Good morning and aloha,
We are now ensconced at a friend's place in Kona on the Big Island. Yesterday (Tuesday) we got up way too early (5:45, we are just getting used to the new time so that felt early) and drove down in commuter traffic to the airport, dropped off our car, and went through TSA at the Lihue airport. The TSA check-in is right at the entrance, something that couldn't exist in GR, because, well, seasons. The kids thought that was pretty interesting.
We flew from Lihue to Honolulu for a connecting flight; we landed at an A gate and had 30 minutes before our flight left to get to the B gate, which was about 30 yards away, so no big deal - not like sprinting through Detroit or Atlanta. Plus the aircraft on which we were to fly was a bit delayed, so people were still getting off. The flight was about 35 minutes total.
The airport at Kona doesn't have jetways; we deplaned onto the tarmac and entered the airport from there, where there were a lot of open air spaces. It doesn't rain too much on this side of the island. We were met outside the gate area by my friend Laura A and her youngest son, Archer, and they had flower leis for us all. I was very touched. It's about 20 - 25 minutes to their place from the airport. Their house is on a hill at about 1000 feet elevation. It's a gorgeous, rambling house, with plenty of room for three boys.
Yesterday was Prince Kuhio Day, so the kids didn't have school. Laura's middle son, Aiden, was sleeping, because he and Laura had just gotten back from NYC for his spring break last week (She takes each of the boys somewhere special for his 8th grade spring break). The eldest, Alec, is returning today from a school spring break trip to California, and we are leaving tomorrow, so they will have been to the airport several times this week.
We hung out around the house, the girls getting to know the two younger boys and Laura for a bit, and then we drove down to the pier where the boys had swim practice for school. They had practice in the ocean near where the staging area for the Kona Ironman is, because their school pool was not able to be used. They complained a bit about having practice in the ocean instead; I thought it was nice to have an alternate, because it sounds as if the pool will be out of commission for a while.
Laura's husband, Adam, came home from an 18-hour shift at work (he works at the ER and then had a meeting in the morning) just as we were leaving. We said hello and then he went to take a nap.
While the boys had practice, Laura and my girls and I walked around a nearby hotel and looked at the historical displays inside, then walked the other way to do a little shopping. The Farmer's Market that we had hoped to go to was closed due to the holiday, but the regular stores were open. My younger kid had stayed behind to watch the practice, mostly because her feet hurt and she didn't want to walk the 1/4 mile into town, but after we all met up again, she and I walked back to a place so she could buy a carved necklace.
After that we came home, the boys cleaned up and we had a nice dinner, and introduced her family to Studio C videos on YouTube. :) We turned in early (it gets dark by 7) and now we're up for a day of exploration, once everyone is up.
Cheers,
wb
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Monday, March 25, 2019
Hawaii, post 4
Aloha all,
Today is Monday, and I'm writing after most of today's events have finished. Our laundry is finally dry but is very musty because it rained so much yesterday that nothing really dried well, so we will have to prevail upon our hostess tomorrow to use her washer. :) The weather report in Kona is sunny and 80 for the next several days, so we could probably hang everything out in the sun and do fine.
Yesterday we had intended to try to find some local hikes, but the weather was very unpredictable and any trails we tried would likely have been too slippery and dangerous to attempt (especially without hiking poles), so we stayed local. We did hike to the beach associated with the condos next door (it's a public access beach), and that was certainly something, because it takes at least 15 minutes of straight hiking to get there. The trail begins on the lawns beyond the condos, and goes down a big grassy hill, then up through some bushes and around and down another quite steep hill, then winds up and down through more ground cover until one gets to a relatively straight walk through some woods. Don't ask me what kind of trees, because botany isn't my strong suit.
After the woods, there are some very steep slopes with steel pipes holding up boards to make some rough stairs (all mud by now); one goes down two of these staircases and over some rocks to a pine-needle-littered trail that runs next to the ocean. This is the north shore, so the ocean is on one's right, and the trees on the left. This trail, which has plenty of exposed roots, meanders around a corner after a few minutes and one can see the beach on the right. There are still large black rocks over which to clamber to get down to the beach level. Whew.
The beach itself is amazing - it's a very quiet cove with huge waves just north which must be mitigated by some kind of reef, because the waves which reach the shore are small. I have read it's a good beach for snorkeling. We didn't get in the water much, though yesterday I did wear my swim togs. This was good because the tide was coming in, so I got hit with several unexpected waves as I sat on the beach. The prime attraction of this beach for me is that it is basically composed of tiny shells, the like of which are made into necklaces on Ni'ihau, and those necklaces sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and rightly so, given the amount of labor that is put into them.
We also went to the Princeville Center to do some shopping; there is a grocery store (I think I mentioned that), and a few small shops. There was a guy at a kiosk selling these necklaces made of the tiny shells; he does the work himself, so it's not a genuine Ni'ihau product, but they were beautiful nonetheless. We talked shop a little because I do the ringweaving (chain maille) that is also very meticulous. He had never heard of it.
We made pasta for dinner in the nanokitchen, and then ate popcorn and watched Studio C videos on YouTube until it was time for bed. It gets dark so early here (comparatively) that I always want to go to bed at 7 PM. I think we are finally adjusting to the time change, and we will be going back home in 5 days, only to get used to it the other way (which is harder). But oh well, that's the price one pays. :) And the girls will have another several days to get used to it because they will be on spring break when we get home.
Today we went to the beach in the morning, since it was sunny, and then to Hanalei, the next town west of Princeville. It's a little coastal touristy town, with some nice shopping and places to eat, and a place called Havaiiki, part museum, part ship featuring Polynesian cultural art and jewelry. We spent a lot of time there (considering that the building is smaller than this apartment) and looked at everything. My older kid finally bought a book of tales about Kauai, and we took home a bunch of "handout" materials they had available.
We had lunch at a nice grille, and also had fun trying on clothes at a place called Tropical Tantrum, which specializes in batik shirts and dresses. I can never get the kids to try on clothes at home so I was impressed that they were interested, especially in the dresses. I ended up getting them each one for their birthday (even though the younger one doesn't have a birthday until June). They look great in them.
The road to and from Hanalei has a couple of scenic lookouts, and there is a single lane bridge on the way there; the way this works is that 5 - 7 cars go over in one direction, then 5 - 7 cars in the other direction. This keeps traffic flowing pretty well. It rained a little on and off - more of a mist, really - and we came home and packed some things to mail home to clear up the luggage. It will be nice to have packages waiting for us when we get home.
The kids are playing chess again - there seems to be a lot of dialog among the "pieces," consisting of playful taunting and banter. Time to make dinner and then pack to leave for the Big Island tomorrow.
Aloha and love,
wb
Today is Monday, and I'm writing after most of today's events have finished. Our laundry is finally dry but is very musty because it rained so much yesterday that nothing really dried well, so we will have to prevail upon our hostess tomorrow to use her washer. :) The weather report in Kona is sunny and 80 for the next several days, so we could probably hang everything out in the sun and do fine.
Yesterday we had intended to try to find some local hikes, but the weather was very unpredictable and any trails we tried would likely have been too slippery and dangerous to attempt (especially without hiking poles), so we stayed local. We did hike to the beach associated with the condos next door (it's a public access beach), and that was certainly something, because it takes at least 15 minutes of straight hiking to get there. The trail begins on the lawns beyond the condos, and goes down a big grassy hill, then up through some bushes and around and down another quite steep hill, then winds up and down through more ground cover until one gets to a relatively straight walk through some woods. Don't ask me what kind of trees, because botany isn't my strong suit.
After the woods, there are some very steep slopes with steel pipes holding up boards to make some rough stairs (all mud by now); one goes down two of these staircases and over some rocks to a pine-needle-littered trail that runs next to the ocean. This is the north shore, so the ocean is on one's right, and the trees on the left. This trail, which has plenty of exposed roots, meanders around a corner after a few minutes and one can see the beach on the right. There are still large black rocks over which to clamber to get down to the beach level. Whew.
The beach itself is amazing - it's a very quiet cove with huge waves just north which must be mitigated by some kind of reef, because the waves which reach the shore are small. I have read it's a good beach for snorkeling. We didn't get in the water much, though yesterday I did wear my swim togs. This was good because the tide was coming in, so I got hit with several unexpected waves as I sat on the beach. The prime attraction of this beach for me is that it is basically composed of tiny shells, the like of which are made into necklaces on Ni'ihau, and those necklaces sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and rightly so, given the amount of labor that is put into them.
We also went to the Princeville Center to do some shopping; there is a grocery store (I think I mentioned that), and a few small shops. There was a guy at a kiosk selling these necklaces made of the tiny shells; he does the work himself, so it's not a genuine Ni'ihau product, but they were beautiful nonetheless. We talked shop a little because I do the ringweaving (chain maille) that is also very meticulous. He had never heard of it.
We made pasta for dinner in the nanokitchen, and then ate popcorn and watched Studio C videos on YouTube until it was time for bed. It gets dark so early here (comparatively) that I always want to go to bed at 7 PM. I think we are finally adjusting to the time change, and we will be going back home in 5 days, only to get used to it the other way (which is harder). But oh well, that's the price one pays. :) And the girls will have another several days to get used to it because they will be on spring break when we get home.
Today we went to the beach in the morning, since it was sunny, and then to Hanalei, the next town west of Princeville. It's a little coastal touristy town, with some nice shopping and places to eat, and a place called Havaiiki, part museum, part ship featuring Polynesian cultural art and jewelry. We spent a lot of time there (considering that the building is smaller than this apartment) and looked at everything. My older kid finally bought a book of tales about Kauai, and we took home a bunch of "handout" materials they had available.
We had lunch at a nice grille, and also had fun trying on clothes at a place called Tropical Tantrum, which specializes in batik shirts and dresses. I can never get the kids to try on clothes at home so I was impressed that they were interested, especially in the dresses. I ended up getting them each one for their birthday (even though the younger one doesn't have a birthday until June). They look great in them.
The road to and from Hanalei has a couple of scenic lookouts, and there is a single lane bridge on the way there; the way this works is that 5 - 7 cars go over in one direction, then 5 - 7 cars in the other direction. This keeps traffic flowing pretty well. It rained a little on and off - more of a mist, really - and we came home and packed some things to mail home to clear up the luggage. It will be nice to have packages waiting for us when we get home.
The kids are playing chess again - there seems to be a lot of dialog among the "pieces," consisting of playful taunting and banter. Time to make dinner and then pack to leave for the Big Island tomorrow.
Aloha and love,
wb
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Hawaii, post 3
aloha and mahalo for reading. 😃
It's 9 AM local time, and we were up later last night than we've made it so far this trip. We are on the north shore of Kauai at our new location and this morning it is quite cool and windy, and raining intermittently. It's a good day to catch up on a few things - laundry, journals, organizing photos, planning for the day. We are at an Airbnb apartment in Princeville; it is a nice space albeit a bit strangely organized. This is an upstairs unit; the stairs go straight up from the front door. At the top of the stairs there's a hallway that turns left, off of which is a large bathroom on the right, a locked closet, one room to the left leading to the kitchen and porch, and at the end of the hall is the main bedroom. The bathroom is almost the size of one of my kids' bedrooms at home, but very curiously configured. There is a turn right as you get in the door, with a closet to the left and a long sink and bathroom counter to the right, beyond which is the toilet and a medicine cabinet filled with various things (including bug repellent). On the left is a tub/shower, and the far side of the tub is a large shelf leading to a little space extending beyond the tub and behind the closet. There's a window in the outer wall of the alcove that is not visible unless you stand in the tub and face the showerhead/closet. It's very strange and a little creepy, especially since there's no light above the tub (one thing I really like is a light in the shower or over the tub).
The "living room" has a TV stand with TV and a couch (folds out into a bed); a sliding glass door opens onto a porch, with a round glass table and three chairs. This is the dining area. The rain catches the edge of the glass table but the rest of it is dry. Just inside the patio door is a folding door about 3.5 feet wide which when opened reveals a "kitchen." My sister used to refer to her kitchen in the Detroit suburbs as the "microkitchen." If that is the case, then this would be the "nanokitchen." There is a sink and a counter, under which is a tiny fridge (big enough for a gallon of milk and a few other things, but not much) and a cupboard with a wastebasket. In the living room is a wire shelving unit with a cooktop, a toaster, a coffeemaker and a decorative bowl. The cooktop seems to be an induction, which I've never used, but am learning. I may have to investigate that more. There is also a small bookshelf with a few books and DVDs.
The main "bedroom" has a largeish (comparatively) closet with linens, hangers, boogie boards and snorkel equipment. There is a surfboard in the bedroom as well. Welcome to Hawaii. 🏄
There is a definite island influence to the decor, but also some Russian items, including a chess board made in the USSR, complete with babushka (matroyshka?) pawns. The kids are having a very lively game of chess, which I believe has just completed. There are "barn door"-type sliding doors with which one can close off the living room and the bedroom, so there is a lot of privacy.
Hm, apparently the chess game did not end altogether friendly. Good thing there is enough space in this place for us to have some time apart - we have been together a lot in the last 5 days, especially the kids.
So, back to Saturday. Another morning of excellent lectures, 10 minutes of which I skipped to trot over to watch the feeding of the koi in the lobby garden at 9 o'clock. The hotel staff give out little cups of food to observers to feed the fish, but the main feeding is by the hotel staff with a bucket and a scoop. When that scoop of food hits the water, the surface roils with fish. We even saw one fish out of the water on a shallow shelf, begging for food. After the initial excitement was over, I hiked back to the rest of the lectures, which went until 1 PM. The hotel staff had come for our luggage in the morning, and the kids left the room before noon (when checkout was) and hung out in the lobby, or watching the cockatoo that lives in the central garden of the hotel.
After my lectures, I located the kids and we walked out to get the car and come back to where our luggage was being held. Then we went to Costco (of course, there's a Costco) and got a couple of things, then headed north to Princeville, stopping on the way for groceries (and Girl Scout cookies). The rental car company provided a grocery store card on the key ring (as I think I said in the first post), so we were able to get "member prices." I still think that's a neat idea; I can't tell you how many grocery stores I've had to say, "I'm from out of town" when they ask for my card. Often the store clerk will use a universal card, but still, it's nice to know I have one to use. We got eggs, bread, carrots, milk, sliced turkey and cheese, and some pasta. It's hard when you're only going to be at a place for a few days to know how much food to get, because you don't want to overbuy. I think we did about right.
We found the apartment/condo without incident - it's right down the street from a condo at which I've stayed in the past, so it was a familiar area. We got our things in and settled, then walked down to the beach. This is not as easy as it sounds. It's probably a 15-minute hike down steep grass, then through the brush and woods, and down another steep slope that has some wooden planks as steps. Then up through the trrees and along side of a low cliff (well, a drop-off, anyway) that runs by the sea. Up and over some large rocks, including scaling down some of the larger ones, and voila, there you are, in a little cove, north of which the waves were probably 4 - 6 feet, but coming into the bay were much less. The beach there is very coarse sand among which you can find tiny shells that wash over from Ni'ihau, "the forbidden island" (ooh, that sounds so spooky to say).
We hung out at the beach for about 20 minutes, then decided to go back "home," where we fixed pasta for dinner; I played a very bad game of chess with the younger kid, and then we watched Finding Dory on Amazon Prime. What a cute movie. I didn't really like Finding Nemo (except for some parts of it) and I found Dory especially annoying in that movie, so I didn't think I'd like this one, but it surprised me, and made Dory a much more sympathetic character.
Now I have laundry hanging in the weird bathroom to dry, and I'm going to gather the kids and we're going to go out somewhere. I don't know if we'll hike, but we'll go somewhere.
Cheers,
wb
It's 9 AM local time, and we were up later last night than we've made it so far this trip. We are on the north shore of Kauai at our new location and this morning it is quite cool and windy, and raining intermittently. It's a good day to catch up on a few things - laundry, journals, organizing photos, planning for the day. We are at an Airbnb apartment in Princeville; it is a nice space albeit a bit strangely organized. This is an upstairs unit; the stairs go straight up from the front door. At the top of the stairs there's a hallway that turns left, off of which is a large bathroom on the right, a locked closet, one room to the left leading to the kitchen and porch, and at the end of the hall is the main bedroom. The bathroom is almost the size of one of my kids' bedrooms at home, but very curiously configured. There is a turn right as you get in the door, with a closet to the left and a long sink and bathroom counter to the right, beyond which is the toilet and a medicine cabinet filled with various things (including bug repellent). On the left is a tub/shower, and the far side of the tub is a large shelf leading to a little space extending beyond the tub and behind the closet. There's a window in the outer wall of the alcove that is not visible unless you stand in the tub and face the showerhead/closet. It's very strange and a little creepy, especially since there's no light above the tub (one thing I really like is a light in the shower or over the tub).
The "living room" has a TV stand with TV and a couch (folds out into a bed); a sliding glass door opens onto a porch, with a round glass table and three chairs. This is the dining area. The rain catches the edge of the glass table but the rest of it is dry. Just inside the patio door is a folding door about 3.5 feet wide which when opened reveals a "kitchen." My sister used to refer to her kitchen in the Detroit suburbs as the "microkitchen." If that is the case, then this would be the "nanokitchen." There is a sink and a counter, under which is a tiny fridge (big enough for a gallon of milk and a few other things, but not much) and a cupboard with a wastebasket. In the living room is a wire shelving unit with a cooktop, a toaster, a coffeemaker and a decorative bowl. The cooktop seems to be an induction, which I've never used, but am learning. I may have to investigate that more. There is also a small bookshelf with a few books and DVDs.
The main "bedroom" has a largeish (comparatively) closet with linens, hangers, boogie boards and snorkel equipment. There is a surfboard in the bedroom as well. Welcome to Hawaii. 🏄
There is a definite island influence to the decor, but also some Russian items, including a chess board made in the USSR, complete with babushka (matroyshka?) pawns. The kids are having a very lively game of chess, which I believe has just completed. There are "barn door"-type sliding doors with which one can close off the living room and the bedroom, so there is a lot of privacy.
Hm, apparently the chess game did not end altogether friendly. Good thing there is enough space in this place for us to have some time apart - we have been together a lot in the last 5 days, especially the kids.
So, back to Saturday. Another morning of excellent lectures, 10 minutes of which I skipped to trot over to watch the feeding of the koi in the lobby garden at 9 o'clock. The hotel staff give out little cups of food to observers to feed the fish, but the main feeding is by the hotel staff with a bucket and a scoop. When that scoop of food hits the water, the surface roils with fish. We even saw one fish out of the water on a shallow shelf, begging for food. After the initial excitement was over, I hiked back to the rest of the lectures, which went until 1 PM. The hotel staff had come for our luggage in the morning, and the kids left the room before noon (when checkout was) and hung out in the lobby, or watching the cockatoo that lives in the central garden of the hotel.
After my lectures, I located the kids and we walked out to get the car and come back to where our luggage was being held. Then we went to Costco (of course, there's a Costco) and got a couple of things, then headed north to Princeville, stopping on the way for groceries (and Girl Scout cookies). The rental car company provided a grocery store card on the key ring (as I think I said in the first post), so we were able to get "member prices." I still think that's a neat idea; I can't tell you how many grocery stores I've had to say, "I'm from out of town" when they ask for my card. Often the store clerk will use a universal card, but still, it's nice to know I have one to use. We got eggs, bread, carrots, milk, sliced turkey and cheese, and some pasta. It's hard when you're only going to be at a place for a few days to know how much food to get, because you don't want to overbuy. I think we did about right.
We found the apartment/condo without incident - it's right down the street from a condo at which I've stayed in the past, so it was a familiar area. We got our things in and settled, then walked down to the beach. This is not as easy as it sounds. It's probably a 15-minute hike down steep grass, then through the brush and woods, and down another steep slope that has some wooden planks as steps. Then up through the trrees and along side of a low cliff (well, a drop-off, anyway) that runs by the sea. Up and over some large rocks, including scaling down some of the larger ones, and voila, there you are, in a little cove, north of which the waves were probably 4 - 6 feet, but coming into the bay were much less. The beach there is very coarse sand among which you can find tiny shells that wash over from Ni'ihau, "the forbidden island" (ooh, that sounds so spooky to say).
We hung out at the beach for about 20 minutes, then decided to go back "home," where we fixed pasta for dinner; I played a very bad game of chess with the younger kid, and then we watched Finding Dory on Amazon Prime. What a cute movie. I didn't really like Finding Nemo (except for some parts of it) and I found Dory especially annoying in that movie, so I didn't think I'd like this one, but it surprised me, and made Dory a much more sympathetic character.
Now I have laundry hanging in the weird bathroom to dry, and I'm going to gather the kids and we're going to go out somewhere. I don't know if we'll hike, but we'll go somewhere.
Cheers,
wb
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Hawaii trip, post 2
Good morning. It's 5 AM local time and I'm out on the balcony in the dark, listening to the waves and writing.
I think I stopped Thursday morning, and I think it's Saturday today. :) Thursday we had another lovely breakfast buffet (included in the room fee - ought to be, the room is expensive enough) and then I went to lecture and the kids did whatever they do while I'm in lecture. I think they did some homework and then walked on the beach. The lectures are consistently good, which is one reason I like to attend these Symposia Medicus conferences (another reason is of course location). There are lectures on dermatology, pelvic pain, breast cancer screening, office "psychiatry" and more. I'm particularly looking forward to a psych lecture this morning on "the unexplained medical complaint." There's also another on "The difficult patient;" we all have some of those, so I look forward to seeing what he says. This psychiatrist prescribes books as well as meds and counseling, which I love, since I do that a lot myself.
After the lectures, which ended around 1, the kids and I ate our leftovers from the day before for lunch and then drove about 1/2 hour southwest to a town called Poi'pu on the south coast. We saw a blowhole called the Spouting Horn, which is an unusual one that has one site that spouts water and another that makes a groaning sound with the waves. It was very soothing to watch and listen, but there's not much else to see there (except for some vendors selling souvenirs and jewelry), so we headed east to a place called Makawehi, where we did an easy hike down to the lithified cliffs, which are limestone cliffs by the sea. From there it was an easy walk down to Shipwreck Beach (there were no wrecked ships that I could see), where we hung out for a little while.
After that we went to the town of Koloa, did a little shopping and had dinner. The restaurant was called the Garden Island Grille, and had burgers and such. The prices were decent (everything's more expensive here). The food was OK; the server was extremely enthusiastic, perhaps because we were eating dinner at 4:30, and talked us into burgers made with the local beef, which she said was amazing, and I thought was rather tasteless. I had a BBQ burger, and the sauce was mildly volcanic (I don't do hot stuff well) so I guess it evened out. I'm sorry to say that the fries were very good, and I probably consumed too many of them.
We shopped a bit more - we bought Hawaiian decks of cards with cool facts on them, and my younger daughter bought a stuffed "emoji" pineapple for her friend who likes pineapples (it's super cute). Then ICE CREAM. The prices were actually pretty close to any tourist place in Michigan, and the serving sizes commensurate. I had a Lilikoi sherbet - I love the Lilikoi soda here - and it was very good. There was a feral chicken lurking near us, and when one of us lost a bit of cone on the floor it disappeared immediately down its gullet. It was quite comical to watch when one piece went under the table; you could see the chicken contemplating how to get there without going near our feet and risking being kicked or stepped on (not that we would have done that). Finally it made a rush for it and gulped it down.
We drove back to the hotel and got there before dark (I have a strong dislike for driving in strange places in the dark) and then took showers and relaxed. I had a bit of a stomachache (perhaps from the local beef, or the hot BBQ sauce) so we turned off the lights around 8 PM.
In the morning Friday I felt much better. No lectures in the morning, as the breakout sessions were at 3 PM (I love the way this conference is scheduled). This left us free all morning and early afternoon to plan a longer adventure, so we had a somewhat later breakfast and drove about an hour to Waimea Canyon in the western part of the island. The speed limit up the mountain is 25 mph, which is about right, but we kept being passed (going the other way) by people going much faster than I would have been comfortable driving on the twists and turns and switchbacks. I was grateful for the 25 mph speed limit but not for the tailgaters. I pulled over when possible to let them speed by, but it wasn't always possible.
We stopped at a few lookouts, and then at the main overlook, then started searching for the trailhead for a particular hike. Once we found the place, though, it was getting late. It was a hike to a waterfall, listed as a "moderately strenuous" hike, but was pretty steep in places. We made it to a cliff overlook but 2/3 of us didn't think we could make it to the waterfall and back in time to get us back to the hotel in time for my afternoon lectures, so we bailed. We hiked for a good hour+, though, so it was not for nothing. Had we been there earlier, we may have done the whole thing. One of the kids is not as much a hiker as the other, so she was a deciding factor, as well as me having some issues with a trochanteric bursitis on one side (lower hip irritation).
We drove to the end of the road to see the Kalalau overlook, but it was very cloudy and we had to wait for the clouds to clear in order to see anything. I thought it was worth it, but the younger kid had had enough and was getting tired, so we called it a day and drove back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at a trading post that has a great selection of freshwater pearls, and the kids got a couple of souvenirs for themselves and their friends.
We got back just in time for me to get to my 3 PM session. There was another after that, and I got out around 6. There were lemon squares and brownies and such so I didn't feel too bad about missing lunch. The kids had some food back at the room, so they didn't starve. They went for a walk on the beach, and we got back to the room around the same time. We walked over away from the hotel, looking for a place to have dinner, and found a little hole-in-the-wall burger place that also had milkshakes and a very pleasant staff. We got take out; as we were waiting for our food, another family came up to order, and we started chatting. The mom is attending the conference and she was originally from Michigan (!), so we traded names and places for a bit until our food was ready.
By then it was raining (more of a hard mist than actual rain), so we got a bit damp but not too bad. The burgers were GREAT (much better than the other restaurant, sorry) and the milkshakes were just what the doctor ordered. ;)
We watched some Studio C videos on YouTube on the hotel TV, and then went to bed around 8 or 8:30.
Today we have to check out around noon, which is nice, because then the kids don't have to wander around homeless for a couple of hours while my conference finishes. After that we will go grocery shopping and then drive up to our AirBnB place on the north side of the island. Stay tuned.
aloha,
wb
I think I stopped Thursday morning, and I think it's Saturday today. :) Thursday we had another lovely breakfast buffet (included in the room fee - ought to be, the room is expensive enough) and then I went to lecture and the kids did whatever they do while I'm in lecture. I think they did some homework and then walked on the beach. The lectures are consistently good, which is one reason I like to attend these Symposia Medicus conferences (another reason is of course location). There are lectures on dermatology, pelvic pain, breast cancer screening, office "psychiatry" and more. I'm particularly looking forward to a psych lecture this morning on "the unexplained medical complaint." There's also another on "The difficult patient;" we all have some of those, so I look forward to seeing what he says. This psychiatrist prescribes books as well as meds and counseling, which I love, since I do that a lot myself.
After the lectures, which ended around 1, the kids and I ate our leftovers from the day before for lunch and then drove about 1/2 hour southwest to a town called Poi'pu on the south coast. We saw a blowhole called the Spouting Horn, which is an unusual one that has one site that spouts water and another that makes a groaning sound with the waves. It was very soothing to watch and listen, but there's not much else to see there (except for some vendors selling souvenirs and jewelry), so we headed east to a place called Makawehi, where we did an easy hike down to the lithified cliffs, which are limestone cliffs by the sea. From there it was an easy walk down to Shipwreck Beach (there were no wrecked ships that I could see), where we hung out for a little while.
After that we went to the town of Koloa, did a little shopping and had dinner. The restaurant was called the Garden Island Grille, and had burgers and such. The prices were decent (everything's more expensive here). The food was OK; the server was extremely enthusiastic, perhaps because we were eating dinner at 4:30, and talked us into burgers made with the local beef, which she said was amazing, and I thought was rather tasteless. I had a BBQ burger, and the sauce was mildly volcanic (I don't do hot stuff well) so I guess it evened out. I'm sorry to say that the fries were very good, and I probably consumed too many of them.
We shopped a bit more - we bought Hawaiian decks of cards with cool facts on them, and my younger daughter bought a stuffed "emoji" pineapple for her friend who likes pineapples (it's super cute). Then ICE CREAM. The prices were actually pretty close to any tourist place in Michigan, and the serving sizes commensurate. I had a Lilikoi sherbet - I love the Lilikoi soda here - and it was very good. There was a feral chicken lurking near us, and when one of us lost a bit of cone on the floor it disappeared immediately down its gullet. It was quite comical to watch when one piece went under the table; you could see the chicken contemplating how to get there without going near our feet and risking being kicked or stepped on (not that we would have done that). Finally it made a rush for it and gulped it down.
We drove back to the hotel and got there before dark (I have a strong dislike for driving in strange places in the dark) and then took showers and relaxed. I had a bit of a stomachache (perhaps from the local beef, or the hot BBQ sauce) so we turned off the lights around 8 PM.
In the morning Friday I felt much better. No lectures in the morning, as the breakout sessions were at 3 PM (I love the way this conference is scheduled). This left us free all morning and early afternoon to plan a longer adventure, so we had a somewhat later breakfast and drove about an hour to Waimea Canyon in the western part of the island. The speed limit up the mountain is 25 mph, which is about right, but we kept being passed (going the other way) by people going much faster than I would have been comfortable driving on the twists and turns and switchbacks. I was grateful for the 25 mph speed limit but not for the tailgaters. I pulled over when possible to let them speed by, but it wasn't always possible.
We stopped at a few lookouts, and then at the main overlook, then started searching for the trailhead for a particular hike. Once we found the place, though, it was getting late. It was a hike to a waterfall, listed as a "moderately strenuous" hike, but was pretty steep in places. We made it to a cliff overlook but 2/3 of us didn't think we could make it to the waterfall and back in time to get us back to the hotel in time for my afternoon lectures, so we bailed. We hiked for a good hour+, though, so it was not for nothing. Had we been there earlier, we may have done the whole thing. One of the kids is not as much a hiker as the other, so she was a deciding factor, as well as me having some issues with a trochanteric bursitis on one side (lower hip irritation).
We drove to the end of the road to see the Kalalau overlook, but it was very cloudy and we had to wait for the clouds to clear in order to see anything. I thought it was worth it, but the younger kid had had enough and was getting tired, so we called it a day and drove back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at a trading post that has a great selection of freshwater pearls, and the kids got a couple of souvenirs for themselves and their friends.
We got back just in time for me to get to my 3 PM session. There was another after that, and I got out around 6. There were lemon squares and brownies and such so I didn't feel too bad about missing lunch. The kids had some food back at the room, so they didn't starve. They went for a walk on the beach, and we got back to the room around the same time. We walked over away from the hotel, looking for a place to have dinner, and found a little hole-in-the-wall burger place that also had milkshakes and a very pleasant staff. We got take out; as we were waiting for our food, another family came up to order, and we started chatting. The mom is attending the conference and she was originally from Michigan (!), so we traded names and places for a bit until our food was ready.
By then it was raining (more of a hard mist than actual rain), so we got a bit damp but not too bad. The burgers were GREAT (much better than the other restaurant, sorry) and the milkshakes were just what the doctor ordered. ;)
We watched some Studio C videos on YouTube on the hotel TV, and then went to bed around 8 or 8:30.
Today we have to check out around noon, which is nice, because then the kids don't have to wander around homeless for a couple of hours while my conference finishes. After that we will go grocery shopping and then drive up to our AirBnB place on the north side of the island. Stay tuned.
aloha,
wb
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Hawaii trip - first post
Aloha. :)
This is the first time in two days I've had time or energy to sit down and recount our recent travels. It's Thursday close to 5 AM local time and we haven't adjusted to the new time yet, so I'm sitting out on the balcony of the hotel room under a nearly full moon, listening to the ocean (and the feral roosters) and smelling the bacon cooking for breakfast. We technically don't have an "ocean view" room because I booked the cheapest one available, but we can see part of the pool and a slice of the bay if we stand near the balcony railing, which is good enough for me.
Tuesday was a day full of hurry-up-and wait. We got up at 4:45 AM and a kind friend drove us to the airport by 6 for a 7:15 flight. They are doing a lot of construction on the airport, and the TSA check-in has changed to be more central. It's less relaxed now. I don't care for the change though I can appreciate the efficiency of it. Of course we all were stopped because we were wearing travel pants with zipper pockets in weird places, plus they took my bag off to inspect because I had a "knife," which was really a multi-tool that doesn't have a blade in it. I should have been smart enough to carry that in my purse; I will remember that next time. The guy who had to inspect my bag was a big fellow, and it was a bit comical to watch him trying to open all the attachments of the tool with his big gloved fingers. I didn't laugh, at least not audibly, because I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to laugh at the TSA officer. They are almost all very kind in our airport, though, so it wasn't a big deal. My older kid always gets nervous "around people in uniform," she says, which is unfortunate. Then she worries that her anxiety may make her appear suspicious. Sigh. We made it through OK.
Our flight to Denver was not only on time but we got in 25 minutes early. That gave us enough time to scout out some breakfast and fill our water bottles before we had to board our plane for Honolulu. That flight was full but not terrible, and we got in 30 minutes early. Our next flight wasn't scheduled to leave for 4 more hours, so we had an extended time in the airport, which is not very exciting (couldn't go outside to enjoy the nice weather, for example). We paid $10 each for two micro pizzas and a sandwich, and mostly sat around. It was getting close to our bedtime and we had gotten up very early so the kids were getting more and more frazzled (the older one goes to bed by 9 or she's toast).
Fortunately, there was a K9 dog training exercise going on right near our gate, in which various dogs were learning to track a guy with a scented bracelet on his ankle. We watched 5 or 6 dogs go through with varying levels of success. They were cute dogs like pointers and labs, not scary guard dogs such as German shepherds or dobermans, and when each one finally found his or her target, s/he lay down and was rewarded with a ball or squeaky toy. Listening to the dogs chomp on their squeaky toys made them even less intimidating. It was nice to have that to watch while we waited. There were also some birds in the waiting area, having flown in somewhere, including a pigeon that had only one foot and was walking around on the stump. It seemed to be getting along all right, though. The birds tended to hang out near the restaurants - smart birds.
We finally got our inter-island flight, which was about half an hour in duration, and then got quickly to the rental car place. Budget gives customers a grocery card to use at a certain grocery store to get the good prices, which I thought was a very neat idea. We will use it when we leave the hotel in a few days and go up north.
I was disappointed to find out that one of the hikes I wanted to do with the kids was not going to be available, because of flooding last year which washed out the road. It sounds as if it was a terrible experience for the people living beyond the washout, and is still very difficult because any traffic has to convoy because the road is only one lane. We will find other things to do, certainly, but wow.
The hotel is only 2 miles from the airport so it didn't take us long (although we did get turned around a couple of times) to get in and get settled. By this time it was after midnight by our EDT clocks, so we took showers and went to bed at 7:30 local time.
Because of this we were up early yesterday, but the restaurant opens an hour early during the conference to accommodate the number of people with breakfast vouchers. There is a fine print thing I didn't see that says I will have to pay an extra $50 a day because I have three "adults" and the room only is for two (13 and up is considered an adult, even though someone who is 13 can't drink, vote, sign legal documents or even drive). The course coordinator is looking into that for me, to see if I can pay for the breakfast separately, because it seems silly that in a room labeled to accommodate 4 people I would have to pay extra to house my dependent child. We'll see how that works out.
The kids slept about 10 or 11 hours and woke up very refreshed before 5. We walked around a bit to find the conference room where I would be all morning, and then went to breakfast. Wow, what a buffet. All kinds of waffles/french toast/pancakes; made-to-order omelettes; smoked salmon; cheeses; fresh pineapple, mango and melon; bacon, sausage, hash brown, cereal, fruit juices, chocolate and white milk.... I didn't need to eat lunch until later. The food was very good.
I checked into my conference at 7, and the lectures started at 8. The conference is very good so far - "Care of women over 50" - but there were one or two things that were more specific for OB/GYN than for a mere family doc (since I don't operate). Overall, though, I am already learning things.
The dermatologist made a mistake in her lecture, calling a certain condition that can cause an enlarged nose (rhinophyma) "C S Lewis nose." I went up to her after and apologetically said, "I think you made a mistake when you called rhinophyma C S Lewis nose - didn't you mean W C Fields?" She laughed and said, "You're right - my son and I just finished reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I asked if she had read the other books and she said with interest, "No, are they good? We read a family book together and I don't have any ideas." Since I've been reading to the girls since they were tiny, we have a long list of good ones, so I told her I'd be happy to give her some ideas. :)
After the conference (during which the girls slept, did some homework by the pool, and read), the three of us drove to Costco (of course there's a Costco) to get sunscreen (which we couldn't bring on the plane because we only take carry-ons). I was glad to do that because the Costco was only 2 miles away, and they had two containers (plus a small tube) of sunscreen for $12.50, and the hotel wanted $20 for one of the same size. I could make a killing selling some on the side.... but I'd probably get thrown out of the hotel. ;)
We grabbed some lunch at the grocery store deli, and took it back to the hotel. After we ate we went down to the pool, which is difficult to describe. It's 4 feet deep all the way around, and is in a big circle around a central "island" connected by a bridge. We swam and splashed for an hour or so, then went back to shower and change for a reception put on by the conference. They had appetizers that were amazing but I was so full from all the other food I'd eaten that day that I couldn't really enjoy it. They had some trivia questions (my younger kid won a t-shirt) and then we chatted with the dermatologist about books for a while, then walked on the beach and went back to the room to crash. We watched a few YouTube comedy sketches and then went to bed by 8 local time. Maybe we'll be able to stay up later tonight.
That is for now,
cheers and aloha,
WB
Saturday, August 4, 2018
DISNEY! (part 1 of 2)
Hi there, everyone.
Thursday August 2 we got up pretty early (we've adjusted to this time zone now, just in time for it to feel too early to get up) to get to the Disney parks by 7:30. They are only 15 miles away but with the traffic around here, it took us probably 45 minutes to get to the parking lot, and then another 10 minutes to take the bus, then through the bag inspection lines and then the metal detectors.... Wow. I had read about it and we were prepared, but boy, they are thorough.
We used a thing called RideMax, which is a service that charges $15 for 90 days, and allows you to put in the date, which rides you want to go on, how many times each, your time of first ride, your walking pace, and whether you will be using the FastPass system (choose digital or physical), and plugs all these factors into a giant Disneyland algorithm to figure out how to do the parks. We tried it for California Adventure first (since that's the first park we did) and although we deviated slightly from the plan due to very short lines on some things, it worked pretty well. We ended up getting the digital Maxpass, which allows you to order Fastpasses on your phone (you can get a new one every 55 minutes or something like that) as well as providing access to all the photos, included in the cost. I was initially hesitant to add that, because it was $10/person/day, but I think it was wall worth it, in hind sight. I would definitely recommend the RideMax subscription as well, plus an e-book of "tips and tricks" (that was an extra $7) which served us well.
Thursday at Disney California Adventure (hereafter called DCA), we started with getting a Fastpass (FP) for a popular ride and headed for Pixar Pier. The Incredicoaster (what they're calling the big roller coaster there now that it's Pixar Fest) was... not open yet. So we did the Silly Symphony Swings (which were like the swings I enjoy at the fair, but on steroids), which had no line (so we thought it was closed as well, until we asked) and headed for Grizzly River Run, which was... also not open yet. So we did Soarin' Around the World, which was SO COOL, but ended abruptly because a kid's hat fell out of the under seat storage (which I found out by eavesdropping on the cast member who was talking to the family to whom it happened). I wanted to see how it really ended (I think we were close when they stopped it) and there was still no line so I asked the girls if we could do it again, and we did. It was a virtual ride with some movement but had the breeze and the smells as well as the movement, visuals and sound. I really liked it.
After that we had a FP for Guardians of the Galaxy- MISSION BREAKOUT in the Hollywood section. That was fun but mostly terrifying, being jerked up and down at speed with sudden stops. I think I'm too old for this kind of thing. The Guardians of the Galaxy visuals were fun but too short, and then the ride was over. I wouldn't wait more than 20 minutes for it - wait, what am I saying? I wouldn't wait for it at all, because I didn't like it that much. The kids loved it, though. The exits are very clever, funneling you out through the gift shop. There was some Marvel stuff there - Captain America shirts and Avengers pins and books and stuff. I bought a baby Groot because it was SO CUTE, but I didn't buy it until later (went back for it).
After that we went on the Grizzly River Run, which is a water ride in a circular "car." I got one of the seats next to the opening, and I was the destination for most of the water - the thing rotates as it travels, so we never knew which end would be down on the hills. I was pretty much soaked by the end, but the day was already warm, and we had planned ahead, wearing our swim togs under our quick-dry clothes, and packing our important things in plastic zip bags. Oh, the cleverness of us.
The Incredicoaster was open by then, with a 70-minute wait, and I knew I would not do well on that, so I let the girls wait in line and ride it while I walked around, shopped, let my clothes dry, and wandered over to the lockers to get our food so we could eat. It was lunchtime by the time they got off the ride (11:40). We found a shady table and ate the sandwiches we had brought. The Disney parks are pretty good about water, having cups of ice water ready for the asking at pretty much any fast food joint, so we refilled our water bottles often.
We had a FP for Radiator Springs Racers, which was a Cars-themed ride. The Cars Land was pretty clever - I'll probably say it again, but Disney does environments/ambiance VERY well - and we got on to the ride in a very few minutes. It was a really popular ride - the RideMax program was very good about letting us know which FP to get in which order, because the more popular rides had FP availability pushed out several hours. We did some shopping in there as well. We got another Grizzly River Run pass for mid-afternoon (it was pretty hot by then) and my younger kid got the splash seat that time, though we all got wet. We changed our clothes after that - bless the $10/day Disney locker - and wandered around some more, looking at all the increased ride times for things we had stood in line for mere minutes, and smirked to ourselves. :)
By 4:30 we were really tired so we packed it in, picked up our stuff from the locker and headed home, which took almost an hour. We took a couple of wrong turns, partly because my navigator wasn't paying strictest attention in places, but mostly because the roads here are REALLY WEIRD. For example, on the highways, they add two lanes on the right, then make all traffic merge left as they cut them off again, so one is constantly merging to the left. I vaguely remember that from when I lived in San Diego in 1990, wondering as I headed toward LA whether I was going to drive into the Pacific from all the merging right. We got home just before 7 and we were all so tired we didn't eat dinner, even though all we'd had to eat was a turkey sandwich, pretzels and some ice cream all day. We were all in bed by 9 and sleeping deeply.
And that's a good place to end for the time being.
cheers,
wb
Hi there, everyone.
Thursday August 2 we got up pretty early (we've adjusted to this time zone now, just in time for it to feel too early to get up) to get to the Disney parks by 7:30. They are only 15 miles away but with the traffic around here, it took us probably 45 minutes to get to the parking lot, and then another 10 minutes to take the bus, then through the bag inspection lines and then the metal detectors.... Wow. I had read about it and we were prepared, but boy, they are thorough.
We used a thing called RideMax, which is a service that charges $15 for 90 days, and allows you to put in the date, which rides you want to go on, how many times each, your time of first ride, your walking pace, and whether you will be using the FastPass system (choose digital or physical), and plugs all these factors into a giant Disneyland algorithm to figure out how to do the parks. We tried it for California Adventure first (since that's the first park we did) and although we deviated slightly from the plan due to very short lines on some things, it worked pretty well. We ended up getting the digital Maxpass, which allows you to order Fastpasses on your phone (you can get a new one every 55 minutes or something like that) as well as providing access to all the photos, included in the cost. I was initially hesitant to add that, because it was $10/person/day, but I think it was wall worth it, in hind sight. I would definitely recommend the RideMax subscription as well, plus an e-book of "tips and tricks" (that was an extra $7) which served us well.
Thursday at Disney California Adventure (hereafter called DCA), we started with getting a Fastpass (FP) for a popular ride and headed for Pixar Pier. The Incredicoaster (what they're calling the big roller coaster there now that it's Pixar Fest) was... not open yet. So we did the Silly Symphony Swings (which were like the swings I enjoy at the fair, but on steroids), which had no line (so we thought it was closed as well, until we asked) and headed for Grizzly River Run, which was... also not open yet. So we did Soarin' Around the World, which was SO COOL, but ended abruptly because a kid's hat fell out of the under seat storage (which I found out by eavesdropping on the cast member who was talking to the family to whom it happened). I wanted to see how it really ended (I think we were close when they stopped it) and there was still no line so I asked the girls if we could do it again, and we did. It was a virtual ride with some movement but had the breeze and the smells as well as the movement, visuals and sound. I really liked it.
After that we had a FP for Guardians of the Galaxy- MISSION BREAKOUT in the Hollywood section. That was fun but mostly terrifying, being jerked up and down at speed with sudden stops. I think I'm too old for this kind of thing. The Guardians of the Galaxy visuals were fun but too short, and then the ride was over. I wouldn't wait more than 20 minutes for it - wait, what am I saying? I wouldn't wait for it at all, because I didn't like it that much. The kids loved it, though. The exits are very clever, funneling you out through the gift shop. There was some Marvel stuff there - Captain America shirts and Avengers pins and books and stuff. I bought a baby Groot because it was SO CUTE, but I didn't buy it until later (went back for it).
After that we went on the Grizzly River Run, which is a water ride in a circular "car." I got one of the seats next to the opening, and I was the destination for most of the water - the thing rotates as it travels, so we never knew which end would be down on the hills. I was pretty much soaked by the end, but the day was already warm, and we had planned ahead, wearing our swim togs under our quick-dry clothes, and packing our important things in plastic zip bags. Oh, the cleverness of us.
The Incredicoaster was open by then, with a 70-minute wait, and I knew I would not do well on that, so I let the girls wait in line and ride it while I walked around, shopped, let my clothes dry, and wandered over to the lockers to get our food so we could eat. It was lunchtime by the time they got off the ride (11:40). We found a shady table and ate the sandwiches we had brought. The Disney parks are pretty good about water, having cups of ice water ready for the asking at pretty much any fast food joint, so we refilled our water bottles often.
We had a FP for Radiator Springs Racers, which was a Cars-themed ride. The Cars Land was pretty clever - I'll probably say it again, but Disney does environments/ambiance VERY well - and we got on to the ride in a very few minutes. It was a really popular ride - the RideMax program was very good about letting us know which FP to get in which order, because the more popular rides had FP availability pushed out several hours. We did some shopping in there as well. We got another Grizzly River Run pass for mid-afternoon (it was pretty hot by then) and my younger kid got the splash seat that time, though we all got wet. We changed our clothes after that - bless the $10/day Disney locker - and wandered around some more, looking at all the increased ride times for things we had stood in line for mere minutes, and smirked to ourselves. :)
By 4:30 we were really tired so we packed it in, picked up our stuff from the locker and headed home, which took almost an hour. We took a couple of wrong turns, partly because my navigator wasn't paying strictest attention in places, but mostly because the roads here are REALLY WEIRD. For example, on the highways, they add two lanes on the right, then make all traffic merge left as they cut them off again, so one is constantly merging to the left. I vaguely remember that from when I lived in San Diego in 1990, wondering as I headed toward LA whether I was going to drive into the Pacific from all the merging right. We got home just before 7 and we were all so tired we didn't eat dinner, even though all we'd had to eat was a turkey sandwich, pretzels and some ice cream all day. We were all in bed by 9 and sleeping deeply.
And that's a good place to end for the time being.
cheers,
wb
Catching up - again.
Today is Saturday, and it's been a busy week. Monday we were still in the San Diego area and we went to the Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park). The park is about 45 minutes from where we were staying, in an amazing semi-mountainous area. We saw pretty much everything we wanted to see, including the Safari Tour. We were a bit disappointed that the balloon experience (a tethered hot air balloon "ride") was not functioning due to the wind that had picked up during the afternoon. Other than that, it was very satisfactory. It was nearly 100 degrees so we went slowly.
My younger kid wanted "face painting," but on her arm. I convinced her to get a henna tattoo instead, which will last a lot longer and wasn't significantly more expensive. She got a barn owl in her right forearm. The artist, a guy named Alex Boston, did a pretty good job.
We were very tired when we got home and pretty much had leftovers, took showers and fell into bed.
Tuesday we went to Seacoast Village, a little collection of shops and restaurants on the harbor (hence the name) that we heard (from our Old Town tour guide, Philip-with-just-one-L-still-Phil) had been designed and built by Disney in 1980. I had been there before (probably 35+ years ago now) and remembered liking it. We did some shopping, got some soft pretzels and some ice cream, walked around the harbor, and came home. Then we packed and watched a movie (see last blog).
Wednesday was kind of a lazy morning, because we weren't due to check into our next Airbnb until 1 PM, and had promised not to arrive before then (the host said they wanted to do a "thorough cleaning" - can't argue with that), and we didn't have to check out of our current digs until noon. We left around 11:30, and it was a 2+-hour drive to the next place. With the LA area traffic and construction, we didn't roll in until 1:30ish.
Our current lodgings are amazing. The last place was nice, but this is a cottage, one of 6 that share a small pool. It has two bedrooms, a living room, dining nook, kitchen and bathroom. It is very spacious and has AC in all the rooms. The decor is wonderful, very beach-themed (though I think we are pretty far from the beach). We had a problem with tiny ants in the kitchen on our first night (Wednesday night) but we let the hosts know and they took care of the problem while we were gone Thursday. The master bed is like a big marshmallow - one sinks into it and has trouble getting out, it's so soft. I'm sleeping well on it, so that's a good thing, but it feel so odd. The girls have a bedroom with two twin beds; they are excited to have their own space.
For dinner we ordered pizza (take-out) from a local place based on recommendation of the host. He's right; it was very good, and I don't really like pizza much. We went to bed fairly early because we had to get up early for our Disney adventures.
I think I'll do the two Disney days in a separate post (or possibly two).
peace,
wb
Today is Saturday, and it's been a busy week. Monday we were still in the San Diego area and we went to the Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park). The park is about 45 minutes from where we were staying, in an amazing semi-mountainous area. We saw pretty much everything we wanted to see, including the Safari Tour. We were a bit disappointed that the balloon experience (a tethered hot air balloon "ride") was not functioning due to the wind that had picked up during the afternoon. Other than that, it was very satisfactory. It was nearly 100 degrees so we went slowly.
My younger kid wanted "face painting," but on her arm. I convinced her to get a henna tattoo instead, which will last a lot longer and wasn't significantly more expensive. She got a barn owl in her right forearm. The artist, a guy named Alex Boston, did a pretty good job.
We were very tired when we got home and pretty much had leftovers, took showers and fell into bed.
Tuesday we went to Seacoast Village, a little collection of shops and restaurants on the harbor (hence the name) that we heard (from our Old Town tour guide, Philip-with-just-one-L-still-Phil) had been designed and built by Disney in 1980. I had been there before (probably 35+ years ago now) and remembered liking it. We did some shopping, got some soft pretzels and some ice cream, walked around the harbor, and came home. Then we packed and watched a movie (see last blog).
Wednesday was kind of a lazy morning, because we weren't due to check into our next Airbnb until 1 PM, and had promised not to arrive before then (the host said they wanted to do a "thorough cleaning" - can't argue with that), and we didn't have to check out of our current digs until noon. We left around 11:30, and it was a 2+-hour drive to the next place. With the LA area traffic and construction, we didn't roll in until 1:30ish.
Our current lodgings are amazing. The last place was nice, but this is a cottage, one of 6 that share a small pool. It has two bedrooms, a living room, dining nook, kitchen and bathroom. It is very spacious and has AC in all the rooms. The decor is wonderful, very beach-themed (though I think we are pretty far from the beach). We had a problem with tiny ants in the kitchen on our first night (Wednesday night) but we let the hosts know and they took care of the problem while we were gone Thursday. The master bed is like a big marshmallow - one sinks into it and has trouble getting out, it's so soft. I'm sleeping well on it, so that's a good thing, but it feel so odd. The girls have a bedroom with two twin beds; they are excited to have their own space.
For dinner we ordered pizza (take-out) from a local place based on recommendation of the host. He's right; it was very good, and I don't really like pizza much. We went to bed fairly early because we had to get up early for our Disney adventures.
I think I'll do the two Disney days in a separate post (or possibly two).
peace,
wb
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