Our
25th Wedding Anniversary Trip
~ A bit early!.....
The
20th was our day to start 'the trip'. We closed
everything up at the motorhome and left around 2pm. We made a quick
stop at the flea market to pickup the sunshade drop for the motorhome
and then headed to Coachella. We arrived at Spotlight 29 Casino
around 530p. We had a happy hour glass of wine and then a slice of
pizza for dinner. From there it was standing in line for 40 minutes
for the doors to open for the free Elton John Tribute concert. It
was excellent. We were in the third row so we had a great view of
his piano playing which was awesome. His name of Kenny Metcalf and
the Early Years Band. He played for over an hour and a half. We
then drove to Danny's where we overnighted.
On
the 21st Dixie did a little cleaning at Danny's condo and
then we realized somehow Mike's flipflops got left behind. We had a
breakfast at Micky D's and then found some flipflops at Marshall’s.
We then headed to Riverside to Aunt Marge's. We had a nice
afternoon and evening visiting.
We
started our long day on the 22nd attending church with
Marge and then she drove us to meet up with Doug. We all had lunch a
Marie Calendar’s in Buena Park. We left there around 1230p for the
Courtyard Marriott in El Segundo where we were to park the pickup
while we are gone. Well we ran into a bit of a snaffo as they said
we had a reservation for our overnight on the 30th , they
did NOT have any parking. They advised they didn't have park and
fly agreement with Hotels.com/Expedia and also their parking was
closed for that package deal. After much to do and phone calls, the
manager agreed to let us park there. We caught the 2p shuttle to the
airport and got checked in and through security in record time –
about 15 minutes. We spent a little time in the United Club prior to
our 440pm flight. We got exit row seats all together which gave use
plenty of leg room...first would have been better but it was not to
be!!! We arrived in Maui at 720p. It took awhile to get our bags
and to the rental car place. We arrived at the World Mark Condo
around 9pm. We visited with Fran and Camilla before we pooped out
around 11pm. We took a sleeping pill to overcome the jetlag/time
change.
The
23rd
we went for a walk and ended up at the place Camilla is renting for
the month. We walked back via the ocean side. We packed up our
beach stuff and headed out around noon. We made sandwiches and made
a stop at the ABC Store and we were off. We drove south and took in
the scenery. We stopped at a beach south of Waila...we think it as
Po'olenalena Beach. We had our lunch and spent the afternoon there.
We were in the water riding the waves in when a big wave came over
the top of us...Dixie's glasses and visor came off. We thought the
glasses were long gone...we saw them on the beach after one wave but
couldn't get to them in time. We all searched and luckily another
man on the beach located them on the ocean floor. Very thankful for
that. On the way back to the hotel we drove into the Four Season's
Hotel complex...Fran's Nephew, Tim works at Spado's, a restaurant
there. We then went to the grocery store and bought hamburger for
dinner. We made a great meal back at the condo. Groceries and
eating out is quite 'spendy' here!
The
24th....Doug
and Fran left shortly after 7am for their Helicopter ride to view
Haleakala/Hana. They had a wonderful time. We went for a walk as
the Helo ride was not in our budget. We drove to Lahinia in the
afternoon and a bit further north on the island. We made a a few
stops to view some scenery. We had a happy hour drink in Lahina
overlooking the water. It was a bit windy. From there Doug/Fran
dropped us off at the theater to see the 'Ulalena' show. It was a
great show of the Hawaiian History. Thanks Doug & Fran for the
tickets for our Anniversary. After the show we went to a great
Chinese restaurant called Fu Lin.
The
25th
we started our day out early. We had to be at the Lahina pier at
715a (a 45 minutes drive from the condo). We went on a snorkel tour
to the Island of Lanai with 'Captain Steve's'. Our captain was
Jonathan and his mate was Mika. We saw some whales on the way over.
It was windy and the weather was iffy so they had a hard time finding
a good snorkeling spot. We went quite a ways around the island. We
made two snorkel stops and also had lunch on the boat. It was a good
snorkel...saw lots of fish. The trip back was more than rough. We
all got soaked. The weather was a bit dicy so we had to take the
long way back...however, we did see several whales. One calf slapped
his tale several times for us! We were pretty beat after that ride
so we headed back to the condo in Kehie.
The
26th
was travel day. We left Maui on the 1203p flight which was about a ½
hour late. We didn't think we were going to get seats but at the
last minute they had some no-shows. We arrived in Kona around 1p.
We got our rental car (got an upgrade from a full size to a Ford
Explorer) and were off to the condo...this World Mark room looks just
like the other one! Bonnie (Fran's sister came over) to visit. We
went to the store and bought snacks – that was dinner!
The
27th
we took a drive south. We stopped on the roadside for a Huli Huli
Chicken plate lunch...it was wonderful. Then we checked out the
beaches. Next stop was a tour of the Greenwell Coffee Farm. It was
very interesting and informative...we have never seen coffee trees
before. We then went to a beach called Two Step near,........State
Park. Doug/Fran dove and snorkeled here before. We had rented
snorkel gear at Big Island Divers in the morning so we got in the
water to snorkel. This spot has lots of colorful fish...Tang and
Parrot fish were the coolest. Of course right after we got out of
the water we say the dolphin fins! We met Bonnie & Michael
(boyfriend) for dinner at Quinn's....we enjoyed some wonderful fish
and seafood!
The
28th
we drove to the north point of the Big Island. We saw where Bonnie
teaches and then to the end of the road where we were high up
overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful site. From there we drove
back over the mountain and returned via Wiama. All in all we put on
over 200 miles. We went to Bonnie & Michael's that evening. We
met two other couples and we all sat on the beach at their condo and
watched to the sunset and enjoyed some drinks and snacks! It was a
beautiful setting and a fun time!
The
29th
we all took advantage of Bonnie...We treated ourselves to a massage!
It was wonderful. After all that we went to the Harbor House for a
late lunch. We enjoyed some fresh fish! It was quite cloudy and it
rained a bit. We had planned to snorkel again but decided against
that due to the weather. We went to the pool/hotub instead. The rest
of the day we packed. Dixie cut Michael and Bonnie's hair. Around
830p we decided we needed something else to eat so we made a run to
McDonald's!
The
30th
was the day to leave the islands. We packed up and headed to
breakfast – another trip to the Big Island Grill. There food is
wonderful and local! From there we drove south and checked out a bit
more of the island. We ended up at the car rental return just after
noon. We got checked into at the airport for our 152p flight and
went to the gate. The flight had 6-7 seats up until that point.
Suddenly there were non. The agent said she may have one seat....we
would take two but not just one. Well – we didn't get on and the
next flight that wasn't until 834p was also full. It was time to
make some decisions. There was a Lavaman Triathlon in Kona on Sunday
and that may have been the cause for the flight fluctuation. Tue.
the flight was also full so Dixie started checking other options. We
found the flight out of Honolulu had 100 open seats. We then decided
to purchase passes online on Hawaiian Airlines. We headed to that
gate and got on the flight leaving at 311p.
Once
in Honolulu we went to the United Club. Dixie had packed her card by
mistake but we managed to all get in the club. It was a much better
place to pass the 4-5 hr wait time. The flight was scheduled for
845p but was delayed for an hour due to Guam connections. We had a
sandwich at Quiznos and went to the gate. The flight ended up not
taking off until 11pm. So much for our $247 hotel in LA for Monday
night.
March
31st
– we arrived in LA around 630am. Our bags were there as they
traveled on the original flight from Kona. We arrived at the hotel
at 715am. We checked into the room and slept for 3 hours. We
checked out at noon and headed to Riverside to pick up our car. We
stopped at the same Marie Calendar’s in Buena Park for lunch. We
got to Aunt Marge's around 230p. We visited for a bit and then took
off for Yuma. We arrived at the motorhome around 730p. It was a
very long 2 days....but a very fun time in Hawaii!
