9/20/19

Up at 4:45am. So early. The shuttle takes off for the airport at 5:55am. One last trip to the truck. Ugh. Kind of creepy in the dark. Dropped off my hotel travel bag and left the car key too. I just need to remember the code…… I put it in my phone lol. Jumped on the shuttle and it only took about five minutes to get there. Dropped off my bag. Incidentally, I get one checked bag for every singular reservation made. That translates into, Kasey and Liz have to pay to check a bag because I booked our flight together…so ridiculous. I came up with TSA pre-check so I didn’t have to take off my shoes or stand in a long line. I did, however, have to have my hands swabbed with some unknown chemical. It was a random alert that came up. Both my bags went through with no problems. We made it to the gate with about 30 minutes to spare before boarding time.

Camden looks a little grumpy lol. He got up at 4 am and did not sleep on the way to Portland.

I am sitting in 11J extra comfort seating. Basically the first seat right after first class ends. Which by the way, first class is pretty lame. We are flying on a A321 neo, whatever that is. Not a very large plane so its nothing like when I rode to Hawaii in 2017. The only thing that separates the privileged from the commoners is a mesh curtain lol.

Krystal, Randy, Camden, Kasey and Liz are back in rows 43 and 44. Their preference. Not sure why.

Hawaiian Airlines is the only airline that serves a meal free of charge. Egg, cheese and mushroom sandwich, pineapple/coconut bar and a Honolulu cookie. Two of the three were full of gluten so I rolled up the egg and mushrooms, ate the bar and I will save the cookie for later when I am not stuck on an airplane full of people. I would rather not use the restroom…I may have to later but for now I’m okay.

okay.

I watched 3 episodes of the new 911 on the Hawaiian app and another 3 episodes of Suits on the Amazon video app.

They are sending around the department of agricultural form to declare any fruit, vegetable or animals I may have brought from Oregon which is required to be filled out and signed but they do not provide anything to write with lol.

Landed at noon and it’s around 82 degrees. It feels much hotter lol. Muggy. Got our awesome rental car. Dodge Minivan. We all fit but our luggage almost didn’t.

Stopped for lunch at Cheeseburger Waikiki. I either had the best cheeseburger ever or I was starving. Yes, it was full of gluten. I will pay later.

AHHH, finally three o’clock and we can check in. Got settled in and decided to go to Costco for supplies.

Camden kept asking, “when are we going to Hawaii?” Lol. We figured we better head for the beach. Went to Makapuu Beach.

Randy and Kasey and I jumped around in the surf until Krystal thought she saw a shark…..😳😂.

Camden loved the water but we had to keep a hold of him so he didn’t get swept out. The waves were crashing pretty hard. The sand was super coarse and sticky and as we were leaving Camden asked: where is my skin?” He was covered in sand.

Hawaii 2019

Krystal came up with the brilliant idea to surprise Kasey for graduation and take him and Liz to Hawaii when Kris and I go….but February 2020 is too far away lol so here we are!

I am also going to stop in Kauai for a week. By myself. To decompress lol.

9/19/19

As most of you know, I am somewhat of a freak when it comes to packing. For those of you that don’t, surprise and welcome to my crazy lol.

I think I started packing six months ago. Not formally into a suitcase but throwing random items into a basket as I came across them or thought of them. I also made a paper list. As the date grew nearer I moved to a suitcase and I started to obsess about carry-on only. Yes. This happens every time I travel lol. I have always been totally jealous of those people that glide down the runway, one tiny piece of rolling luggage in one hand and a small backpack over their shoulder. They don’t have to worry about lost or damaged luggage. Maybe they only have one pair of underwear in there, I don’t know. No matter what I did my stuff would just not fit. And by stuff I mean my food and electronics. All the important things lol. It wasn’t until I remembered I might need knife or two that I sadly ditched that idea. I am using a medium hard sided wheeled bag and carry-on duffle and a backpack. The suitcase is stark white so it will be easy to spot on the luggage return. I tried to keep it at a minimum of one weeks worth of clothing for the two week trip but it was hard. You wouldn’t think that summer clothes could take up that much space but they do. I am wearing my bulkiest pieces and I only brought two other pairs of shoes, all the heavy items and food are in the carry-on but it still feels like my suitcase weighs a ton. I am wondering about the return trip. I might have to wear all my dirty clothes home lol.

Staying at the Radisson PDX. That way I can leave the truck and take the shuttle to the airport and not worry about parking. I stopped at REI and Goodwill on the way up. Made the bad decision of driving to the hotel during rush hour🙄 and it took an hour to drive 23 miles but I made it. It’s the same hotel I stayed at when I went to Las Vegas. Parking was a little tricky. There were only two spots left and I drove the truck…..so I used my skills that Kris taught me and backed in. The spot was at the back side of the lot but in a corner so I only had to worry about hitting one car lol.

Checked in. They put me on the fourth floor which is the first class floor. You have to put your hotel key in the elevator to get to that floor. There is also a lounge you can hang out in with free happy hour. I am special 😁

After four trips to the truck (at the back of the parking lot) my workout is done😁 I packed/unpacked/repacked and tried to reduce the number of items in my checked bag. Ummm I got rid of four things lol. Oh well. I’m starving. Went downstairs to the restaurant for a late dinner. The first “fox party of one” of the trip. I got to pick my table so I chose a small one in the back facing out. People watching. I learned that from Kris too. Normally I am oblivious to everything around me but I am trying to be more observant all while trying not to make eye contact with the other singles eaters lol. Fish tacos. Yum!