Pu’u Pia hike. 1.9 mile out and back. Or should I say up and back down. Elevation was 721 ft. Very beautiful hike. Through the jungle with vines and vegetation all around. Muddy and slippery at times with tree root steps. Yes there was falling involved lol. Just on the way down. Me and Camden. We made it to the top and the view was amazing. Took a group photo. The last one was four years ago. We added one small human👶
Back to the room. Since there was no running water we went swimming instead. I took my muddy shoes and scrubbed them with sand. Refreshing 😁
Hard Rock for dinner. It reminded me of the old days. Traveling and eating out with the kids. Even though they are grown it’s still the same. Although Krystal didn’t get nachos and Kasey didn’t get chicken strips lol.
Day 5 Wednesday
Tragedy. Camden dropped his lip balm in the toilet. I said five second rule. He got it out of there pretty quickly and the toilet hadn’t been used. I said clean it with a disinfectant wipe but Krystal didn’t agree and threw it in the garbage. 😭
Thrifting at Savers. I found some t-shirts and a small carry-on for the trip back. I think my stuff expanded lol.
Razor Sports. Drift carts. So much fun. A mix of Mario Kart and go-carts on tiny wheels. There is a lever you can pull to lift the back end of the cart up to drift around the corners. I think Liz screamed every time she turned a corner. Kasey and Randy couldn’t catch me though lol. Hard as they tried they couldn’t pass me and Camden was in front the whole time.
Lunch at the mall Rainbow drive in. Hamburger and rice plate. Delicious!
Woke up at 4am which was really 7am at home. Made myself go back to sleep and ended up sleeping until 6am/9am lol
We walked down to swim in the Hilton lagoon. It was a little over half a mile. It started raining but it was more like taking a shower. The water in the lagoon was a tiny bit chilly but refreshing. I walked out towards the middle and looked down and a school of fish surrounded me. Not small ones. These were around 12-15 inches long and pale blue in color. There were 8-10 of them swimming in a circle around me. So amazing. I wonder if they live there full time or got sucked in through a filter?
Kasey and Liz flew in at noon and we went to Costco to pick up supplies. It was a zoo. The parking lot reminded me of the old days when we would go to Costco in Eugene. Searching for a parking spot for fifteen minutes. The inside of the store was no better. Bumper to bumper shopping carts. I like to see what local snacks they carry and I found these. Hmm. I love crab and I was curious as to how they would taste but I just couldn’t do it lol.
Walked down to get shave ice and shopped a bit.
Day 3
Woke up early and walked down to get a Matcha with Krystal. The coffee shop we tried to find on Google/Apple maps couldn’t give us directions so we settled on Honolulu Coffee. Not three minutes later we found Dean & DeLuca lol. Oh well. Doesn’t look like they had matcha anyways so we are all good.
Drove to the Dole Plantation and rode the train. Noa loved it. No bugs this time.
Krystal chose lunch at Beet Box Cafe. Vegan organic vegetable food lol. Yes, nothing there for me to eat so I walked down the street to McDonald’s lol.
Stopped at Green World Coffee Farm and then headed back to the hotel.
Found this notice slipped under our door…. That is so awesome 🙄 in addition to not having a pool, due to reconstruction, we will not have any water from 9am-3pm.
Went swimming at the lagoon again and the ocean side. The ocean side is so much warmer. Like bath water. You just have to watch out for rocks.
Walked down the street for some Spam Musubi for dinner. Yum! Then we walked back down to watch the dancers at the mall.
This trip for packing has been much different from my past trips. Normally I am packed at least three months in advance and ready to go. Not this trip. As I came across things I knew I wanted to take I put them into a big plastic container. That started three months ago but there was no organization involved. Two days before travel day I started going through what was in that box. OMG I stayed up way past midnight packing into a small suitcase and then switching to a medium sized one. I won’t go into all the details because I don’t want you all to think I’m crazy lol. I loaded my suitcase and backpack into the car and left for work. No turning back now.
Stopped at Krystal’s. They were still packing lol.
I am staying at the Country Inn and Suites, taking the shuttle to PDX at 6am. Long term parking is $10 per day and I don’t have to drive to the airport. I was assured there would be plenty of time to check my bag, get through TSA and board at 7:15 am. Makes me nervous but okay….
I got stopped at TSA🙄 No pat down this time. TSA agent holding up my backpack and waving my Nintendo Switch: “Whose bag is this? All electronics larger than a cell phone need to be taken out of your bag”, people staring…….oh well, I made it to the gate by 6:20am and I beat Krystal and Randy.
PDX
First one on the airplane and sitting in First Class. Hawaiian Airlines sends out an offer to bid up to first class and I won! Scored seat 3G. It’s a middle seat so no window but hey, first class lol. Worth it!
Mai Tai in hand. Flight attendant said she would keep them coming until I said when. Um, on number one and, when lol. Coffee please. Well one third coffee and two thirds cream lol. Does that really count as coffee? Or coffee flavored cream?
Krystal and Randy are in the back of the airplane. I think I hear Noa…
8:14am and we are in the air. There is a three hour time difference so when we land it should be around 11:14am. Coming home will be brutal though lol.
Ipad loaded with movies? Yes please. Movie=The Weird Al Yankovic Story. 😂😂 I love Rocky Road! Like a Surgeon! My Bologna! Sing it😂 If you know, you know.
Touchdown 11:00am. I love that we have the whole day ahead of us.
Called the hotel for an early check-in. They will text me when available. Randy took the shuttle to get the rental car so we are hanging out at the airport. Otherwise we would all be grumpy lol.
Checked into the hotel. It’s in a cute little shopping area that is convenient and walkable to the beach. Five minutes in the room Noa locked herself in my bedroom. By herself. Poor baby was so scared. Ten minutes of coaxing her to unlock the door while she was wailing and calling the front desk for help. Second call stressing that she was locked in the bedroom and she is one and a half years old. Mimi to the rescue. I asked Krystal if she had any pens and used the barrel to unlock the door. I know. Genius right? lol. That’s from all my years of taking those pens apart to create chaos in school. That’s a whole other blog though.
Noa didn’t sleep much on the flight so she went down for a nap with Randy while Krystal, Camden and I walked to the beach and looked for food. We decided on PF Changs. Camden ate like a ravenous animal, devouring almost everything in sight. Poor kid was starving.
Walked back down to the beach for sunset. Perfect ending to a great day.
Wow. The town of Lahaina on Maui burned down along with the surrounding residences. It’s unbelievable that a wildfire sparked and blew through the town and homes so quickly. We were just there in January of this year and I was thinking about going back there for this trip but decided on Oahu instead.
Is the trip still a go?
So many mixed messages on social media regarding travel. I understand, people are mourning and some say to stay away from Maui and to stay away from all of the islands. That tourists are using up all of their resources. Others say, please come. Even to Maui. That their businesses and jobs will be affected without tourism. Some are afraid it will go back to covid times. Conspiracy theories flying. Who, what, when, where, why, and how. So many questions unanswered. I feel the answer is a double edged sword. The big corporations on the islands do benefit from tourism but they also provide jobs and use services from small businesses on the islands. If the vacationers stay away will it affect the islanders negatively?
Well, I am still going but not without much consideration and forethought. I will make sure to shop small, tip with cash and leave as small of a footprint as possible. I think that we all need to consider this when traveling anyway.
My heart goes out to everyone affected and sending ❤️ always.
Of course. Nothing ever goes as planned. I just got notification that my return flight will be delayed two hours. That will put me back in Portland at 11:30pm. since I’m not a fan of a 3 1/2 hour drive that late I will need to find somewhere to stay the night. Which also means I need a hotel that will come and get me from the airport. So I will end up staying there the night before the flight.
Staying the night in Portland before my flight does two things for me.
1. I no longer have to watch Krystal pack the night before the flight. This is good.
2. I will be at the airport waiting for Krystal and Randy to show up to board the flight. This is bad lol.
Historically they are never early for a flight. Not “Kris” early, (5 hours before boarding and not even able to check my bag) 😂 but early like me. Normal early. Two hours early. No, they will run in with 45 minutes to spare 🙄 One time, Krystal forgot her phone and we had to drive back to the house to get it lol. They have been lucky though and never missed a flight. Yet.
Getting packed up. I am taking the bare minimum. The least I have ever packed for a trip to Hawaii. We will see how that goes.
I was asked by a reader why I blog my trips.
I blog to let friends and family know what I am up to. I blog to let others that have thought about traveling solo know that it’s possible. Once upon a time I had my doubts I would ever be able to go and see what I wanted without a partner. Don’t get me wrong. Traveling with someone is fun. Experiencing things together but it’s also exhausting. Making sure the other traveler is having fun too. You might want to go shark tank diving or parasailing and they are afraid of heights or sharks lol. But mainly I blog to remember. To be able to look back and have zero regrets. My first blog to Vegas 2016 solo got deleted off of here but I learned a lot from that trip. Part of it was saved in my personal archives and it’s fun to go back and read it. I’m pretty sure that trip was all about buffets and eating lol.
Good news! I booked my flights. I decided to fly out of Portland. And when I say Portland I mean Portland Oregon, PDX. The actual flight with Hawaiian Airlines was down to $400 and adding my seat choice put me at $600. I love flying Hawaiian. You are guaranteed one meal and I always choose the extra comfort seats. There is more leg room and I’ll get a window seat. Flying out of Eugene would have been around $1300 with my seat choices. It also didn’t match up with my flight home from Molokai. This way I can stay on Molokai until the day I fly home.
Now that my flight plans are all buttoned up I can think about packing. I still plan to check a bag but my goal is to use a small, manageable piece of luggage along with a small backpack. I don’t want to have to wrangle a big, heavy bag along with my carry-ons. I will pack a weeks worth of clothing. I’ll be able to wash them at the condo before I travel on to Molokai. I wear my bulky clothes and hiking shoes on the airplane. I always bring my jacket and hat for the flight. Its usually freezing and by wearing a hat and headphones nobody will try to strike up a conversation with me. Lol. Not a fan of small talk lol.
I will be flying over with Krystal, Randy and the kids. So the night before the flight I will drive up to stay with them. I know this will probably put me over the edge mentally. Krystal has a habit of waiting until 10pm the night before to pack. The horror😂. I really don’t know where she gets her traveling skills from lol. Obviously not me. I am Ms. Prepared, most of the time. Just depends on what has been forgotten lol but I do try to write up a good list.
Well, I’ve got a couple of months to get into shape, pack and plan my itinerary.
This trip started out as a Foxpartyofone getaway. A little blogging and laying on the beach trip. I love traveling with a partner but I also like traveling solo. I feel like it has helped me to grow as a person. It pushes me to step outside my box. My plans were to go to Maui and Molokai. Well, word got out and that quickly morphed into Foxpartyofseven lol. I got a great deal from a friend, using points at her time share. That went from just me to Krystal, Randy, Camden and Noa and Kasey and Liz tagging along. So I changed it to Oahu. Oahu is very walkable so we won’t be tied to each other. There is a lot to do and see and it can all be done on foot. There is a two bedroom available. We will stay there for a week and then I will travel on to Molokai. Alone lol. This is the last island on my list to visit. I would love to go to Niihau but that is a little outside my travel budget lol but at least I will be able to say I’ve been to six out of seven of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands.
I can’t say this will be my last trip to Hawaii because it won’t. Hawaii calls to me. There is always that whisper in my ear. The ocean. The sand. The sun. The fruit and the aloha. 23 and me found me a less than one percent relative from Honolulu. Lol. For those of you who don’t know me, I was adopted at birth, so my heritage has always been a mystery. I must be from there, right?
As always I am wrestling with the question of checking a bag or carry-on. Carry-on would be so much easier and quicker to deplane but I can’t take any self defense weapons on board so I will have to check a bag. This includes a knife and a tazer. The tazer is compliments of Anna. Thank you. I am somewhat doubtful that it works though. Lol, anyone want to be my test subject?
Traveling solo there are always safety precautions that need to be taken.
1. I never use the bellman to take up my luggage, that would imply I am traveling alone.
2. I always do a safety sweep of the hotel room. Check for cameras, the windows and the locks. Bring an extra lock.
3. Lie and say I am meeting someone or my partner is on their way.
4. Put my car keys and wallet next to my shoes in case I need to leave in a hurry.
5. Keep my cell phone and weapon of choice with me at all times.
6. I never stay on an elevator if someone gets on. that gives me the creeps.
Bottom line, always trust your gut.
Omg it’s May and I haven’t booked the flight…. Reason being, I am having a hard time deciding whether to fly out of Portland or Eugene. Portland is 3 1/2 hours away but it is a cheaper and faster flight. Usually a straight shot to Honolulu. Eugene is an hour drive time but I would have to change planes in Seattle so that adds time to the trip. I can stay in a Portland park-n-fly hotel but that adds time driving and also increases the cost of the trip making it about the same as flying from Eugene. So, it’s a toss up.
Rock hounding. Agate hunting. Head down. Eyes to the ground. Wandering the beach. Whatever you want to call it lol. All my life I’ve always had a pocket full of rocks. Granted the first ones were probably just gravel from the driveway but I evolved. Carnelian is the favorite but I also love petrified wood, crystals, obsidian, strange shaped granite and jasper. I love them in the raw and also tumbled. I love the sound of the tumbler in the garage. However, my 30 year old Lortone 12q rock tumbler recently died. It led a good life but it was time to be replaced. I went with the Lortone 33B model. It has two 3 pound rubber barrels. Much more manageable and I can do two grinds at once. You can never have too many rocks and that is obvious when you look around my house.
3 of my favorites
This trip started out as a Tami and Kris event but ended up as Foxpartyofone. Kris had to work so I decided I would still go. I don’t have a problem traveling alone and the thought of a blogging getaway sounded fabulous.
My plan was to leave around 8am to drop off the dogs at daycare. Well that turned into 9am lol. I ended up out of Roseburg by 10am. Low tide was scheduled for 430pm on Saturday and 500 pm on Sunday. Perfect. That would put me on the beach around 100pm. I have heard that the professional rock hunters start at high tide and work their way down to low tide.
Krystal and Randy were camping at Beverly Beach so I stopped off to check in with them and see what their plans were. It was decided that Camden would come and spend over with me at the hotel. Fun! Can’t wait 😁
I checked into my hotel and went searching for agates for a couple of hours out front. I’m staying at Inn at Spanish Head in Lincoln City. All of the rooms are ocean facing. Awesome view. My room was on the first floor and right on the beach. I love it. You can walk down to Nelscott Beach from there which is another prime agate hunting spot. Note to self: next time bring the One Wheel. It’s quite a walk lol.
Met up with Krystal and Randy at McMenamins for dinner. Noa was the cutest. She was saying, “hi” to everyone passing by. Such a social butterfly in a family of quiet people lol. Camden was so hyped to spend over with me. He was practically vibrating in his seat.
Cheese!Crazy faces 😂
We went back to the hotel and found out there is a 23 year old cat that lives on the premises. A tuxedo cat. So sweet. Her name is Mama.
Camden played some ipad games, watched some shows and passed out around 1030pm. He woke me up around 720 am. Hungry lol. We got dressed and went to breakfast at the restaurant upstairs, Fathoms. We played a game of chess while we waited for the restaurant to open. Camden ordered for himself. So grown-up. Mickey Mouse pancake and apple juice. I think it looked more like a bear lol. I got ham and eggs. The ham was a little tough but the service was outstanding.
Krystal and Randy packed up their camper in the rain and headed on over to the hotel to hang out. The hotel has a heated outdoor swimming pool. 84 degrees warm. I opted out of that adventure but everyone else decided to swim. Brrrrr!
Camden can swim!
The weather report was not great for Sunday. Rain, rain, and more rain lol. Well this is Oregon so you learn to deal. Rain coat, boots, extra layers and of course a plastic baggie for agates. I went out solo for about an hour at 100pm. Everything was going great until it started to rain sideways so I headed back to the room. Ran actually lol. It quit raining around 230pm so all of us went back out to see what we could find. The clouds parted and gave way to some sun for a couple of hours so we took advantage of that and found quite a few agates and shells. Camden and Noa both looked for agates. Although sock covered hands hindered Noa’s search a little lol. Plus I think she may have wanted to eat them. The temperature had come up a little so we did not freeze our buns off.
Krystal and Randy headed for home and I went up to Fathoms Bar for some dinner. It wasn’t crowded and I got a table next to a big floor to ceiling window facing the ocean. Prime seating for a sunset and a seagull lol. I ordered dinner and a drink and blogged a bit. The staff was awesome and didn’t try to throw me out😁. Totally recommend it!
SunsetSomebody’s watching me😂
Went down to my room and packed up. Checking out in the morning. Sad.
Breakfast upstairs. Sat next to an older couple. Splitting their entree. Lol. That could never happen with me and Kris. Neither on of us has half an appetite and I don’t share hahaha.
Headed for home with a stop at Bob Creek. It’s raining cats and dogs but maybe I’ll get lucky🤞🏽
Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett. Allegiant Stadium.
Heading to Vegas for a short trip with Kris. I started packing a week ago. I know! So not me. I did have my suitcase out and ready though. We are doing carry on. As I am packing for just three days I realize that there is no way I will be able to pull off carry on for a week in Maui😕 Boooo.
When we originally booked this trip I thought it would be in the 80’s but I think I may have miscalculated lol.
Shhhh. Don’t tell Kris but I think it’s going to be a little bit warmer 😲😁😂. So I am packing cooling towels, sweat rags, water bottles and I’m looking for a battery powered personal size fan lol. It will be fine😁.
We are staying at the Linq on the strip. Hopefully no flash flooding while we are there. I want to ride the High Roller at night.
Welp scrap that hotel lol. Kris mentioned that it would be fun to hang at the pool one of the days. Soooo. The pool at the Linq is pretty small and boring. Yes, it was cheap lol. So I changed the reservation to the MGM Grand. They have a lazy river 😁 and we are renting a cabana. I’m so excited!
Flight Day!
Flying out of Medford. Got to the airport really early. Good thing because when we went through TSA check-in I got flagged for a pat down. And I mean a PAT DOWN. She asked me if I wanted to go to a private room😲 I said no, why? Well, now I know. She patted all my lady parts😂😂. Awkward. Apparently my zipper was throwing them a red flag. Like I had a knife In my shorts. Oh well, I passed the search and we moved on.
I checked our flight and it’s been delayed 45 by minutes. We went up to the Sky Lounge for lunch and a margarita😁
Finally boarding. I booked us in the extra legroom seats which are at the exit row. We are responsible for opening the door and inflating the slide in case of emergency.
The seats did have lots of leg room but they were just wide enough to fit a ten year old. Poor Kris and anyone that weighed more than 150lbs😂😂.
Kris noticed that like hotels there is no lucky number thirteen lol. Well at least we will be lucky🤞🏽
Started onto the runway and something was making a noise like a sick duck coming from underneath. Oh great. I hope the wheels don’t fall off.
Captain update. Fifteen minute delay due to the amount of traffic coming into Vegas 🙄
Well, I packed up last night and Randy and Krystal will be driving my bag back. I’m taking my backpack and small purse with me on the airplane. I should have just brought the bigger backpack. Oh well. Next trip I won’t be taking a 17 inch carry-on. I’ll take my chances lol.
Woke up at 4am and scheduled my first Uber ride on the app. I was a little apprehensive that there wouldn’t be one available but it was pretty easy. His name was, Innocent, (that made me feel so much better) and he was only 20 minutes away from my hotel. Good driver. Didn’t speed and wasn’t super chatty. Which is a good thing for me. I can only do so much small talk lol. He did confirm my flight times and made sure I wasn’t living on the edge lol. I tipped him in cash. I feel like cash tips show your appreciation for their service more than on the app.
Boarding. I don’t get why some people stand in line even though they aren’t boarding until 3rd or 4th call. You picked your seat. I’d rather wait and board last. Fake your seat mates out and get them thinking they have the whole row to themselves.
Just now thinking about the whereabouts of my car keys. They are in one of my carry-ons. The one I almost smashed into my bag in the back of Randy’s truck. Thay would have been bad lol.
Review of Legoland :
The park was pretty good size including the water park. The two day trip was perfect. Being there barely preseason in June, there were rides that weren’t open both in the park and the water park. I don’t know if this was due to staffing or the time of year but it was a little disappointing because the rides that were closed were for the bigger kids, e.g. me lol. The park was definitely geared more towards the 4-10 year olds and most of these rides were open.
If you’re headed for Disneyland I suggest to go to Legoland first. Legoland just hasn’t captured the magic yet and while it was fun and I love Legos it’s just not the same.
foxpartyofone 