Up at six am Hawaii time. There is a two hour time difference so when I get back and the time changes I will die lol.
We decided to go hiking today and hoped to get a little sun. We are both super pale and in need of a tan lol.
We chose to hike the Hoapili Trail over by La Perouse Bay.
The road to our destination was a little narrow and bumpy but Krystal drove slow and made use of all the turn outs. All while I was telling her to go. Go. Just go lol. Sorry Krystal.
The hike was six miles round trip and the trail was full of rocks, coral and lava but I did not fall😁
It sprinkled a bit but it was like taking a shower. 79 degrees.
We explored the tide pools and found this cute little crab.
Drove back to the apartment. Slowly😂
Walked down to the beach for sunset. Found some Gelato 😋
Woke up at 4:15 am and drove to PDX. Krystal did not chicken out and is still going lol. And by not chickening out I mean Camden did not object to her going lol. Traffic was light and we made it to the airport at 6:30am. The check in process went pretty smoothly. We had already signed up on the Safe Travels website so all of our information was already in the system. We got these awesome orange bracelets to let everyone know we are covid free😃
TSA was quick too. This is one of the good things about traveling right now.
No crowds or long lines of people. A lot of the businesses were not open throughout the airport but this could have been because we were there so early. We wore both a mask and a face shield. Everyone that I saw was wearing a mask or two. Krystal sprayed everything I touched, was going to touch or thought about touching lol.
Boarded Airbus 321-neo. Did I mention we are flying first class? Well it’s not 747 first class but it’s nice. Hawaiian Airlines first class is way better than Alaska Airlines first class😃. Lots of room to stretch out and they have foot rests to use instead of my backpack.
They let us use their ipads for TV and movies and we got a pillow and a blanket. Breakfast was really good.
The flight went fine. No turbulence. Got to use the special bathroom.
Rented a Jeep Grande Cherokee. Boring lol. The highlight of the rental process was when I was yelling Krystal’s name so she could give them her ID and the guy next to her asked if her name was Pretzel😂😂😂 so that’s her new nickname, Pretzel lol.
Stopped at Costco for food supplies. Forgot water🙄.
Checked into our airbnb. We are on the third floor. No elevator. My bag weighed 35lbs Krystal’s was 43lbs. Haha, I beat her up the stairs.
Walked down the street to the beach for the sunset.
Yes. I started packing three months ago. As per my personality I now am wondering if I could just do carry-on. I’ve always wanted to jet down the breezeway with one tiny bag and a backpack. The question is, do I take with me what I will need or just the essentials and purchase the rest while I’m there. There are advantages to doing just carry-on during this pandemic. Noone else is touching your bag, you don’t have to stand around with all the other travelers waiting for your bags to make an appearance and there’s not as much concern with bag weight.
One carry-on bag plus a large backpack?
What do I truly need that cant be in my bag or takes up space?
1. a knife or some kind of protection to carry with me.
2. Towels
3. Blanket
4. Pillow
5. Gluten free food
6. Body boarding fins that I’m not allergic to.
I had packed everything in the big checked bag three months ago. Then I switched to the small carry-on and then to the medium checked bag. I was able to fit all my stuff in the smaller bag but it didn’t leave room for anything I wanted to bring back. I would have to mail my dirty clothes back or purchase a bigger bag while over there to make it home. So, which did I choose? After three days of contemplation, analyzing, list checking, sleepless nights of packing and repacking I packed the medium checked bag along with my backpack and told myself to go put it out in the truck so I don’t repeat my crazy 😂 so that is what I ended with. I hope I don’t regret it.
With that said, Krystal just started packing the night before the flight. Two hours before bedtime lol. I’m not sure we’re related.
Traveling to Hawaii within the pandemic and covid has made planning a little more complicated. Hawaii had been closed to tourist travel for most of last year. Now they have opened the islands back up with conditions. You now will allow you to forgo the ten day self quarantine by taking a covid test 72 hours prior to your flight. And yes, you do need to have negative results.
So we scheduled our test for exactly 72 hours before our flight. The only testing sites that were approved for flights to Hawaii were in Portland or a saliva test by mail with a Zoom meeting. We chose to go to Portland rather than depend on the postal service to get the test there within the allotted time frame. We signed up with Worksite Labs for a drive thru testing.
It ended up not being a drive thru and we had to go into the building. They were set up at the Sheraton. Krystal went first and then it was my turn. First thing they verified who you were. I suppose you could try to send someone to take the test for you. Then they had you blow your nose three times. Lol. Not two or four but three. Next you open the package with the nasal swab in it and they tell you to insert it in one nostril and rotate it five times and repeat on the other side. They then inspect it for “debris”. Which is code for boogers😂 Mine had “debris” so he had me blow my nose a second time and try again. This time it came out clean. Yay. Now it’s just a waiting game for the results. 🤞
And fast forward 12 hours at midnight my results came in! Drum roll please….
Whoo hoo😁 I’m going to Hawaii! This was probably the most stressful part of the trip.
Foxpartyofone will be plus one for a couple of days. No, Kris is not going. Krystal is crashing my party and it’s just Krystal. No Randy or Camden😲 I kinda have my doubts she will go but it is Hawaii😃. Krystal should probably write her own blog on traveling child free.
I know what you’re thinking. Fun, now I have someone to do activities with. Uh, wrong. Lol. At least not the super fun/scary stuff. She doesn’t want to rapell off a waterfall, kayak whale watch, do a pendulum swing, walk across a swinging rope bridge or shark dive. I’m pretty sure that the deepest she will go in the water may be up to her waist. She did agree to hiking, (she probably forgot that I fall down a lot) and she got me Goat Yoga for my birthday 😀 she will be staying for four days and then I’ll be on my own.
I made it. Thirty days with no candy or chocolate. Well technically 28 days lol. It was tough. Mainly because I am a total junkie when it comes to candy and chocolate. I still allowed myself sugar in my diet. I don’t know if I could completey cut sugar out but who knows. That may be my next thirtydays. Probably not the immediate next. I want to enjoy my vacation 😁.
What did I learn from this?
1. Stay out of the candy aisle.
2. Doing an annual purge of the kitchen cupboards will keep the hoarding to a minimum.
3. Just like online shopping, think before I buy it.
4. Clean out the desk drawer at work.
Now that I have conquered the second thirtydays challenge I’m on to number three. I will be on vacation in March for part of the month so I decided to choose something that would also benefit my destination. I will try to shop small whenever possible. Almost all small businesses have been affected by the pandemic and quarantine with lack of tourism and customers. I’m not saying I won’t go to Costco but I will try to find things first at local businesses. That also means probably no online shopping unless I absolutely can’t buy it local.
So, I think I’ve been planning this trip back to Maui since the day Kris and I returned last February. With the new travel restrictions I figure that Kris was probably a no go. I’m okay with that. I’m still taking foxpartyofone.com lol.
Hawaii calls to me. Maybe my biologicals were from there. I just know that I have always had a great love for the sun and the ocean. That first trip back in 2016 made me wonder how I had lived all this time without it.
I booked my tickets.
This decision wasn’t one I made lightly. A lot of thought went into it. If you know me, I’m a thinker. I know there is Covid19. I know there is a risk involved with travel and I know that the outcome is unknown. But I also know that every year that passes me by I am one year closer to not being able to do things. I have an expiration date, we all do, whenever that may be. It could be tomorrow, next year or 10 years from now and I want to live my life and do stuff that I may not be able to later. I can’t sit around and say that I will do it next year because if the pandemic has taught me anything it’s that there is no guarantee on tomorrow.
I know that some of you may not agree with my decision. You think I should stay home. Stay safe. Wait it out. Don’t get me wrong. I totally get that. I will wear a mask or two on the airplane. I already practice social distancing. I will get a covid test three days prior to flying out. I just won’t let this pandemic consume me.
Well, I’ve made it three weeks without candy or chocolate. Only one more week to go. Good thing I picked February for this one.
It’s been tough. I’ve always had candy at work, in the car and hidden all over the house. Which brings me to this.
Found this on my desk😳
These were left on my desk at work. I think my coworkers may be trying to sabotage my efforts 😂. Number one, I love Peeps and Sourpatch anything are my favorites. I will be saving these for March 1st LOL.
Road trips have been a little different. Normally I stop at the mini mart for a drink and some candy but this time when we stopped at the store I walked down the candy aisle and reminded myself of the thirty days thing and got my drink and left. Lol.
Well, it’s been one week now with no candy or chocolate. I’m not going to lie. I had THE worst headache all last week. This may have also been due to the fact that my doc said to cut back on the caffeine……so no Mt. Dew lol or coffee.
I went through all of my cupboards last night. Really I was just looking to throw out all of the expired food but I stumbled upon the motherload lol.
So, what did I do with it? Well, I took it to work of course and put a sticky note on it, ” free to good home” 😂🤣😝 it was either that or throw it in the garbage can but I didn’t trust myself not to go dumpster diving. Hahaha.
As to how I’m feeling. Pretty good. I think the whole withdrawal symptoms are gone. I’ve been drinking a green drink every day. These aren’t all fancy, just orange juice or coconut water, frozen power greens, flax seed and peanut butter powder. They don’t taste all that bad. My body is probably going to go into shock though lol.
Well, I did it! 30 days and no online shopping. This was easier than I thought it would be but I don’t think I could do it for a whole year. I guess the big question is what did I learn from this? That I shop a lot. LOL. Online. I buy stuff that I don’t need or that maybe I could find locally. I do have a confession to make. Through out the month I did look at stuff online. I put things in my online cart. I just didn’t purchase anything. I contemplated. I researched. I deleted. I added it back in. The thirty days gave me the time to decide whether I really needed it or just wanted it. In the end there were a few things that I did purchase. Things that I will need for the foxpartyofone vacation I’m planning next month. Stay tuned for that blog update🌴😎🏄♀️
Today starts the next thirtydays.. I’m thinking since I need to get in shape for next month, no candy or chocolate for February. 😲 and if you know me you know my sugar is my weakness. So fingers crossed🤞
foxpartyofone 