A not so Hyatt day

In the last four days we have been breaking record for morning wake-ups.  Each day has been earlier and earlier. We are tempted to remain awake and just sleep in our clothes ready for the next day's activities. :-)  Our wake up call came at 4:15 this morning so that we could be ready to fly out of Oahu to Kona, Hawaii.  Airport travel takes so much time!!! Between taking off your shoes for security,  picking up luggage, the rental car, checking in to the hotel etc. it was almost noon.  We finally did make it to our hotel, the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort.  Nothing like Hyatt but it will do for the next few days we are here.  We haven't seen much of the island so far, but we are looking forward to the challenge of distinguishing city/town names. Most towns only use vowels and a couple of consonants so it is hard to read the string of 6,8,10 letter names that the towns have.   Tomorrow for example we are headed to Kealakekua Bay, Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Park, hope those places are not as difficult to find as their name. 
We would say that the highlight of our day was our evening meal, where we got to see the sun set in the horizon as we heard the waves crash. All day it had been overcast and threatning to rain, yet in the evening the sun peeked way out of the clouds and allowed us to enjoy a wonderful sunset.
One of the features of the hotel we are staying at, is that they have a section where manta rays gather at sundown...sometimes.  Well it happens that they chose not to today.  Ok. We'll try again tomorrow.  It's bedtime for us hoping to get up after 6:00 A.M. for the first time in months...

Until tomorrow, have a good night....zzzzz

Pearl Harbor Day

Today we accomplished two out of the three activities we had planned.  We started out by going to sail on a small catamaran called the Molokai, It would have been a wonderful fun relaxing experience had it not POURED on us most of the time.  We were in the middle of the big, blue, beautiful ocean, enjoying the serenity that comes with being out at sea  when it started raining huge bucketfuls! So back we went to the shore to continue our day.  The 20 min. without rain were nice anyway.

Our second activity was a trip to Pearl Harbor.  We had been here seventeen years ago for our honeymoon, but neither one of us remembered much of the trip so we decided to take Alec and to refresh our memories of the experience. We are happy that we made the effort since it was so educational
The next time we visit Pearl Harbor may be in another seventeen years. 
For now Aloha to you all and Mahalo for taking the time to read our blog. 

Rest and Relaxation in Waikiki

Unlike yesterday this felt more like a vacation day. Getting up early to go jogging may not spell out rest and relaxation to many people out there, but to us, running on the streets of Waikiki with a view of the beach is quite invigorating and relaxing. It is exactly the activity we would start our days with if we had the time during the rest of the year when we are not on vacation.  
One of the places we like to visit and have brunch at when we are in Los Angeles is Dukes in Malibu, today we had the opportunity of having a delicious lunch at Dukes of Waikiki.  The fresh salads, combined with the great sunny weather (at that moment) and the relaxed feeling of the island made it just that much better. 

Early in the day we decided that the surfing lessons and the catamaran ride as well as our trip to Pearl Harbor will take place tomorrow. Today we just sat at the beach, read our books, got wet from the ocassional cloud downpour and took pictures next to a Banyan tree.  Not much to brag about today, but we know it will be getting busier and busier as the days go by, for now, it's Aloha from us three.

Unexpected Expected Weather

I don't know why we count the first travel date as a vacation day when all we do is rush to the airport, wait for our flight, fly for 5 hours (as we did today), layover in Maui for an hour and then head to our final destination for this leg of our trip.  All while on an empty stomach and with very litlle sleep...  Sounds more like concentration camp circumstances than a tropical vacation to us.  Fortunatley we arrived safely and finally sat and ate a decent meal (at Siams Square, Thai cuisine).  Not surprinsingly and as expected for us it has been sprinkling/raining most of the time since we arrived, but what else is new....  After more than 14 hours on the road we are finally in our hotel room at the Hyatt Place in Waikiki. We are looking forward to a more exciting stress free day tomorrow.  We anticipate having pictures and definately more interesting experiences to share with you tomorrow.  Specially since Alec is anticipating taking surfing lessons, and perhaps doing a few other fun family activities.
Until tomorrow, Aloha to all!