We're in Hawaii

Sunday Feb 24th

We left the house at 8:30 sharp and stopped at the ATM and the gas station and still pulled into Sandi and Sean's driveway before 10:30am. We transferred all our luggage to Sandi's truck and off we went so they could drop us off at the airport for our 1:20 flight to Honolulu. After we checked in and went through security which took all of 5 minutes we found out that our flight was delayed almost an hour, no reason given at the gate and I was somewhat perplexed since it was a picture perfect day to fly today, not a cloud in the sky. I guess there might have been a delay with the flight coming in at the gate before we left because it was the same plane that we took off on after all the passengers got off. We had warm chicken sandwiches for our lunch which Alex inhaled and with that we had a small caesar salad and some chips, Alex didn't want his salad so I had a second helping of the green stuff. They made an announcement that we would get another meal in about 4 hours so I guess we're getting dinner as well, this flight is 11 hours, after all. Also we will be getting cheese and crackers around an hour before landing...wow, I feel like we're getting the royal treatment here...hahahaha...I'm so used to Southwest and getting crackers and peanuts so to get a warm meal on a flight is quite different for us. Alex and Jim are sitting right in front of me and playing video games on the tv monitors that are provided at each seat...oops, Alex is watching "The Bee Movie" again and Jim is playing blackjack. Alex and I watched The Bee Movie after we first took off and it was a very cute movie, I enjoyed it. I'll probably watch another movie a little bit later on but for now I'm happy just relaxing and enjoying the fact that so far it's been a quiet flight and not too many small kids around us like last time, I still remember a toddler sitting behind me the whole way to Honolulu and being kicked in the back constantly...that sure made for a long flight! Alex is being really good so far and just enjoying the electronics available to him at his seat but I'm hoping that he will take a nap later on so that he won't be so wired when we get to the hotel tonight.

The last 3 hours of the flight were really bumpy for me, I couldn't believe it because the last time we flew to Hawaii I hardly felt like I was in the air at all except for landing and take offs...but this was either due to weather or windy conditions because we had to stay with our seat belts for a long time. All in all I got through it and Alex was super duper good on the long 11 hour flight time, I'm very proud of him.

We picked up our rental car pretty quickly and made our way up to the north shore with a stop at Walmart for a few needed supplies like adult beverages, a boogie board, some new sunscreen and some breakfast goodies. It is now almost midnight Hawaii time and 5am in New York and I'm still awake, don't know why or how but I am...that's just the way it goes for me when I'm on vacation, I guess.

We checked in at Turtle Bay and I'm glad this room is free for the next 3 nights because honestly I'm not impressed with the rooms here at all, I wasn't happy with it the last time we stayed here and that is why we are getting our stay at no charge plus a dinner for 2 in one of their restaurants. This is supposed to be one of Oahu's most pristine resorts and yes the pool and the beaches are stunning here but the guest rooms are just mediocre as far as I'm concerned...the bathroom has sand in it and I'm not going to complain about it and just try to enjoy the facilities here and look forward to the real reason we are here and that is to see Robert come home from Iraq!!

I will start posting pictures tomorrow! Stay tuned!