Hawaiian vacation - Day 1

It is about 8:45 PM here in Kauai.   Shannon and Jen are asleep, Daniel won’t be far behind.   I’m sitting outside on the balcony, listening to the waves from the beach about 100 yards away.   It has been a very busy, very loud, day today and I need some downtime.  It has been a while since I practiced any form of meditation, but the last few weeks it has been on my mind.   Perhaps I am currently in a place that will inspire me again. Right now I am just enjoying the only quiet time I have experienced all day, not so much seeking my center or seeking inner peace as much just experiencing the world around me

Our flights today were quite uneventful; quite enjoyable actually, starting with a 5 hour jaunt on an Airbus 330 to Maui.   Those who know me well know I LOVE airplanes and love to fly; let me tell you this was probably the best flight I have ever been on!   I’ve spent thousands of hours in various versions of Flight Simulator, and I can’t wait to get home to try out the 330 for myself!   After an hour layover we were on a Boeing 717 to Lihue, and aircraft I have (virtually) flown many times.    After we arrived traffic was busy in Lihue, much more than I expected but then again it was 5pm.  

I was the only one who didn’t sleep on the flights, which makes it even more odd that I’m the only one still awake although if you are reading this you know I have sleep disorders.   There has been a gentle rain off-and-on since we arrived, not enough to really cool the ambient temperature though which has left it quite humid.   Much more so than I remember from my list visit to Hawaii 11 years ago while working for Merle Norman during our annual convention in Honolulu.    

I found a local grocery store (Safeway), and I was shocked at the prices.   EVERYTHING was much more expensive than what we pay for on the mainland, even in LA!    Maybe it is because we didn’t go far enough away from the ‘tourist area’?    We will find out tomorrow, as I found a local Costco and WalMart to compare against.   Our resort has fully-stocked kitchens, so finding a local grocery store with reasonable prices is key.

I have moved back inside.   As much as I LOVE the sound of the ocean it was just too humid tonight.  Jen wanted to join me outside but she was just too tired.  Maybe tomorrow it won’t be so humid.

Tomorrow we’ll probably just hang around the resort most of the day after going shopping and doing our obligatory meeting with the timeshare folks.   There is a happy-hour by the pool in the afternoon, and I’m looking forward to spending some more time down at the beach.    I’m starting to wind down now, so I’ll hold off on posting pictures until tomorrow – I promise they will be worth the wait.  :)