Once again, we woke up early this morning. I'm sure that it was, not only a combination of not being completely on Honolulu Time, but also from waking up so early the last few days.
My body is so stiff. It's not painful, just very uncomfortable and irritating. Most of it is in my lower back and it is causing me to lean slightly forward and semi-waddle everywhere. There is also stiffness, of course, in my legs and knees - but I do feel much better after my sleep.
We wandered down to the Hertz Rental car booth around 7am. It Check out is at 10, and our flight shuttle is not until 7pm, so Jeff and I both figured we could toss our stuff in the car and jump around the island all day.
And yes, that means we're not using our extra day. Continental was going to charge us an extra $1000 each to fly out tomorrow. Ain't gonna happen!
So, we get to the booth and ask for a Compact car - well, they have none left. All they have left is a new Cadillac that was special ordered in for someone and is thus, our only option. Oh darn.
I tried to convince the guy that he should only be charging us for a compact since that is what we want and he can't deliver, but he only dropped us down one price range. Better than nothing I suppose! When we get out to the garage to check out this car, it's pretty classy. Sun roof, leather interior, all sorts of fancy buttons that we don't understand! Good start to the day.
We plug in Jay's GPS and head out to find some breakfast. I was hoping to stay in Honolulu, but we weren't having much luck finding public parking around any of the places we were directed to. So, we drove about 15 minutes out of town and had breakfast at a local pancake shop. It was a true Mom and Pop kind of place, they even had pineapple flavoured syrup on the table!
Now, the problem is, we aren't entirely sure where we are. Wait, that's not the right way to put it.
We know where we are - the GPS has told us. We just don't know what town it is, and we want to start using these maps we got at the hotel to drive the highway along the coast. The GPS wants to cut us right through the middle of the island I think.
Jeff is excited for the adventure so has decided to just start driving and hope we figure out how to get to this highway, or where we are, eventually!
Monday, December 14th, 2:00pm Honolulu Time:
Wow, the drive along the coast was absolutely beautiful. Everyone knows that Hawaii is a lot of extinct volcanoes, and accordingly, a lot of mountains - but I don't think you truly realize how beautiful until you get out of Waikiki and check it out for yourself. The whole island is like a rainforest, so lush and breathtaking!
We followed the highway all along the coast up to the North Shore - before we left Toronto, the news was reporting that waves were hitting the North Shore with heights around 50ft. Right now is also the Billabong Masters, (the Superbowl of Surfing) so we thought it would be great to head up to the beaches, even the infamous Bonzai Pipeline, and try to see some of this.
Unfortunately, the waves weren't really making a show today. As such, the competition was on hold until tomorrow (and we won't be here! :( ). We hopped out of the car at the first place we saw a beach. There were lots of lava rock formations as you got closer to the water, which made me semi-happy as I learned very quickly that walking in the sand was tremendously painful to me.
I should also point out right now that every time we got out of the Cadillac, both Jeff and I felt more stiff than when we had gotten in. It got harder and harder to walk each time.
Either way, we wandered onto this beach and noticed all sorts of cameras with telephoto lenses on them, snapping away at the surf. So, we hung out for a bit, watching pros and amateurs jumping over waves, as much as crashing into them.
From there, we drove in to Haleiwa, an old surfing town that has unfortunately, been knocked up by daily tours from Honolulu and Waikiki. At first, it was nice to go into, the buildings were very 'seaside surf town-esque' - but then you started to see the busloads. And when souvenir shops started offering simple shot glasses for $7, we knew we weren't going to find much here.
We grabbed a bite to eat - some shrimp and other 'traditional' foods. I grabbed a drink in a real coconut, just so I had that as a souvenir. From there, we headed off to find a beach I had read about on some alternative travel sites. Being one who doesn't like the common, well-known sights, I had to find some secrets. This one was nicknamed Turtle Beach and when we pulled off on this quiet, dead-end street, and wandered through a small beach path to a completely empty shore - we knew we had at least found a secret.
Just ahead of us, a group of 4 had run off down the beach. One guy had stayed back, playing in what looked like a lagoon in the lava formations on the shore. As we got closer, Jeff realized he was tossing seaweed to a giant sea turtle that was in the lagoon. So, carefully, Jeff walked out and chatted with the guy.
Coming back to me, he said the guy was running a Lost tour - for the tv show. He pointed to an orange snow fence about 400m up the beach. "See that?" Jeff said, "It's the set of Lost".
I'm wandering slowly along the beach - my hips are starting to ache from the waddling motion in the sand. Jeff has run on ahead to snap pictures of the set, but this beach is beautiful - and there's practically nobody here.
Monday, December 14th, 6:00pm Honolulu Time:
So, Turtle Beach - we found 3 more sea turtles laying on the beach, warming up, while we wandered around. These things are huge and beautiful, and much to our surprise, one decided to head back to the water while we were on the beach - so we got to see that amazing moment.
The set of Lost really was the set of Lost. I was more amused by the port-a-potty on the set than the fact that the set was right there and we'd just, sort of, stumbled on it.
Jeff played for quite some time with little crabs in the sand before discovering the big guys hiding in the rock formations. This was about the time that I discovered I have a fear of crabs.
I can handle scorpions, black widow spiders, and all types of gross and disgusting cockroaches and insects - but crabs? The way the move sideways and make a little scuttling noise everywhere they go gives me the creeps.
I'd be walking along on the rocks behind Jeff, because I quickly learned that if I put on my (new!) flip-flops (yes, they are Sanuk and I am so happy) and walked across the rocks, it was the most level ground for me to walk on and significantly less painful than the sand. As I'd walk along, I'd hear things moving around in the rocks and get entirely grossed out. So, crabs are not for me. Jeff, however, loves them.
On the way back to the car, Jeff got mad at me for walking on the rocks - sure that I was going to injure myself. I couldn't explain to him that an injury was more possible in the sand, so I wandered on a little longer and then, eventually, jumped down to walk with him.
From the beach, we headed back down to the coast to the shrimp trucks (like chip trucks, but with shrimp) - it was the plan for supper, but Jeff wanted to get back to the hotel and so we chose to skip it. We did both grab some shaved ice though, a traditional Hawaiian treat.
We took a slight detour back to the hotel to drop off the car, hoping to hit Nuuanu Pali Lookout - which we sort of did. We found a look out near the top of the mountain, got out, took pictures, kept driving, and sped right past an entrance to the real lookout. Unfortunately, being a mountain road, we would have had to go down the mountain a mile, back to the other side, and back up to the entrance. So, that one will be saved for another visit.
Right now, we're just leaving the parking lot at K-Mart - picked up some souvenirs (we heard this is the cheapest place - which seems true) and some snacks for the plane. We are now trying desperately to find a gas station to fill the rental back up before we are meant to catch our shuttle.
It seems like this whole trip has been rushing from A to B - the only time we weren't rushing was during the marathon. I want to be in the marathon again - it's so relaxing.
Monday, December 14th, 10:00pm Honolulu Time:
We made it - we are on the plane to Houston.
A little breath of relief, since we were once again, basically running (minus the part where we can't physically run today), to catch our shuttle. Luckily, our shuttle driver (which was basically a black cab thingie) was working a side business in aromatherapy oils and offered me some oils to relax the muscles in my legs before the long flight ahead.
We were greeted by a rep at the airport who helped us through check-in, although, didn't really help us as much as we needed. There was a huge mix-up at the check-in counter with the woman not understanding that both pieces of luggage were going on the same flight and Jeff almost getting double charged baggage check-in fees and oy vey. We were high strung because we hadn't filled up our car's gas tank, and were sure we were going to miss our cab (we even phoned our Team D rep to let her know we might be late), and then this woman took nearly 40 minutes to check us in.
Eventually though, we did get through the gates. Entertainingly, when security had us kick off our flip-flops to go through the metal detectors, the guard asked us if we'd been to the beach. The sticky sand at Turtle Beach was still stuck to our feet, and still is!
We managed to grab some supper at the airport restaurant - a little pricey, but what can you do. I finally got to have a Blue Hawaiian, and then we headed to our gate.
We didn't luck out the same this time with our leg room - we were even in different rows, but convinced someone to switch with us so we could sit together.
We're only about 10 minutes into our flight (and very tired), but we have a bit of a tailwind. The flight is expected to be shorter than coming out here, I'm just hoping we get to Houston on time.
Tuesday, December 15th, 10:30am Houston Time:
Well....we made it....barely.
We get off the plane in Houston at 9:45am; boarding is at 10:00am. I have Jeff look at the board to figure out which gate we need to be at (because of course, it's not on our boarding pass), while I try and find a person to tell me. Jeff finds the gate before I get to talk to anyone - it's in another terminal.
We are in Terminal D, it's in B.
As my chest tightens up, I grab Jeff and run towards one of those golf cart things you always see in the airports. The guy tells us to hop on, and after about a 5 minute ride (imagine us, cramped up, trying to walk that!), he drops us at an escalator.
The escalator takes us up to the stop for the monorail, which takes us to Terminal B after stopping at C. Once at Terminal B, it's about a 5 minute walk to our gate. We would be late for boarding, but they are waiting on one of the crew.
Finally, luck is on our side. We even have enough time that I can change into my jeans and regular shoes - Jeff, however, has forgotten to pack such things in his carry-on and I look forward to landing in Toronto and seeing Jeff walking around in his shorts, and no jacket.
With this, it's done. The whirlwind of Hawaii will be over within the next 3 hours and we will be back in the snow with a t-shirt, medal, and some worn out running shoes - trying to explain all of this to you.
It really is a dream.
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