Day 1 - DIA to LAX to LIH

Friday, September 3

I am one of the least prepared travelers in the world. I seriously wait until the last minute, and then I spend the entire day I have to travel stressed out and panicky because I'm absolutely certain I forgot something of great importance. This trip was no exception. Yeah, I booked this trip back in January, but no, that doesn't mean that I actually prepared for it. Oy. Slept in (hurrah!) and then took A to school. My dad was going to take us to the airport and after a quick stop at Subway to pick up lunch, we were supposed to be headed out. But... I hadn't finished packing. Blah!!! I knew essentially what I wanted to bring, and other things I couldn't pack until the last minute... it was all very chaotic. We got out the door only a few minutes later than planned (score!) and got through security with no problems. Yes, even for a trip of this length, I refuse to pay the money and check a bag.

I have NO trouble finding my suitcase :D

We ate our lunch and boarded... our connection at LAX was SUPER short. And our flight was delayed a few minutes. Then of course I started stressing out about not being able to pick up dinner, etc at the airport. Flight to LAX completely uneventful (we watched "Music & Lyrics" - a movie I find completely hysterical) and the gate we needed to be at was literally right across the hall. Of course our food choices were sadly limited, and I had to settle for McDonalds. Almost immediately we were boarding... WOO HOO!!

Somehow I actually managed to doze off on the plane, so I only had to occupy myself the second half of the flight. Again, pretty uneventful and we landed in Lihue and it was actually still light out! Now, if you haven't ever been to LIH, it is a super tiny airport that sees only a handful of flights a day, most of them are just back and forth to Honolulu, only a few to the mainland. And they all pretty much come in at the same time. And of course almost everyone that comes in needs a rental car. Wait too long and you'll end up at the end of a VERY long line (I learned this the hard way last time). This time we were taking no chances and go to the Budget desk with only a few people ahead of us. Got the car and checked in at our hotel (we stayed at the same one as last time because we knew where everything was in relation to it).

Ocean right by our hotel

Courtyard of our hotel

Then headed over to Trees Lounge and got some Louisiana Sliders and Cajun fries. And key lime creme brulee. Um. I'm on vacation. And it was FABULOUS. After dinner we headed over to Safeway to pick up our grocery essentials for the week. Early to bed, long day of traveling, and we had a four hour time change!