Tuesday, Feb 28th.

Sitting in the coffee shop just chilling out.  Bill is out jogging.  I am knitting / blogging / people watching. 

It's interesting how many people in the coffee shop are on their phones working.  I guess people don't take vacations any more. ( I know, I am VERY guilty of this, too).

It's unusually windy right now - according to the locals.  But I really can't complain about the weather.    The weather is perfect for being out and about now.  Yesterday we hiked over to Turtle Bay.  Beautiful walk.  We didn't see any turtles at turtle bay but that's okay.  We did get a couple of sprinkles of rain at one point.  I kind of like that - just enough to notice and cool you off.  But not enough to really feel like you are getting wet. 

I am glad that I am getting in some good walks - that makes me more confident I will be able to keep up in Australia.  We are supposed to be able to walk up to 3 miles a day over varied terrain.  I am pretty comfortable with that now. 

This hotel has been very good for us.  It's an interesting place.  Lots of different places to hang out - both inside and outside.  Lots of groups of people.  I think this is a good place for family groups / wedding / etc.   It's kind of like a resort except it's not an 'all inclusive' place.  Lots of additional charges for various things.  I'm not looking forward to seeing the bill when we leave. 

We are trying to stay up later in order to get ready for our next 6 hour time shift ( sigh ).   Last night we hung out at the lobby bar for awhile.  SO much going on at once.  Live music / young people flirting / little kids dancing with their parents / people waiting to get into the restaurants / groups of people hanging out.  It was fun to be a fly on the wall.  

Tomorrow we head for Australia.  15 hours on the plane ( 😖 ) and another 6 hours of time shift.  We will have 24 hours before the rest of our tour shows up.  We hope to find a place to do some laundry.  Washing stuff in the sink is fine.  Getting it to dry in time to pack is more problematic 🥴.  We have the 'quick dry' clothes - they are supposed to dry in 2 hours.  So far, it's been over 24.  Not very hot here.  Perhaps that's why.  

 We are having unusually windy weather here in Hawaii.  Makes it a little harder to hang out for too long outside.  But the people watching is still great.

Yesterday we went for a nice hike - partly on the beach and partly in the woods next to the beach.  Lovely.  

Lots of groups at this hotel.  Weddings, family reunions, nice to see.  Lots of little kids and lots of dogs, surprisingly.  There are a couple of great slides into the kiddy pool.  Arthur would love it. 

At the pool.

 It is pretty windy so we came prepared to hang out by the pool. 

Bill: You know what makes me feel old? Bringing a jacket to the pool.

Me: You know what makes me feel old? That gorgeous woman in the red bathing suit.

Bill: Didn't notice her age - or her boyfriend.😉

Hawaii - Feb 26, 2023

 We arrive safely in our very nice hotel last night after 18 hours of travel.  

We managed to upgrade to business class on the first leg of the journey and, wow, that is a totally different experience.  We switched planes in Phoenix and had to run through the airport to catch the connection. Also got moved to cattle class for the rest of the trip.  But we are here now and it was all worth it.

Sitting in the hotel room after a great breakfast  and watching the waves crash on the beach.  We will go for a long walk on the beach soon.  Rumor has it that it's a little too cold to swim.  We'll see about that 😉.

Looking forward to several days of doing nothing much except adjusting to the time difference ( 6 hours!).

Sunset the first night

View from our room