This is a pictre of the layout I did of my luau picture while in Hawaii. If you'll notice, or if you haven't you will, I was too lazy to take it out of the frame or even down off the wall.
This picture will be six years old come December. I was in Hawaii for a week. The summer before this trip, I had signed up with Leukemia&Lymphoma Society's Team in Training to do the Honolulu Marathon.
I had split up with my boyfriend three months before (a birthday phone call from him in the wee hours in the morning giving me the "I just want to be friends" speech after 10 months) and was in need of something to focus on. One day, I got the mailer, and that was all it took. I raised $4250.00 for blood cancer research and in return, they trained me over 16-20 weeks to do this marathon, shipped me over there for a weekend, put me up at Hilton Hawaiian Village, and fed me.
I ended up leaving to go out on the Friday before, and I extended my stay to the next Friday. The team all spent the weekend in Honolulu, and then headed back to "the mainland" on Monday morning. I parted ways with them and headed for Kauai.
I had done my homework, and I had done well! I love to do things, but I'm not a shopper or a golfer. After I got off my island hopper flight and picked up my rental car, I headed down the way to Island Helicopters for my hour long helicopter tour. It was awesome! My face hurt when it was over, and I realized I had to have been grinning ear to ear the whole time.
Once that was over, I headed to Hale Luana, my bed and breakfast for the week. Just a tip, it was peak season, and a cheap hotel room was going to cost $140/night. Hale Luana, just $90 a night, and it was much more beautiful there with the pool off the porch and the ocean in the distance than any hotel on the beach. If you go, stay there and tell Elizabeth and Robert I said hello.
The next day, I scheduled a 4 hour horseback ride at Princeville Rance. It was me, and a family of four moving back to the states from Austrailia who had stopped here along the way. Aside from all the mosquitoes at the waterfall, it was great. I had ten blisters between my two feet, and they had said that if you had any kind of physical imparment, that you wouldn't be able to go, due to the 10-15 min hike down to and back up from the waterfall. I didn't tell the guide until we reached the bottom about my feet. She couldn't believe it. I told her after all I had done to get there, a few blisters and some hobbling wasn't going to stop me from enjoying this trip. My tennis shoes were soaked on the climb back up, and were wet for the rest of the week. That was fine considering that I couldn't stand anything but flip flops the whole time anyway.
Wednesday I went on a 3 hour ATV tour with Koloa ATV Tours. Dad has two of these, and I LOVE to ride. I never did get my pony or my horse, but riding these is a close enough second for me. Unfortunately, these were toned down to only go 35 MPH, so I couldn't fly like I do at my parents' house. It was good enough, though. We weren't allowed to take our cameras because of the dust, but they had a camera girl that would shoot pictures for us and we could buy the CD for the low price of $19.95. I had yet to start scrapbooking (but I did scrap this WHOLE trip 12x12, all 59 pages just last year) but I knew I would need those pictures someday, so what are you going to do?
I met a guy who was vacationing from Arizona by himself as well, so we went sightseeing and out to dinner later that evening. There were a LOT of people that said they could never travel alone like I was going to, but could totally see me doing it being who I am. I have to say, even doing it now, eating out alone is THE WORST part of it. By the end of the week, you're really tired of, after them asking how many in the party and you telling them one, the response something to the effect of "oh, just you?" I just wanted to turn around frantically and scream, "WHAT??? Where did everyone GO?!!? Yes, you moron, just ME. Is that really such a BAD THING?"
Thursday was my last full day there. I did some sightseeing, Kilaua Lighthouse, and met Gran' for lunch. That evening was the luau. Even if you go alone, at least there you don't have to eat alone. The food was outstanding and the show was very entertaining as well.
Parting is such sweet sorrow, but I had been gone a week and it was time to go home. I was the only person staying at the B&B all week. My last day, instead of Elizabeth bringing me a tray and joining me on the porch, I had breakfast in the kitchen with them. From the time I got up until the time I got home it was a full 24 hours. Layovers in Honolulu, Maui and later Chicago, but then I was home. That's the only time I can think of when I enjoyed being in the cold, but the feeling soon passed.
That's been 6 years this winter. I've had maybe two full fledged vacations since then, the last being a week on Tybee Island and Savannah, Georgia in October 2007. I'm way overdue, and need another vacation. When and where I have yet to figure out, but I will eventually....
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