Hawaii 2019 (page 11 of 11)

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Day 11/12

Today we have to leave – but not until 11:34 pm. Mike went for a run and then we started packing. Breakfast consisted of the last eggs/ham/cheese/bread we had – we did a good job of not over-buying food and didn’t really have to throw anything out. The Resort had a food box where you could donate any unopened dry goods you had left for the food shelf – what a great idea, even if we didn’t end up using it. Then we set off for our dual boat cruise – first a whale watching cruise, then a dinner/sunset cruise – on the same boat by Body Glove.

We made a quick stop at our breakfast place yesterday to pick up Greta’s visor that she’d left and then spent WAY too much time looking for a parking spot for the Kailua harbor. The other days we’d parked by downtown Ali’i Drive, we’d found a free lot that had a spot or two open because the marketplace wasn’t open that day or had parked farther away. Today was different – everything was busy. There is a decent amount of pay-parking, but it’s about $9/hour and we were going to leave the car all afternoon. Eventually we found a few spots at a strip mall that appeared it was open only M-F and since today was Sunday, none of the businesses there were open so we left the car there w/o paying $50+ for the day.

We wandered around a bit on Ali’i and then stopped for a drink with a view of the ocean & harbor. We got to the pier ahead of time and got a good seat on the upper level of the boat, once it returned from its morning snorkel tour. The ticket included snacks and juice/water, and you could buy other beverages. We got lucky right out of the harbor and saw a few whales between us and the shoreline. They had communicated with other boats as to where the whales had been seen recently and they were right. Brittany was the marine biologist on board, and she provided a running commentary about whales that was very informative. We also learned that once you see the tail flip, it means they are going down deep and won’t surface for maybe another 20 minutes or so. One time a whale surfaced so closely we HEARD it blow air first! We saw a few whales breaching about 3 miles away and Mike got a decent zoom shot of that. On the last half of the tour, we saw a baby with its mother (the baby is the size of VW bus, the mother the size of a semi-trailer). And the whole way back, we saw more whales – a few successful trips, ending with a bunch of whales just beyond the harbor that we couldn’t go see because we were already running late.

We got off the boat and got in line for the next trip – the dinner cruise. A number of the crew who were helping “turn over” the boat were amused we were going back on the next tour but at this point, we were “homeless” so why not? This time, the focus was on the history of the island and various things were pointed out. We saw a few whales and stopped once for a very close sighting, but because it’s a scheduled 10-mile tour down the island and then back, they couldn’t stay very long at any one given spot. There were light appetizers on the way down and then when we got to the Captain Cook monument, we stayed in the harbor while everyone got in line for the dinner buffet. The food was very good – which is impressive for a boat cruise where they pick up pans of food before we leave and then wait over an hour before serving. There were three salads (green salad, 3-bean salad, lomi-lomi salmon), fried rice and three kinds of meat (teriyaki chicken, beef brisket and kaluha pork & cabbage). Dessert was big slice of cheesecake with a citrusy drizzle on top. We then headed back up the island on the same course. Live music was also provided by a ukulele player who was very good. We got back around 7 pm. 7 hours on the boat was a good way for these Minnesotans to end their trip.

We left the area to head to Costco to get some cheap gas, only to realize that they close an hour earlier; and we got there 10 minutes late. Oops. So we headed back to our free parking spot (hey, if we didn’t get towed in the afternoon, we should be good) and went to Gertrude’s Jazz Bar on Ali’i where they have live music. For some reason, that night it was old-school country music (definitely not jazz) and we caught the last 20 minutes of their show. It would have been more enjoyable if the wait staff would have noticed we were there (one drink – one hour – not for our lack of asking for service) so we left a bit earlier than planned out of frustration.

At that point, we headed to the airport to return the Ford Edge. When we’d picked it up originally we were told that the reservation had been made for January instead of February, but Mike showed them the original Costco documents & they moved the reservation. Unfortunately, when they moved the reservation to February, they had the return as 11:34 am - even though our plane left at 11:34pm, and the original reservation said we’d return the car by 9:40 pm. So once again, Mike had to haul out the travel docs and explain we shouldn’t have to pay extra for the car. They did waive the fees, so we are very glad we had paper documents always on hand.

Back to the airport, this is almost all open-air. Little shops & a little food place are all enclosed, but he waiting areas and everything are all open-sided under large roofs. You board & disembark by walking out on the tarmac. That might not be great when there’s a lot of wind/rain, but fortunately, we didn’t find that out.

The flight back to Phoenix was a little over 5 hours long. It’s VERY hard to get sleep on a plane, especially if your seat doesn’t recline. We got a quick breakfast in PHX at Cowboy Ciao (great name) where Mike had the Cowboy breakfast (eggs, potatoes, bacon) and Greta had a breakfast quesadilla. Then on to MSP, which was a 3 hour flight.

Mike stayed in his sandals/shorts until the MSP flight, and Greta didn’t change until baggage claim. Mike took the little bus back to the Marriott to clean off our snow-laden car while Greta waited for the luggage. The luggage arrived just before Mike got back to the hotel, so we had a quick turn-around time at the airport. Then we head out to Hutchinson to meet The Schoeps & Remi.

Remi was a little tentative of “his people “and seemed to want to stay with JoAnn & Marlin but he was a happy boy once he got to ride in the car. There had been a lot of snowfall in MN while we were gone so before we could even pull into the driveway, Mike had to snow blow the driveway and Greta shoveled around the house/hot-tub. The pole barn drive had to be cleared and the unpacking could begin. There was 8-12 inches of snow to be cleared in most areas, and there’s more expected to fall Wednesday morning. We hadn’t showered/brushed teeth/slept in a bed for over 24 hours so it was GOOD to be home, even with all of the snow.

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