Aloha!

We are in Hawaii!!! I never really thought that I would ever visit here (much less visit en route to moving to Guam), it wasn't a priority. I figured, I had seen the Caribbean, how different could Hawaii be. Well, all I can say is I am so glad we are getting this opportunity- it is truly gorgeous!

We arrived around 14:00 local time (20:00 for my Ohio friends, 19:00 for my Central Time zone peeps). I have never been so happy to get off a plane in my life! We didn't have a bad flight, Price was really good the whole time, it was just a looooonnnng plane ride and a lonnnggg day. We left Ohio at 8:00 EST and flew to Atlanta on a puddle jumper. Not my favorite mode of transport on an easy travel day, and today we had 6 carry-ons, plus Price's car seat. Of course, we also had to leave the terminal and go on the tarmac to board. Luckily, the Delta ground crew was wonderful- we got to pre-board and they helped us with our baggage. (we got looks from people all day about the amount of bags we had and I wished I had a t-shirt or sign or something that said, " My husband is in the military, we are moving to Guam, quit judging us!!") We arrived in ATL and had enough time to go to the bathroom, change Price and take a tram to our gate before immediately boarding our flight to Hawaii. The first half of the flight actually went by pretty quickly. The second half, not so much- I felt like somewhere over the Pacific we got sucked into some kind of time warp that froze time- it seemed like 15 minutes took an hour, but all in all it was an uneventful flight- for which I am beyond grateful!

After retrieving our 18 million pieces of checked luggage and picking up our rental car, we were on our way. It was rush hour traffic and the drive took longer than we had hoped, but once we left Honolulu, we were able to pick up the pace. The drive to Bellows was gorgeous once we turned onto the Pali Highway (will post pictures later, we were in too much of a hurry to stop at the look out points along the way, but plan on going back before we leave). The views of the mountains and ocean were spectacular!

About 5 minutes before arriving at Bellows, Price woke up from his nap and was no longer interested in being in a car seat (who could blame the kid?). His meltdown commenced and could only be stopped if I sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I think I sang it about 15 times before I decided that the sounds of his screaming were preferable to the sound of my singing. Luckily, the views of the beach and water were somewhat of a distraction for Don and me and helped us tune out the screams. We got checked in and Price calmed down and walked to our cabin.

Our cabin is rustic. Think several steps down from military housing or a slight step up from a state park cabin and that is what we have. Two bedrooms, a living room/kitchen/dining area and small, leaky bathroom. That is what's on the inside, this is what is on the outside...

View from back porch

View from front door

With views like this who cares what the inside looks like? I am in awe of the beauty and Don and I both feel very blessed to have this opportunity.

Well, it's not getting late here, but our bodies are wiped out, so we are going to call it a day soon. Will share more of our adventures tomorrow!