We’re in Hawaii.
We’re in Hawaii.
We come to Hawaii every year on vacation. Before Alex was born, we’d come a couple of times a year. From California, it’s an easy jaunt to Hawaii. And, when we were Dual-Income No Kids, it was easy to take long weekends-- mini-vacations-- several times a year. We always had plenty of frequent flyer miles to cover the airfare, since my husband travels so much on business. Usually we just had to cover hotel and food. After a while, we didn’t even have to cover hotel anymore, because hotels started up points programs, just like the airlines. And, once again, thanks to my husband’s “on the road” job, we had plenty of points to use up. So, taking a vacation was just a matter of covering meals, rental car and other incidental expenses. So, we came to Hawaii, a lot.
We’ve been to all of the islands, except for Molokini and Niihau. During our honeymoon, I think we did every possible activity or excursion you could possibly do-- the ATV rides through the canyons of Kuaiu, the helicopter ride past the magnificient waterfalls, a charter plane ride over the volcanoes on the Big Island. When we were on the Big Island, I told the front desk clerk at our hotel how we were on our honeymoon. We’d heard that if you mentioned you were on your honeymoon, and poured on the charm, sometimes the hotel would give you a complimentary room upgrade.
So, when we arrived at our hotel on the Big Island, we decided to put this theory to the test. My husband said: “Go for it, honey,” nominating me to be “the charming one.”
So, I started chatting it up with our reception clerk, a woman, I believe, telling her how we were newlyweds, and how this was our very first trip to the Big Island. (It was. Our weekend trips had been limited to Waikiki and Maui.) She asked where we got married, and I told her, with great enthusiasm, some humorous anecdotes from our wedding. (We really did have a fun wedding. We paddled in to our wedding reception by outrigger canoe. We had a German band, Filipino food, and Hawaiian-themed clothing. It was awesome. One of the guests, a founder from the company where I was working, declared it: “the most fun he’s ever had at a wedding.”)
Soon, the clerk was laughing at our stories. Hey, I can be very funny.
She handed me the key to our room, giving us directions.
“Wow, seems like we’re walking an awfully long way,” I commented to my husband, as we searched for our room.
Finally, we located our room... all three rooms of it! We had been giving the grand suite, complete with a dining room, living room, bedroom, and a massive balcony, overlooking the ocean.
Our jaws dropped. We’d never seen anything like it. When our luggage arrive, the bellhop informed us that Michael Jordan had stayed in the room the previous week.
Whoa...
So, we were...er, sleeping on the same bed where Michael Jordan might have been... er, sleeping. I’ve got some great pictures from that trip. I’ll have to dig them out. My fibro hadn’t hit really bad then yet, so I had a real cheery glow to me then. Well, I guess all honeymooners have that glow. It was a very happy time.
Despite all that has happened since then, with our son being born, my getting so sick with fibromyalgia, getting laid off from my job, moving houses (twice), -- all those transitions--
I still feel like I have that glow.
It comes from being married to the right man. I’ve never regretted marrying my husband. Never wanted to be married to anyone else.
So, each year, we come back to Hawaii on our vacation. This island holds a lot of good memories for us.
And, each year, we create more good ones.
On vacation in Kauai
Monday, June 23, 2008
