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| On the airplane... |
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| She got the window seat the first half. |
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| On the balcony outside our room at the Hale Koa. This is the place we will call home for the next 30 days. |
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| The view from the Hale Koa beach. Paradise... |
Experience number 1:
All our bags and persons do not fit into a standard-sized car rental. A 4-door Elantra holds some people, but only a few bags. The wonderful invention of "van taxi" came in very handy! Steven and I (Peggy) were able to fit the bulk of the stuff in the Van Taxi... Saving us hours of driving back and forth from hotel to airport with the Elantra.
Experience number 2:
Shopping at the commissary, supposedly one of The Best Deals In Town... Wow. No water to be found on the shelves. The threat of a two hurricanes (Iselle and Julio) hitting the islands in quick succession depleted the island's water supplies. The shelves didn't start to get stocked until WEEKS after the storms that never happened...
But the BIG commissary shocker: the price of milk. Wow! The "cheap" brand was $5.89 for a gallon. The "expensive" brand of (non-organic) milk started at $8.50 per gallon. *Gulp*
Experience number 3:
Time zone! Pacific Standard Time is 3 hours later than Hawaii time. So, by 8 pm the kids (and I) were completely exhausted.
The first day in Paradise flew by with a bunch of logistical tasks. Nothing exciting, but all necessary to lay the groundwork for years of adventures and wild times on the Islands of Hawaii!
