What can you say about seven days in one of the most beautiful places on earth? Sure getting there is a real pain especially now with all of the coronavirus fears, but once we got tested and past the TSA clowns and the American Airlines clones and in the air our fun began! Of course airline execs not very worried about the length of the flight figured out that the best way to fly from John Wayne airport in Orange County California to the Hawaiian islands is to fly east to the airport in Phoenix, wait 90 minutes, change planes and then head west to the Sandwich Islands and paradise. And what the heck? It only adds about three hours to the flight and the seats in coach are so comfortable that nobody would mind. And during that flight no food service. At all. One soft drink, and if you can afford it, an alcoholic beverage I guess to calm your nerves?
I was feeling pretty cramped after seven and a half hours crammed into that tiny little chair sitting next to a woman who could comfortably sit in two seats, but was doing her best not to spill over into mine. Finally Lihue airport and Kauai. Paradise on earth. It only took an hour and a half to get past the guards checking our medical papers to make sure we had tested negative for Covid One Nine. We had already been checked as we boarded the plane in Orange County, then again before boarding in Phoenix, but that didn't matter.
Finally we were outside in the clean smelling air of the beautiful island. Waiting for the bus to shuttle us to Hertz where we had a car waiting for us. Right? We had a confirmation number and everything, it was going to be a smooth transaction. It only took two and a half hours to get to the rental guy inside the building. And since they had lots of time they checked us all over again for a negative C19 test result. And of course they didn't have any more economy cars left so we were stuck with a full size ride. Could they still give us the economy price? No, they weren't authorized to do that.
No matter we took the Chevrolet Impala and ran. Check in time at our resort was four O'clock. The office closes at six. when we left the airport it was about six thirty. When we arrived at the Makai resort in Princeville we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a lady in the office who was very gracious and showed us to our home for the next week. A great little cottage well secluded and well furnished. After that the tension melted away. Kauai is truly a paradise on earth. Seven days of hiking to waterfalls, kayaking the rivers, snorkeling the clear coastal waters, the fire dance show, photographing the flowers and the sunset catamaran ride along the napali coast, and it was time to leave too soon. The Napali coast has to be seen to be appreciated. There is no way to describe its beauty.
We didn't eat in any of the restaurants, preferring to prepare our own meals in the cottage. We learned to buy vegetables from the local farmers at their roadside stands, avoiding both the very expensive grocery store and the equally expensive 'Farmer's Markets' where hippies from the 48 states sold 'organic' vegetables to tourists at significantly marked up prices. We did enjoy the outdoor eating at the fire dance show which was excellent. And the food on the sunset catamaran cruise was even better.
Coming home was a drag for a couple of reasons. First leaving paradise isn't easy. Second air travel these days stinks. Especially for those of us who are old enough to remember when the airlines competed to see who could make their passengers comfortable and safe instead of uncomfortable and grouchy. Giving the car back to Hertz was a breeze. It took about five minutes. Waiting for the TSA to pretend to be looking for hazardous stuff is always uncomfortable and a waste of time. The flight home? Actually it wasn't as bad as the flight west. I got two soft drinks and two packages of some sort of cookie. I only fly when I absolutely have to. Anywhere less than twelve hundred miles away and I'm driving, except for Texas. For some reason I don't mind driving the extra miles when I have to go there which isn't often. I don't like Texas. Texas, as far as I can tell, is not paradise.
But this is about paradise in the Sandwich Islands. And I can't wait to go back.
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