Hawaii trip - day 1

Easter Sunday, April 8

Our plane left D-FW as scheduled, and actually arrived in Honolulu about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, that's when things started to go downhill. At first, our plane couldn't taxi to the gate due to "equipment" being left in the way. Then, when we got to the gate, the jet bridge wouldn't extend to the plane, so we had to sit while the airport sent someone to fix it. When we finally got off the plane, this is the sight that greeted us at baggage claim...

A Honolulu airport worker tries to get the baggage conveyors moving...

Yep, the baggage conveyors were jammed and some of the belts weren't working. After 45 minutes of attempts to re-start them, they finally re-routed our plane's luggage to another carousel. I'd say it's time for the Honolulu airport to modernize its facilities, or at least do a better job of maintaining them. While I waited for our bags, K went to pick up our rental car. Things weren't all smiles and laughs at the Hertz counter, either. Apparently, they'd had a power outage and were struggling to get their computers back on line. But K still made it back to baggage claim before I had our stuff... Finally, the baggage machine spit out our suitcases and we were on the move.

We made it! Heading east on H-1 toward Waikiki...

Waikiki Beach near our hotel - Diamond Head peak in background

One of the reasons we decided to take this trip was to visit with friends who lived on Oahu. Bill, one of my best friends from college, has lived in Honolulu for the past three years. We hadn't seen him since we last visited two years ago. After checking in at our hotel, we picked up Bill and his wife and headed to Kane'ohe, on the other side of the island, to have dinner with K's friends Susan and Greg, who just recently relocated to Hawaii from the "mainland".

driving north on the Pali Highway...

view of Kailua from the Pali Overlook

Modeling my most obnoxious Hawaiian shirt at the Pali Overlook...

Susan and Greg's house features what is arguably one of the best views available on the island of Oahu. Their balcony -- or lanai, to use the local terminology -- provides a view of the Ko'olau Mountains to the southwest, and Kane'ohe Bay to the east. Spectacular! They served us a really tasty Easter dinner, which compensated nicely for our earlier troubles at the airport. Susan's mom and grandmother were in town, as well.

the view from Greg & Susan's

Kane'ohe sunset

This was our first time to visit this side of the island, and we really enjoyed it. It's a lot more relaxed than the fast-paced, crowded city conditions found in Honolulu and Waikiki. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel, arriving around 10 pm (due to the time difference, it was now 3 a.m. to our tired bodies) -- a long day.

Stay tuned for more...

WSC

nr: The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger

np: Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy