Aloha!

Life is an adventure! My day began at 4:00 a.m. as I quickly dressed to head into Boston and catch the first leg of my Hawaiian adventure! I made sure I had a window seat for the entire duration so I could enjoy the scenery as I winged my way from one coast to the next. Most of the time we were high above the clouds but once in a while they would part and offer a glimpse of the varying topography that makes our country so unique. Along the way I saw the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains, jagged and still snow capped, then just as quickly, as if there were an invisible curtain between them, the mountains turned to a lush, soft moss green.

As we began to descend to land in San Francisco, the land below appeared segmented and multicolored as if an artist had purposely drawn kohl lines then painted each section individually, offering an appealing mélange of rust, orange, green and yellow. I wish I knew what I was looking at but the pilot offered no description.

On the last leg of my journey, from San Francisco to Honolulu my seat mate was a lovely young woman from Denmark, now living in California. She works for the consulate and was transferred to the USA where she would live for the next four years. She was enamored with the beauty of our country and came equipped with a long list of things to see. I suggested she add the Grand Canyon to it but she was way ahead of me. We talked of the different places to visit in the world, so much to see, and she encouraged me to visit Rome, a city that has found a way to marry the ancient with the modern, with wonders waiting around every corner.

As we began our descent to Honolulu I could see Mount Kilauea in the distance sending hot plumes of volcanic steam into the air. Just beyond was another island, sparsely populated, which offered up the remnants of another ancient volcano, its side scooped out, like a colossal quart of soft ice cream. It no longer held red hot lava but was now filled with bright green vegetation.

The layover in Honolulu was a bit over three hours. The gentleman who ferried me over to Honolulu airlines gently and comically admonished all of us on the shuttle not to rush saying, “In Hawaii we hang loose. I checked this morning and the islands are still there!” As an East Coast gal, naturally prone to hurrying, I will remember to repeat this mantra during my stay. The last leg of my journey ended in Kauai, ending my 17 hour journey and depositing me amid the soft, warm breezes of the Pacific.

By the time I slipped beneath the welcoming covers of my bed I had been awake for 24 hours; I slept in my first morning attempting to overcome my jet lag.
When I finally decided to greet the day I rolled back the charming, white washed wooden slats of my patio doors and was greeted by abundant sunshine, lovely, tiny birds flitting about and velvety red orange tropical hibiscus flowers, dotting the landscape. Off in the distance I could hear the gentle rolling of the waves on the beach I would explore later in the day.

Since my trip was very spur of the moment I decided to spend my first afternoon by the pool, reading up on the delightful excursions available on the island. I already have a luau booked for Friday and I know for certain that sometime this week I will take a sightseeing helicopter tour of Kauai, or the Garden Island as it known.

Right now I am sitting in the hotel lounge, waiting for my dinner partners to appear. A wonderful duo of musicians play and sing for all of us, one strumming the guitar, the other lovingly caressing the bongo drums. The tiki torches are filling the early evening air with their flickering glow, the Pacific roars in the distance and the veggie sushi is to die for! Life is good. Wish all of you were here! Aloha!