Hawaii Nine 0...ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta,....ta, ta, ta, ta, ta.......

A Room With A View
taken on our last morning

We made it to Hawaii, oh yeah! Nine days away from worry and stress!

We arrived Friday the 29th of June at or around 7:30 p.m. Walked out of the plane and headed for our luggage only to find that it stayed in Maui and wouldn't be coming in until later in the evening (maybe). This was a new experience for me; I've been lucky enough to never have my luggage lost. It only happens to other people, you know.

So while we griped and groaned about what a lousy way it was to start a vacation, we waited for John and Pam to arrive. This was a particularly unusual vacation because we were rooming with a work associate of Juan Carlos' whom I'd met at a job site once before but had never met his wife.

So we sat grumbling and waiting and slightly anxious. JC was probably alright with the whole arrangement because, what do guys care. I on the other hand kept thinking dumb things like what if she's a knock out and has this perfect body, gorgeous smile, big ta ta's, you know the perfect woman. I'm thinking how am I ever going to put a bathing suit on in front of strangers who will be less than strangers after this trip. How? How? How? Oh, the anxiety of it all.

They arrived and with no intention of sounding demeaning, they were "normal" looking people. I was in the clear, Thank You Jesus. Seriously, I don't put a bathing suit on in front of anyone! Within the first three minutes I learned something about John and Pam, he was in a hurry, she was not. He had no patience, she has. I don't say this to be offensive, just my observation.

So we left the airport (minus our luggage) and half way to the Condo, get a call from the airport that our luggage has arrived. They ask for our address but we haven't a clue what it is so we ended up having to drive back and pick it up in the morning. Thankfully, we were only a 20 minute drive away.We're there two days and we hear "Koreans plan to send war weapons toward Hawaii". Now I ask you, how would you feel? Do you slug it off and say oh, darn, looks like we're in for another Pearl Harbor? Do you run and cry? Do you grab the first jet home and hope they're not looking for a jet specifically like the one you're in to try their weapons on? What do you do? Pam says, "well at least they're not planning on doing it until July 4th, we'll be gone by then". I was not comforted. If the Koreans are planning on testing their weapons of war, how do I know they're telling the truth about what day they're gonna do it? It would be great to make a phone call and ask someone but who? I have a few Korean friends but I don't think they're up to speed with what North Korea has in mind. Maybe I should stop one of the Koreans on the street of Hawaii and ask "why would your people do this to us". So, I talked it over with God. He said, and I quote "don't worry, you won't feel a thing". After that, I thanked Him that I had enough sense to leave a typed will near the computer that said "Only open when Mom and Dad get home". Of course I figured that if we didn't come home, curiosity would get to them soon enough.

And as if I didn't have enough to freak out about, Karina was preparing to leave for New Orleans and I, her mama, would not be home to help her. Okay, okay, she's 15, she can do it herself. I'm calm now. No, wait! She calls "mom, I'm not sure if I have everything together. I'm kinda nervous". For crying out loud! What was I thinking! How could I go on a vacation and not be there when my little girl (I know, she's 15) is leaving for a mission trip to NOLA, geez, what a bad mom! I calmly say "don't worry Karina, you'll have everything you need and you'll be with Leanne, she always looks out for you". We hang up, I text as fast as my fingers will go "Leanne, I'm near tears and feel like a terrible mom, can you please, please check in with Karina to make sure she has everything packed that she'll need, did I say please?" Leanne texts back "don't cry, I know how you feel, I'll be leaving Bella here with my mother in-law, I'm gonna miss her" (Bella of course is only 2).

So that you don't think the entire trip was one worry after another, it was. BUT I did have a wonderful time. We drove around the island several times. Visited many, many beaches and more gift shops. Ate too much. And probably over tanned. Carlos and I probably would not be recognizable except that John and Pam are, hmmm, how to say it....quite....white, so we didn't spend as much time on the beach as we would have had it been just he and I.While John and Pam were laying on the beach Carlos and I walked up and down the shore. We collected shells. We laughed and we missed the kids together. We swore we'd come back some day and bring them with us. We tried to watch what we ate but we ate a lot and then walked a lot.We didn't go to any Luau's, we didn't visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial and we didn't snorkel (bummer), but we did have a wonderful time. We saw a lot of John, from behind (always in a hurry) and Pam (she was not). We enjoyed their company and watching TV with them at night.

It was a good vacation but it was time to come home. And I'll be darned if those crazy Koreans didn't turn around and go home too. See, you gotta have connections, if I had known it was gonna turn out that way....I coulda' worried less!