Journey to Paradise
I am a firm believer in the journey being as important as the destination but this was put to the test when staring down the barrel of 12 hours in a flying sardine can with a four year old.
Now granted, this is not your typical four years old; this is the MP a seasoned travel pro already and a pretty straight shooter at the game of life. Bust still, you just never know what will happen at 36,000 feet with nothing but you and time between you and your destination.
So the first leg of the journey was pretty uneventful – we watched dvds and chit chatted. Get to LA and the whole time change thing begins to mess with us. Because your stomach thinks it is 5 p.m. even though it is 2 p.m. so we hit some dinner and recharge the battery on the dvd player. But much to our horror the battery won’t recharge. NOW what are we supposed to do? There is still a six hour flight between us and Hawaii.
I decide that running the MP up and down the corridor of the airport might make him a little tired and perhaps he will sleep. We jump over color blocks and dodge weary travelers and have just a hoot as we run around LAX.
I also buy some playing cards and think this might be the opportunity to teach him how to play Rummy so there is someone else that can beat Scott at the game (The Guillemette Gin Rummy Tourney Maui Style Score? Kris 5 Scott 3. I OWN him at Rummy). Any other thing to try and keep him interested. Which you would think I would know isn’t necessary. He is pretty good at entertaining himself and so excited about Maui that he is going to behave himself.
The movie on the plane is the latest Disney adventure “Meet the Robinsons” or as the MP calls it “Meet the Robin Hoods” so he watches that for awhile and then crashes. Out like a light. He sleeps until we start our descent into Maui and I wake him up to catch his first glimpse of Hawaii.
Not much to see as it is dark and windy but there is something about the air (cleaner, clearer?) and having made that long trip he wanted to see it when we got there.
We get off the plane, head to the baggage claim and it hits me – the smell. For those who haven’t been to Hawaii (first off, GO if you ever get the chance) the airports are all pretty wide open so you are barely inside when you get there and there is a scent in the air of Hawaii that is hard to describe – part ocean, gardenia, plumeria, and something else.. Once you smell it you never forget it but it took coming in contact it with after seven years that made me feel like we were really there and on vacation.
We collect the bags with me inhaling deeply and probably a little weirdly,get the car and then start the journey around the island to the house. Did I mention this was July 4th? Yup. America’s birthday – and as fate would have it I find myself in bad traffic frequently on this particular holiday. So it takes us an hour and a half to get to Ka’anapali and then 20 minutes to find the house (It was dark, we were tired and they all kind of look alike).
We unload the car and get everything in and do some exploring. We found a lizard in the house and the MP promptly named it Lizzie and proceeded to look for ‘him’ in order to avoid it for the rest of the vacation. We got settled in and all quickly fell asleep looking forward to the adventure that lay ahead.
To be Continued… Next Time – Hawaii By the Numbers. How many miles can we log on the rental car in two weeks?
Now granted, this is not your typical four years old; this is the MP a seasoned travel pro already and a pretty straight shooter at the game of life. Bust still, you just never know what will happen at 36,000 feet with nothing but you and time between you and your destination.
So the first leg of the journey was pretty uneventful – we watched dvds and chit chatted. Get to LA and the whole time change thing begins to mess with us. Because your stomach thinks it is 5 p.m. even though it is 2 p.m. so we hit some dinner and recharge the battery on the dvd player. But much to our horror the battery won’t recharge. NOW what are we supposed to do? There is still a six hour flight between us and Hawaii.
I decide that running the MP up and down the corridor of the airport might make him a little tired and perhaps he will sleep. We jump over color blocks and dodge weary travelers and have just a hoot as we run around LAX.
I also buy some playing cards and think this might be the opportunity to teach him how to play Rummy so there is someone else that can beat Scott at the game (The Guillemette Gin Rummy Tourney Maui Style Score? Kris 5 Scott 3. I OWN him at Rummy). Any other thing to try and keep him interested. Which you would think I would know isn’t necessary. He is pretty good at entertaining himself and so excited about Maui that he is going to behave himself.
The movie on the plane is the latest Disney adventure “Meet the Robinsons” or as the MP calls it “Meet the Robin Hoods” so he watches that for awhile and then crashes. Out like a light. He sleeps until we start our descent into Maui and I wake him up to catch his first glimpse of Hawaii.
Not much to see as it is dark and windy but there is something about the air (cleaner, clearer?) and having made that long trip he wanted to see it when we got there.
We get off the plane, head to the baggage claim and it hits me – the smell. For those who haven’t been to Hawaii (first off, GO if you ever get the chance) the airports are all pretty wide open so you are barely inside when you get there and there is a scent in the air of Hawaii that is hard to describe – part ocean, gardenia, plumeria, and something else.. Once you smell it you never forget it but it took coming in contact it with after seven years that made me feel like we were really there and on vacation.
We collect the bags with me inhaling deeply and probably a little weirdly,get the car and then start the journey around the island to the house. Did I mention this was July 4th? Yup. America’s birthday – and as fate would have it I find myself in bad traffic frequently on this particular holiday. So it takes us an hour and a half to get to Ka’anapali and then 20 minutes to find the house (It was dark, we were tired and they all kind of look alike).
We unload the car and get everything in and do some exploring. We found a lizard in the house and the MP promptly named it Lizzie and proceeded to look for ‘him’ in order to avoid it for the rest of the vacation. We got settled in and all quickly fell asleep looking forward to the adventure that lay ahead.
To be Continued… Next Time – Hawaii By the Numbers. How many miles can we log on the rental car in two weeks?
posted by Kristi Hallowell @ 12:59 PM
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