Tuesday July 12, 2022
We got up, packed some more, and loaded the car (I had mostly packed the night before). We didn’t need to leave until 10am, but the kids were all ready to go well before and whined about when we were going to leave. We left the Blaylocks around 10 and drove the 1/2 hour to the airport. The shuttle bus arrived not more than two minutes after we parked the van. Everything went surprisingly smoothly after that. We had an hour or so to spare, so we ate some lunch in the SLC airport after going through security. Erik bought Panda Express for the kids. For the two of us, he bought salmon, clam chowder, and a halibut sandwich at market street grill. I didn’t think it was that great. My halibut sandwich was fine but a little too salty. Gabe also somehow lost a tooth.
We flew on Southwest airlines to Oakland and then boarded another plane to Oahu. Unfortunately, these planes didn’t have the touch screens in front our seats so no movies or games, but we survived the flights regardless. We grabbed our luggage and went out to the huge van that Erik had waiting for us. Actually, it was his parents that were able to get the van for us. They were also extremely helpful with our luggage! I don’t know what we would have done had they not been there with their own rental car to help carry our luggage to the rental house. There was no way all our luggage was going to fit in our van.
We drove all the way to Haleiwa on the north part of the island to the huge rental house Erik reserved a year before. On the way, we stopped for some fast-food dinner. Half of us chose Panda Express (again!), and the other half (including Erik and I) chose Wendy’s. Erik parked in a McDonald’s parking lot, and we walked the short distance to the restaurant. Around 8pm we arrived at the house. It was a huge house with three levels. It took a while for us to figure out where we would all sleep. I decided to take the basement where it was quieter, cooler, and bigger. Erik was hoping for a room with a view. My priority is a good night's sleep, so I was happy to take the basement. There was a bunk bed that Ian slept in. We put Gabe and Elisa in a room on the main floor that had two separate twin beds. I fell right to sleep at 9 pm.
Wednesday July 13, 2022
I woke up around 4am. I tried to go back to sleep, but after doing the math, I realized I had gotten 6-7 hours of sleep. There was no way I could get back to sleep. Ian was awake anyway. It was pitch black outside, but I went with Ian to sit on the lawn chairs out back to watch the sunrise. The others woke up not long after. I had packed cereal, oatmeal, and powdered milk in Gabe’s suitcase. I made a pitcher of powdered milk for the kids to have with their cereal for breakfast.
It took a long time for the 15 of us (sans Michael, make that 14) to get dressed and get out of the house to drive all the way to the Aloha Stadium to the swap meet. We arrived around 8:45am. I forgot to bring the sunscreen to the car: whoops. Surprisingly, only Mark and Eric got sunburned! We were there for a few hours too. I think most everyone enjoyed it. I didn’t buy anything for myself, but I did buy a turtle keychain and turtle bracelet for Ian, a fuzzy bunny keychain, earrings, and a headband for Elisa. It was impossible for the entire group to stay together, but we found each other (and grandma and grandpa too!) by the food trucks. I ordered a nacho poke bowl that had these yummy chips instead of rice. It was pricey but yummy. I shared it with Erik. I bought Elisa a mango coconut drink with boba pearls at another food truck. I wasn’t too impressed with it; it tasted watered down to me. Erik picked us all up in the van and drove us all to Costco. First, we bought some pizza for the kids. Gabe got a hotdog. I wasn’t hungry, so I just sat and watched everyone else eat. Then we went inside and shopped for food for the trip. We had 3-4 groups each doing their own shopping. Erik put each family in charge of a meal for each night.
After Costco, we drove back to the house to put the food away and change for the Manoa Falls hike. This time Tootsie stayed behind since she was too tired. The hike was fun and pretty but very muddy.
After the hike we went back to the house where we had chicken tacos for dinner and raspberry cupcakes for dessert. When it was dark, we saw a group of snorkelers in the water with their flashlights. Michael thought there was “something going on.” Lisa thought they were searching for a dead body. I thought they were doing some military training. The most likely story is they were night snorkelers looking for manta rays, which was probably true because we saw them snorkeling every night of the trip afterwards.
I like clam chowder from Market Street Grill and whole potatoes look delicious. You even had a view of Waimea Bay from the beach house. That Manoa Falls trail looks really wet and muddy. I'm glad I didn't go up any farther than I did. That's funny about Gabe! He always gets in the shower at our house and the cabin before he thinks about a towel.
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