Aloha from Hawaii

Hello from paradise!

Yep, the picture hanging on the wall in the hotel room is the closest I have been to the ocean.  

Today was a long day of traveling, but the first (far away) look at that beautiful water made the 8 hour crick in my neck worth it.  

Our day started bright and early with a very full car.  Dan is an expert packer.  

This is an extra special trip for Dan's mom because it is first time she has been on an airplane.  Doesn't she look so excited, brave, and confident in the pilot's flying abilities?

We warmed her up with a short flight to Denver, and then braced her for the longer flight to Honolulu.  By now she is a pro traveler.  

Dan and I started laughing like school girls behind his parents when they actually pulled out the safety instruction cards and followed along with the flight attendant's presentation.  

So cute.  

The long flight included two of the worst movies I have seen in my life, so I restorted to jelly beans and my gal pal Rachael for entertainment.  

Once we landed we did the whole baggage claim, rental car shebang and finally found out way to the hotel around 10 PM midwest time (just 5 PM Hawaii time).  

I am determined to power through this time change and get on Hawaii time in two days.  We had enough time to check into our hotel, grab some necessary groceries, and dinner.  

Dinner was Hawaiian BBQ, which we discovered is very different from Kansas City BBQ.  

By the time we finished dinner, it was time for bed.  I tried to get someone to accompany me for a night time beach walk, but after the day of traveling, I didn't have any takers.  The beach will wait until the morning.  

Tomorrow we are going to try to find a place that serves breakfast and shows NFL football games.  Wish us luck.