Since we were meeting my entire family in Hawaii, the family group chat lit up and honestly was one of the highlights of the trip. We were the first ones headed out while oddly enough, the bride and groom were the very last. The Hall of Flags gives me a Pavlovian response of anticipation and excitement for the adventure ahead!
The first leg of the flight was uneventful and we landed in LAX on time.
Liesel hopped off the flight at LAX and the girls all sang Party in the USA as we walked down the jet bridge.
After a short layover, we were all too happy to get out of there and en route to the real destination- Hawaii!!! It's been a dream of mine to take my family on a Hawaiian vacation and I could hardly believe it was actually happening.
We chased the sunset as we flew west and I even caught a glimpse of the LA temple!
The last of the California coastline passed our windows and then there was nothing but ocean.
Some of the girls managed to snooze a bit but Liesel was as excited as I was and she kept squeezing my hand and turning around to smile at me.
My dad was adamant that we make sure we sit on the right side of the plane. The only thing is... it was dark and cloudy so it didn't really make that big of a difference. We flew by another island- Maui maybe? That did look pretty cool lighting up the clouds from below.
Someone at work told me the airport is partly outside and I had a hard time comprehending the idea. Chicago is kinda like an airport/compound and definitely feels like it with all the security. Walking from the terminal to the baggage claim and suddenly being outside was so very different! The first thing I noticed is how humid it was- no one mentioned the humidity! This was a cute little nursing station just inside our gate and when I sent this picture to the family, everyone became doubly excited to join us in paradise.
I also loved the signs for the restrooms!
Computers were down at Avis so the one person at the counter was trying to do absolutely everything via paper. Brent and the girls eventually joined me and I told him I had the rental car all paid for, I just needed keys. In fact, at other airports I could just check the app and it would tell me which parking spot to go to and the keys were already in the car! While I waited in line and tried calling the main Avis customer service number, Brent went to the parking garage to check. He swiftly came back and said we were good to go and everyone waiting in line watched our parade of girls and luggage practically run out the door. With recent experience working a GPS in a rental car, Liesel set me up lickety split. That warmed the cockles of my heart- she had done that a lot when she and Brent were on their Palmyra trip.
Happy to be out of the airport, the final question was the Vrbo which was also prepaid. We headed down the highway (side note- if you built a highway in Chicago that, at times, slowed to just a 35 mph speed limit, I'm pretty sure you'd get shot). There were some serious road bumps that rocked the car since I didn't realize how big they were and the lady at the kiosk near the hotel had absolutely no idea what we were talking about when we mentioned Ko Olina. We recognized Disney's Aulani right away bit had a hard time finding the entrance to our resort. We accidentally drove to the Marriott and they kindly pointed us in the right direction. As Brent checked in, I quietly prayed this whole things had not been a scam- this was our first time using Vrbo. He triumphantly emerged with keys and parking information. We LOVED the place we stayed (more on that later) and everyone piled into bed. It was a long day of travel but we made it together, in one piece!
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