First Day in Hawaii

It was a long flight. The 3-1/2 hours to Houston seemed long but the rest of the trip was much longer, of course, making for a long day. We decided to spend Sunday night at a hotel down by the airport since we were unsure of the weather and didn't want to chance missing our flight. I got up at 2:30 a.m. to start getting ready and woke the guys up about a half hour later. We were in the lobby by 4:00 and caught the shuttle to the airport with no problems. We were at the gate in plenty of time and were just waiting for the bagel place to open at 5:00 so we could get some breakfast before the flight. We left Detroit on time and the flight to Houston was uneventful. We left Houston on time also and except for the long flight, an in-flight movie I tried to watch where the sound kept going in and out and not sitting with the guys (they were a couple rows back) the trip was uneventful. When we got to Honolulu we could already feel the warm breezes. The airport there is partially outside! We got down to baggage claim and Tyler arrived to meet us a few minutes later. It was so great to see him after almost a year!

We went from the airport to the car rental place and then to Tyler's apartment to change clothes and so Tyler could pick up his clothes.


Tyler's apartment

We decided to head to Sam's Club next for groceries and to wait for Amber and Andy. When we finished at Sam's Club Amber and Andy met us there. It was a good thing too because our car was already loaded with luggage and people so we needed their car for the groceries!
By this time it was already starting to get dark so we headed over to Kailua to try to find the house. It was a little tricky as the street didn't really have a name but after a few twists and turns (and with the help of Amber's Garmin) we finally found it. I have to say, the initial reaction to the house was not good. It wasn't very well equipped and had a very musty smell. The bed I slept in didn't even have the right size sheets on it. We were all so tired we decided to just go into Kailua for dinner, come back and go to bed.

We were finally in Hawaii, all together, with 10 days of fun ahead of us!