Aloha, Kailua!

 Pella in Paradise

Day 1: Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Travel Day - LAX to HNL

My dad dropped me off at Bro and V's house the night before our very early flight so that I could leave my car at home.  Thanks, Dad!  Somehow I was able to wake up for our early departure to drive to LAX.  We had some time to relax, so we went to the Admiral's Club and had some breakfast as we watched the dawn begin to form. 

 

That is not a UFO in the sky.
It's a reflection of the light inside the club.

Once on board the plane, we got ourselves ready for the 5.5-hour flight to Honolulu.  I ended up reading my entire book for Book Club at work, "Home" by Toni Morrison.  It was too early for me to have a cocktail just yet, which is too bad because I would liked to have used that particular perk on our first day of this trip.  No worries, Sher, you'll have plenty of cocktails later!  

The Honolulu airport is the most beautiful one I've ever seen, mainly because of the really nice plaza that we saw on the way out.  I mean, that's what I call "setting the mood"!  

Even the planes are prettier 

Happy faces after a long flight

Backdrop from the photo above

Our rental car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  Bro tried to get us a smaller vehicle, but none were available.  More room for me in the back, I guess, which is fine because you know I need to be equipped with snacks at all times.  The ride to the rental car was a short one, but the driver said that we would see a waterfall.  V was not as amused as Bro and I were about the waterfall itself.

In front of the waterfall on the 1st floor

I think hers is a courtesy smile, but I'm laughing anyway.

The highway is also gorgeous, with all of the lush green flora on one side, and the ocean on the other.  It's good that Bro was driving for this whole trip, because I would have slowed us down by pulling over at every turnout.  But we wanted to get to Mona's house in Kailua, our home for half the trip.

So let's back up.  What actually is going on here?  Several months earlier, my friend Cindy texted me and asked if I was going to see Rockapella in Hawaii.  I have not been very active on social media lately, so I had to look that up and saw that they would be in the Aloha State for 5 shows.  Well, there's a motivation for me to pack up my luggage and get to traveling again!  Unfortunately, most of the core PellaPosse was unable to go with me, but, happily, Bro said, yes, he and V would love to join me.  I bought my tickets for all 5 shows.  I called in a favor with my friend Mona, who has a house there, and although she would be out of town, we were welcome to stay at her place!  Bro did all of the other booking, like the flights and the hotel in Kauai, and the rental car.  Thank you, Bro!  Then the wait until October.  I'm sure glad I had drum corps to keep my brain occupied for the time being.  

We arrived at Mona's house and marveled at the beauty of it all.  The kitchen area had recently been remodeled, and I wish it was my kitchen at home.  The place is just a couple of blocks from the beach and they have a swimming pool.  Mona is the best host and equipped the entire house with all of the toiletries we needed, and told us to help ourselves to all of the alcohol.  Uh oh.  We unpacked our stuff and needed lunch, so Bro looked up the places that Mona had recommended.  I called Mona after texting her to tell her we had arrived, and she told us stuff about the house and recommended a hike up to the Pillbox, as we were close to the start of the trail.

Plumerias are my favorite.
Look at all of the flowers on this tree!

Closeup of plumeria blooms

We went to The Food Company, which is a takeout place only.  I found a Bento Sampler and also got some Banana Mochi.  Because MOCHI.  AND BANANA.  I mean, I already like banana bread, I already like Mochi Cake.  Combo?  YES, PLEASE!  OK, I'm going to stop yelling now.  Bro and V got an egg salad sandwich, some soba, and some pineapple with some kind of topping called "lihi".  We also went into the liquor store next door because there wasn't enough at Mona's house.  I kid.  I was happy to find Hawaiian Sun drinks, and got a 6-pack of Lilikoi Lychee flavor because they didn't have my favorite one, which is Green Tea Lychee.  I also got Turtle Chips, because I wanted them to try some.  I also wanted to try the sweet corn flavor because I hadn't had that yet.  I've had the chocolate churro flavor.  It is too good!

We decided to eat our lunch on the lanai.  It was yummy, especially that banana mochi bread, which is now on my list of recipes to make someday.  While we ate, we saw a couple of geckos on the lanai, as well as a little heron.  Or maybe it was an egret.  I didn't get a photo of it, but maybe V did.  

He did not try to sell me insurance.
That I know of.

Flowers in our Hair
Because Hawaii.

Now that we were energized after our yummy lunch, we walked up the street to take the trail up to the Pillbox.  Well, they took the trail up.  I had already slipped a little bit at the start of the trail, and told V to go ahead without me.  In typical Bro fashion, he had not waited for either one of us and was halfway up the hill by the time I told V not to wait for me.  I'm not very adventurous anymore, so the slip had me quite hesitant to go up very far, but I did go up a couple of landings just to try to see if I could do the "slow and steady" thing.  But I'm out of shape these days, and scared of heights.  Well, mostly I'm scared of falling down and messing up my face so close to a Rockapella concert.  I did watch other people climb up and come down the hill, sometimes on their butts.  I marveled at the different footwear (or no footwear) that people thought they could wear, like flip flops.  I needed shoes with more traction, not my sneakers.  But there's that whole going downhill thing.   

In front of the hill I did not go up.

How far I did go up, no zoom used.

They were taking a while, and I felt lame just standing there and watching people go by me, so I texted them to tell them I was going back to the house to spend some time in the pool.  Hey, I may be a wuss, but at least I didn't have mud on my butt like that one girl in the cute romper because she slid down the hill pictured in back of me in the above photo.

I got in the pool and started to swim and immediately got a cramp in my leg.  Stupid hill.  So I mostly stayed close to the edge since I was alone at the house and didn't want to drown without anyone to save me.  There was a teeny tiny gecko in the pool!  I wasn't sure if he was dead, and I wanted to get a photo of him, but I was not going to get out of the pool just to get my phone and take that picture.  

Love the tile work of the tortuga!

About to go in

Another plumeria - love this color

Bro and V came down the hill intact, and Bro joined me for a swim.  He was able to get the teeny tiny gecko out, and it was alive!  While we were swimming, V received a facetime call from Miss O.  She and her friend were freaking out at home about a spider and wanted to show us the contraption they made to get rid of it.  The conversation was quite hilarious.

They were hungry from their hike, so we got dressed to go to our hosts' favorite place nearby:  Buzz's Original Steak House.  We had a little bit of a wait, so I took pictures of these torches.  For some reason, my camera kept making the flames purple.

I ordered too much food, because I wanted garlic mashed potatoes.  I really enjoyed my lychee martini.  This is when I learned that my phone camera has "Food" mode, and it has spoiled me for all food photos.

Lychee Martini:
New Amsterdam Vodka, Lychee Liqueur
 shaken with Lychee juice, served up

Starter salad choice: Spinach

Grilled mongchong w/
garlic mashed potatoes & vegetables

I wish we had room in my tummy for dessert, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.  We thought of maybe coming back just for dessert, but it was always too crowded when we passed by.

We drove back to the house and relaxed for the rest of the night.  First day done, already having fun!

Next up:  Shopping Day

Cheers!