Well, weve come to the end of another Trip Report. So that means another year is in the books, were all a little older, and I have to stop living vicariously through the pictures and report and bring myself to admit that the adventure is over. I really love writing these reportsnot only do I get to experience all of the memories of the trip, but I enjoy the back-and-forth banter with all of you. I hope you enjoyed the write-up and saw some pictures you liked or at least chuckled once or twice. Most importantly, I hope it inspired you to keep traveling and planning your own adventures. After all, time isnt slowing down for any of us. Sooner or later well reach the point where all we have are the memories, so we need to get out there and create as many memories as we can!
With this trip, Im grateful and thrilled that we were able to pull off the surprise. As I mentioned in the report, this was a bucket list item for Julie and mesurprising the kids with a Disney trip was every bit as special as wed hoped it would be. Disney World is an extraordinary place, not that you need me to convince you. Im thankful that we have a place we can go to escape from the real world, where your worried can fade into the background and everything (mostly) runs like clockwork. As Ive said before, you can visit beaches or cities or mountains or exotic places and get all sorts of unique experiences, but a Disney trip is like a vacation inside imagination itself. Ill never get tired of visiting and finding out whats around the next corner.
I must also say a special thanks to our
Mysterious Benefactor, without whom wed never have been able to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, experience the magic of that resort, and cross another item off our bucket list. Barry and Bambi, thanks for being amazing friends. And DVC owners. And for having a baby at just the right time. But mostly for being amazing friends.
The only way out of the doldrums of finishing an adventure is planning the next one. So with that in mind, lets take a peek at what 2013 has in store for us.
As many of you know, Julie and I have a goal of getting our kids to see all 50 states. Were doing pretty well so far and with this latest trip, weve covered the entire East Coast. So far, theyve set foot in 23 states in our travels (Sarah has 24 due to a trip to California with her grandparents). Heres our updated family map:
We added pins to Pawleys Island and Charleston in South Carolina, Savannah Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida. Blue pins mean an overnight stay and red signifies other places of interest weve visited. (Yellow pins are for me and Julie traveling alone, and clear pins are for Cheesecake Factories, just because).
For 2013, weve decided to try and conquer one of the harder-to-reach states on the list. Julie and I will be celebrating our 15th anniversary in late June, so we wanted to do something special. So we decided to shoot for the moon. However, travel to the moon is still not what I would call cost effective, so we lowered our sights a bit. In mid-June, we will be heading to
Hawaii!
And were taking the kids with us!
A few factors are making this possible. For one thing, Julie got a job this year as a long-term substitute teacher. That provided a great source of extra income which we conveniently labeled the Vacation Fund. Secondly, we had been saving frequent-flier miles since wed been married and now had enough for 3 free round-trip tickets (and we wanted to use them before the airlines change the rules again). And thirdly, I have a cousin who lives full-time on Maui
and her parents (my aunt and uncle) also have a house there, so we have a place to stay at least part of the time.
Even with those helpful factors this will still be by far the most expensive trip weve ever taken! But hey, you only live once. Our feeling is that we may never get back here (or at least wont for a long time), so we want to try and see as much as possible. Its difficult because inter-island travel is expensive (you basically have to fly, and each flight ranges from $70-$100 a person), but thats what a 2nd income is making possible for us. Im willing to drive my Pontiac POS a little longer if we can get to see more islands.
I also put Hawaiian Airlines gift cards on my Christmas list this year.
Anyway, heres the plan. Im taking 3 weeks off from work this summer. Hope my boss isnt too angry. Im not that important anyway, and nobody ever lay on their deathbed and said, You know, I wish Id spent more hours at the office. Because the airline offers hundreds of flights every day but only allows you to use your frequent flier miles on 2 of them, weve already booked our tickets to and from the mainland. I have to drive a little further than normal because I got the best deal out of Dulles airport near D.C. instead of Philly or Baltimore.
Well have to get up at 5:00 a.m. or so to make an early flight. Then well fly for about 12 hours and land in Honolulu somewhere around 2:00 p.m. Dont you love airport math? That jet lag adjustment is going to be rough, since 2:00 there will feel like 8:00 p.m. here. Well need to try and stay up as late as possible, but thats going to be tough for the kids. Hopefully the excitement of being in a new place will help.
I know what youre thinking now: are we going to Aulani? As of right now, no. Friends of ours at our church are DVC owners and were willing to let us rent their points, but they called at the 7-month window and the 1-bedroom suites were already booked. There may have been some ocean-view suites available, but when I did the math on the cost of renting, it was just too much for our budget. Were on the waitlist and hoping it works out, but it looks like well probably have to make other plans.
I did look into their hotel rooms and youll never believe this, but they only allow 4 in a room.
I have thought many times about conveniently forgetting the 3rd child when I make the reservation, but it wont work here since everyone needs a wristband to use the water play area. I guess we could rent the royal suite at $1,100/night, but substitutes dont make that much money.
So, in a nutshell, heres what we would like to do if the budget works out:
3 nights on Oahu:
Pearl Harbor is a must-do. Hiking to the top of
Diamond Head is a must-do. Wed also like to walk on Waikiki Beach, drive to the
Dole Plantation for a Dole Whip, and visit the famed North Shore. If we have time, maybe well get to see
Iolani Palace, the only royal palace in the U.S., and the
Nu'uanu Pali Lookout.
1 week on Maui: Well visit with my extended family there and have some R&R time on the beach(es). Well visit
Haleakala National Park (word is both the sunrise and nighttime star-scape are spectacular), drive the infamous
Hana Highway (52 miles that take about 2.5 hours to drive), and check out the resort town of Lahaina. If the stars align (and Julie says yes), I would dearly love to play golf at the
Kapalua Planatation course, which is built on a mountainside overlooking the island of Molokai. The pros play here every year. My dad played it years ago and called it the most beautiful course hed ever seen. Julie and I will also celebrate our anniversary here, so well have to find a suitable roadside dive to stumble into.
2 days on the big island, Hawaii: we couldnt pass up the chance to see
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (and I dont think my kids would have let me skip it anyway). I dearly hope we get to see an actual lava flow. And Id also like to see
Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park (you pronounce it just as its written) and try and get to both a black sand beach and the
southernmost point in the U.S.
Finally, 3 days on Kauai. I found and booked a condo in the Princeville area already (it was cheaper than the hotels). We want to hike a portion of the
Kalalau Trail to see the stunning Na Pali Coast, since I cant afford the boat or helicopter tours. And well check out
Waimea Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
Research continues for additional places to stay and Road Food-type diners and dives for meals. Im sure well be doing a lot of meals in condos or with family in order to cut down on costs as well.
Are we biting off more than we can chew? Maybe. But like I said, when will we ever get back? Hopefully well survive the jet lag and costs, and our kids will have a vacation theyll remember forever. I promise to bore all of you to death with another Trip Report once we get back.
Thanks to each and every one of you for reading along. Remember, adventure is out there!