Hawaii Trip Travel Day

Good morning from Hawaii! 

Everyone knows that the toughest thing about a Hawaii vacation is the travel to and fro.  So many people seem to shy away from Hawaii because of the long plane ride.  The flight is 9 hours from the Midwest, definitely a long day but I figure if you want to go to paradise you have to sacrifice a bit!

We flew out of O’Hare which is about 2 ½ hours from our house.  We had a 10 am flight and decided instead of getting up very early and making our long travel day even longer we would stay at a hotel near the airport.  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, it was very nice and parking for the week was included in the price.  We booked through the website www.parksleepfly.com the site had a better price than I could book directly through the hotel.  I highly recommend looking at hotels near the airport if you are a few hours from home, it just makes the beginning of your travel day so much easier.

The hotel had a shuttle to the airport, it was waiting when we went downstairs at 7:30.  We hopped on the shuttle and were at the airport about 10 minutes later.  I haven’t flown out of O’Hare in a really long time, we typically fly out of Milwaukee.  O’Hare is a big airport, the lines were long at check-in and security but things moved pretty quickly.  I don’t think it was longer than 30 minutes to check our bags and make it through security.  Once we made it through security we stopped at McDonalds and picked up breakfast, not the most healthy way to start the trip but we were all hungry and McDonalds was quick and easy.  We ate at the gate. 

Our flight started boarding around 9:15.  It was a big plane, 5 seats in the middle and 2 on each side but boarding was efficient and easy.  We had 4 seats in the middle of the plane so we were all sitting together.  9 hours on a plane with two kids sounds a little daunting but honestly it isn’t bad.  We had rented movies for the kids to watch on our iPads.  Connor was thrilled to watch the last Harry Potter movie and Captain America.  Alice was entertained with Scooby Doo movies and I watched 7 episodes of Downton Abbey.  Technology is a great thing.  At home our kids typically don’t watch that much TV in one day but when you are on an airplane for 9 hours , TV is a great way to pass the time.  When we arrived in Honolulu we all commented how fast the time went.  I’d say that is a sign of a very successful flight!

We had a 2 hour layover in Honolulu.  The Honolulu airport is fine but it hasn’t had a lot of updates.  There are hardly any outlets to charge electronic devices.  We ate at the food court in the InterIsland terminal.  The kids had Burger King.  Ali apparently likes her cheeseburgers with only ketchup, she neglected to tell me that though and then wouldn’t eat it because it had mustard and pickles.  Oh well, she ate her french fries and seemed content with those.  Dan and I had Chinese food and it wasn’t bad.  Ali and Dan were happy waiting for plane, they look a little tired but still excited!

We flew Hawaiian Air from Honolulu to Kona.  Our flight boarded a bit late but we ended up getting into Kona on time or at least close enough for Hawaiian time!  The flights between islands are very quick, no time for a snack service.  They do bring around a guava juice cup for a beverage service.  

Flying into Kona is interesting; the airport is in the middle of a big lava field.  When you arrive things look pretty desolate, no palm trees, no flowers,  just lava.  Don’t be fooled by the airport, the Big Island is a beautiful island!  I do love the Kona airport though, it is just so Hawaii.  Everything is outside and the gates are little huts. 

We got a great car rental rate through Budget.  If you are a Costco member I highly recommend checking car rental rates through the Costco site.  I also recommend rechecking prices at least once a week to watch for price drops.  Our car rental dropped $27 just a few days before our trip.  We were able to get a car for 9 days for $198 including taxes, I was very happy with that price!  The rental car is nice and roomy.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way to the condo; we just picked up enough food for breakfast.  Be sure to get a store club card if you don’t already have one.  We shopped at Safeway which is a store we don’t have at home, I had a club card from an earlier trip and you’ll only get the sale prices if you use the card.  Grocery prices are all over the board in Hawaii, I saw a can of Progresso soup for $4.00!  I’d never pay more than $1.00 for that at home because I buy them only when there is a sale and I use coupons!  Some things were not too much more expensive though, gogurts were $2.50 on sale and apples were 99 cents a pound. 

We arrived at the condo and the office was closed.  We were prepared for that and called the after hours number and they told us how to get the key out of the key box and told us which unit we were in.  Now I was really hoping to be ocean front.  Luckily I wasn’t disappointed!  Here is the view we saw when we walked in!

We unpacked and the kids had a snack.  We were all pretty tired it was only about 6:30, but at home that is 11:30 pm.  Lights were out before 8 pm. 

Ali made us laugh when she complained that the ocean was too loud and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to sleep.  What a rough life that little one has!