We went to Hawaii!

and here is the play by play as well as I can remember it:

Day 1
Sunday
We said our goodbyes to Cabo and Asia. Sandy would take him to Spot and come feed her every other day. We left for the airport around 8:45 (a few minutes earlier than planned). Thank goodness too because the Publix marathon was happening at that very moment, so we had a few detours. (Leah Winkler was actually running this ->wonder if we saw her!) We arrived at the airport and proceeded to curbside check-in. Then while Matt parked the car, I decided to take a picture of our boarding pass and post it on facebook… we are now officially headed to Hawaii! We then grabbed a little breakfast and coffee and boarded the plane. I guess now is the time when I should’ve said it is official…?oh, facebook...

By this time, we are sitting on a 9hour flight… hoping to nap…. But I didn’t. at all. Matt did. A little. Instead, we watched a couple of tv shows and movies including Dolphin Tale and Friends with Benefits.
We made it to Honolulu... had a little drinky drink at the airport, then jumped on our flight to Maui…

We landed, got laid by our driver, grabbed our bags then headed for a sunset drive up the coast to our home for the week: The Ritz Carlton at Kapalua.

We decided we should probably have some dinner, so we ordered a little sushi at the restaurant in the hotel. It was pretty good… but I could barely keep my eyes open (it was ~2am ATL time) much less eat dinner… so Matt ended up eating a little more than he bargained for...

We walked up to our room, hoping to put on pjs and pass out…but even after eating dinner, our bags were still not there.. oh em gee…so we called and found out there was a problem with the luggage… go figure… I went to sleep anyway :/ …

Then the bellhop came and I had to properly get ready for bed…

Day 2.
Monday
Good Morning, Hawaii! *said my rear to the toilet*… I woke up around 5am local time and couldn’t very well leave the room for several hours… welcome to Hawaii…

But, after a couple of hours, Matt woke up, bought me some medicine then lunch... and we were good to go…Other than rescheduling our Monday morning surf lessons, no harm done…

In the afternoon, we walked down to the Ritz beach and took a nap (on a grassy area before you get to the beach), then to the pool where we met several other Dell Secureworks employees: Paul and Lisa, Yaacova and Kevin, Mahsa and Jordan, Mike and Gretta , John and Chrissy. (Did I forget to mention this was a work trip? Sorry about that. It could’ve been because I’d forgotten myself, until we saw them at the pool…surprise! you aren't anonymous this trip!) We all hung out for a few hours. Most everyone had a few drinks (not me after what had happened that morning) but everyone had a good time!

When we got back to the room, we noticed a basket of goodies from the hotel. It included wine, fresh pineapple, bananas, apples, chocolate covered and regular macadamia nuts and more with a handwritten note from the bus boy apologizing for the mix up with our bags the night before. What a nice gesture… that’s Ritz service for ya…

While we were at the pool, we made plans for dinner: the Plantation House at sunset. It was located on the golf course near the hotel. Gorgeous view! Food was ok even though they raved about how fresh the fish was. Everyone mentioned above except Yaacova, Mahsa and their plus ones went with us.
Though we made it through dinner, we were tired by 7pm…. Still waking up at 5am (ATL time). So, afterwards, we went back to the hotel and passed out early.

Day 3
Tuesday
We made our way down to Buzz’s Wharf to take the Trilogy out to Molokini Crater and Turtle Town for snorkeling. They fed us cinnamon rolls, fruit, and coffee for breakfast… We decided to try out Snuba for the Molokini Crater… it was ok. Not worth the extra $$ at that location. While at the second location, Turtle Town, we saw two large (old) sea turtles and just hung out with them at the surface. What a cool feeling… we got a few good pictures.

We jumped back on the boat and they gave us teriyaki chicken (seems like everyone serves teriyaki here...I think I've decided it 'isn't my favorite'), rice, a taro roll, and a yummy salad for lunch. About 30mins later we had ice cream with chocolate syrup for dessert.

Once we got back to the dock, we witnessed a kid try to steal a bike and get beaten up by an older man (the owner of the bike)->that was interesting… then went back to the room and relaxed for a bit before getting ready for the big Dell Secureworks dinner.

We walked down to the beachside restaurant to notice a little booth setup for everyone to pick out their own pair of Maui Jim sunglasses! How cool! Then we mingled with everyone over drinks and worked our way over to the buffet style dinner. We sat with Andy and Ashlyn Held and heard about their fun trips island hopping around Hawaii before tonight. After a little conversation, it started sprinkling, so we all huddled under the beach bar roof and had a few more drinks before heading up the ~.5mile trek up to the hotel for bed. We were exhausted. Jetlag at its finest.

Day 4
Wednesday
We woke up and walked to Kapalua Adventures for our zip lining experience. We got our safety briefing then jumped in the ‘Pineapple Express’ to make our way up the mountain. That was the scariest part! It was raining the roads were terrible and I was beginning to wonder how much these guys had to lose if the van fell down the mountain...but we finally made it to the top….It was raining cats and dogs, and Matt and I were worried if this was going to be any fun in the rain… but we walked across the hanging bridge over 200 ft above ground and probably 75 yards long…. then jumped in another hummer-esque vehicle to roll even further up the mountain…
The guide passed out the trolleys based on weight, then we carried our own gear to the first zip line. Matt was the guinea pig… the very first of everyone in the group to jump on the zip line… he was a champ and made it all the way across…I was second…and hesitated, but made it…what a spectacular view and experience: to look up and over the town to the ocean and/or look down at a Hawaiian rainforest! Unbelievable really… we zip lined five times before making our way down to the last of them at a ‘swing.’ Kind of like something you would see in Panama City, but this one threw you over a valley and into nothingness instead of over a street. Again: unbelievable! We had lunch (chicken sandwich (thank goodness it wasn't teriyaki), chips and salsa and brownies) then headed back to the building… (where we bought the pictures and a t-shirt for Skip. The t-shirt said “I’ll show you my starfish if you show me your pencil.” Referring to the movements you make while you are on the zip line….)

We walked back to the Ritz…. I got ready for my facial while Matt got ready for his meeting. If Matt’s meeting was even 10% as good my facial… best I’ve ever had…

But then I went back to the room and got sick again for the rest of the evening... Once he returned from his meeting, Matt ordered in room service (kids spaghetti and meat sauce with a sprite for me (my comfort food) and a hamburger for him.) he was so nice about it. … I’m very lucky. Then we passed out...

Day 5
Thursday
We were supposed to go for a sunrise bike tour down the volcano…but given my state of health the night before, and our lack of motivation to meet in the lobby at 2am (among other not so great stories we were beginning to hear about the bike ride) we decided to bail… Instead, we enjoyed breakfast at the Ritz’s all you can eat buffet. It was good, but waaaaay overpriced… I had an everything omelet; Matt had Eggs Benedict and we sampled other items. And… we were able to reschedule our surfing lessons…

WOW! So much fun. After a quick lesson, we went out in the ocean with the instructors. Big waves (3-4ft) and had arguably the best time of our trip. We both got up on the board, but Matt actually did really well! He stood up every time and was able to keep his balance throughout the ride. My surfer dude! This town is where we bought our new Hawaii rash guards and will forever remember it as the first place we went surfing!

We shopped around for a little while then headed back to the Ritz for our couples deep tissue massage. Oh, what a treat, surfing is not easy on your body!

After the massage we had to get back to the room and get ready for dinner with Paul & Lisa, Mike and Gretta, John and Chrissy, Tyler and Leah and Mike and Kathy Cote… we took a car down to Lahaina Grill. Yummy! The table shared appetizers. I had the mahi mahi and Matt had the pokoiki special. Mike C ordered wine: sister to ‘the blue eyed boy’ by marquis Phillips. Then we had desserts compliments of the Ritz. (that’s what happens when you dine with Mike Cote) Then all wobbled home. ... we still aren’t accustomed to the time zone change… :/


Day 6
Friday
After all of our talking about surfing on at Thursday, Paul and Lisa and Jon and Chrissy decided to schedule surfing lessons for Friday…so we dropped them off in the Jeep we had rented and decided to do a little more shopping in that area. We walked around, bought an ornament and a pair of white flip-flops, then began to head back. We were scheduled to hang with the Winklers and Cotes over deep sea fishing for a few hours. So, we got back and changed… then met them in the lobby to find out it had been switched to whale watching and Coleen and her sister were also coming. Yay!
We then set out to sea with packed lunches. We saw several whales (similar to the views we had when we went snorkeling)…but then… closer to the end of our trip, as everyone was looking off the front of the boat, we heard a large champagne cork blow behind the boat (aka the whale blowing out of his spout!) then a huge whale swam right underneath our boat. It is unreal how big these guys are!

Once we got back to land, we grabbed some shaved ice then headed back to the hotel. The sales guys had a meeting at 4pm. While Matt was working, I sat by the pool with Greg Parson’s wife and, among other things, found out about a much cheaper place to grab breakfast: the general store.
Shanna and I laid out for a little while then headed back up to the room to get ready for the big 6pm dinner. We walked down to meet the boys at the beach house, but realized it was way too windy and cold for what we were wearing, so we went back up, changed and walked back down in much warmer attire. The yard was set up beautifully (as if we were attending a wedding) with tiki torches, a bar, whit table clothes and candle lit tables. Tyler and Mike gave their speeches, then we sat down for dinner. Just after we finished our salads, it started raining. So, everyone ran for cover under the bar again… it stopped and we all sat back down… 10 minutes later( long enough for some people to get their food) it started raining again.. harder… and did not let up… what a fiasco… they brought the food underneath the bar where everyone was crowded and wet, to eat filet mignon with our fingers… Then we shuttled on golf carts back up to the Ritz to finish dinner and have dessert… we found out later that this was a several hundred dollar per couple meal that got ‘rained out’…

Day 7
Saturday
We went with the Held’s and Winkler’s on a helicopter tour of the island. Waterfalls, sugar cane… It was gorgeous. The pilot dropped us off the Hana airport where Surfer Sue picked us up in a conversion van to give us a tour back to our airport. We had lunch at a black sand beach and walked around… amazing. Beautiful sites! She told us about the different legends of the island and we sat and listened in comfort. We had plans to go swimming in a water hole with a waterfall, but it was too cold and rainy…
We all stopped for dinner at a place called: iono and topped off a fantastic day…
We then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Day 8
Sunday
We are now officially adjusted to the time change! Just in time to go home… we woke up around 8 and ordered breakfast in while we packed… whoa. I always forget how expensive room service can be... geez…
We got dressed and met our driver around 10:50… with a little extra time to stop by Sports Authority to pick up a gym bag, since we were going to be well overweight on our luggage.

We checked in, grabbed our last meal in Hawaii at “Sammy’s” (Sammy Hagart’s restaurant) and prepared to head back to Honolulu, then to the mainland. We met up with the Held’s at the gate and hung with them during our layover at Honolulu, too. They’re a hoot.

On the flight, Matt finally started The Hunger Games, and I started this blog (until my computer died). Then, I moved along to watch the movie “I don’t know how she does it” and started “Larry Crowne”… I fell asleep during Larry Crowne and was out until we landed at about 7:20am Atlanta time… we made it home safely to find that our house was still there and the only major change was that everything had turned yellow (from the record breaking amounts of pollen) and we had weeds 3 feet tall…(how did that happen? We were only gone for a week!)

We took a little nap, then picked up Cabo from Spot… he was clean and exhausted (just like us)… Now it is time to welcome ourselves back to the real world…