Rain, work and school: Hawaii, day 4

The  torrential rain kept up for most of the morning, but that was okay, because we had work and school to attend to this morning. Bret overturned the conference room at 2 am to make way for several conference calls, and the kids, while not up that early, attended to the first day of e-learning. As you can see from Trent's beer comment below, we are killing at homeschooling. 

After a few errands and a quick afternoon swim, we hit Poipu beach to watch the waves, grab some dinner and head back to the hotel. While we still have work and school to attend to for the next few days, we're hopeful that the downpours are done for now, and we steal some afternoon adventures.

Kauai Days 2 and 3 - Waimea Canyon, the Napali coast, and rain

For our second full day in Kauai, we took the opportunity to drive out to Waimea Canyon. We hadn't planned on doing this so soon in the trip, but the weather was great, and jet lag afforded us the early wakeup call needed to catch the sunrise. The setting was beautiful, and it was neat getting to watch part of our church services from the canyon.





We drove all the way to the end of the road to do a little hiking over the Napali coast. It was also beautiful, but I'm sure it's even more spectacular when viewed from the Pacific. We're hoping to still get to take that trip over the next couple of weeks. We ended the day with pizza and traditional Hawaiian shave ice. Grant was pleased.

Today was a total washout. Storms forced us to spend all day in our hotel. This wasn't a big problem, as Erin and I are still working all this week anyway. So Erin got up at 4am to work, and I'm getting up at 2am this evening to do product demos online. We still got to take a walk tonight and breathe some fresh air. With all the bad news in the world, I can't tell you how much better I felt after turning off my phone and just taking a walk.

Kaua'i vs. Virus

So I'm very aware that the world is a very strange place for everyone right now, and the Hawkins family is no exception. We started 2020 planning a 10 day trip to China to take Grace to the village where she was born. And then the virus hit.

At the time, we thought our China trip just got an unlucky break, and we'd simply reschedule it for later in the year. We also thought we'd just pick a new place to go for spring break, and it wouldn't be a problem. So we had a little family pow-wow, and to make up for China, it was decided that we'd visit Hawaii.

Since I (Bret) travel so much for work, our vacations are closely tied to places we can stay on my hotel points. With that in mind, we landed on a place on Kaua'i and planned a week long trip for the end of March. And then the virus REALLY hit.

On Thursday, it felt like the world came unglued. March Madness was canceled. School got canceled. All of my work meetings were, for the most part, canceled. At dinner Thursday night, Erin and I had a "what if?" kind of half joking conversation about coming to Hawaii early and just waiting out the virus here. "Wouldn't it be awesome to be quarantined...IN HAWAII?!?"

We also started hearing rumblings of possible domestic travel bans in the future, and Erin and I were in agreement that we were going to Hawaii, one way or the other. We both were REALLY needing a vacation. And with that, we started looking at our calendars, and a plan began to form. I had enough hotel points to cover three weeks of hotels in Hawaii, and Delta was willing to change our flights at no cost. So on Thursday night when Brownsburg decided to close schools on Friday, I called Delta and changed our flights to Friday morning. A complete rebooking of our trip occurred. We had to book into three new hotels over the course of the trip because no one place had enough availability (and we didn't necessarily have the points) to stay in one spot the whole time. But we got it done.

We packed, slept (briefly) and boarded flights on Friday morning at 10am. By 8pm Hawaii time, we were in Kaua'i.

Beat tired, we headed to hotel #1. "Umm... Mr. Hawkins, your reservation doesn't start until tomorrow." Somehow in my haste, I had the first reservation off by a night. Luckily another property nearby had availability, and we crashed.

This morning, the boys and I got haircuts, as this was SUPPOSED to be something we did before going on vacation. Erin and Grace watched the sunrise.
  
The view at pool number one for the day ended up being pretty great.

But then we got over to our REAL hotel for the next 9 days. The view here is spectacular, and we got upgraded to a room overlooking the pool.

Pretty sure we'll be OK for the next couple of weeks. Did I hear it was snowing in Indiana?

Stay safe and healthy, friends. More pictures and adventures to come...

Fall Break 2019

We needed warm. And lazy rivers. And pool boys who bring you drinks. But, we also needed to get there with about 5,000 Southwest Airline miles, so when we stumbled on a fare to Austin and found a great resort in San Antonio, we pulled the trigger.

San Antonio was okay. But, our resort was amazing. So, a great week was had. We have quick pics of everything except my favorite experience which was a great kayak trip down the San Antonio river.

Day 1: Just get me there already!

Day 2: Bowling and eating cookie dough

Day 3: Pool time and escape rooms

 Day 4: The Witte museum, the tea gardens, downtown Riverwalk and the Alamo

Day 5: Kayak day of fun
Day 6: Safari wildlife drive, cavern tours, gem mining, pool time and tappas

Day 7: San Antonio market and animal show

 Day 8: Austin eats--landmarks and food trucks

Day 9: Heading home. They really do get along. Sometimes.

SB 19, Day 9

Today we traveled through the Alps to Montreux, Switzerland for breakfast at a 150 year old establishment. 

After that, it was a drive all day through the French countryside and small towns eating expensive Swiss chocolates and lemon tarts. 

We landed for our final night at the same resort we used last spring outside of Paris... even ending with a final swim in the same pool. 

Until next time, Europe. Until next time. 

SB 19, Day 8

We needed to cover some ground today, but at least the scenery was majestic as we did so. After breakfast, we left Verona via Milan and on to the French ski town of Chamonix. 

We planned on ascending the tallest mountain in Europe via the steepest lift, but it was cloudy. The cost to ascend was about $300, so it needed to be the view of a lifetime to warrant it. So, we opted for a walk around town, some shopping and some dinner. The only place open besides pizza, which we have had our fill of in Italy, was an American-inspired joint, but it was fantastic and fun as every skier coming off the mountain seemed to stop by for a drink. Then, we had waffles for dessert. 

We were expecting cold temps, but it was about 65 degrees at base camp. So, we ate outside one again as Bret drooled as skiers came back down the mountain. Bret would have loved to be one of them, as this is considered one of the best ski resorts in the world, but i told him that his good run in northern Michigan earlier this winter does not an Alp skier make. 

We rented an apartment for the night complete with private hot tub and view of Mt. Blanc. Not a bad way to spend the evening. 

(In almost every pic of Grant, you will notice he is holding something. It is the business card of the pasta maker we visited in Verona. Grant is on a personal mission to make sure they remain successful... or he is being a middle school boy. )