We got back to Ct. last night from Hawaii. It took longer to get home than to get there but I am not complaining. With six award tickets, two in first class, I can afford to be "inconvenienced". We left Maui at 5 pm on Friday and got home at 7:30 pm last night. Of course we lost six hours due to the time change. We boarded in Hartford in time to here the pilots going through some of their check list. The door to the cockpit was still open and we heard the automatic voice warning system. "TERRAINE, PULL UP", "FIRE, RIGHT ENGINE", FIRE LEFT ENGINE". At least it didn't say "BIG FIRE". After dinner tonight, DH said, "lets go for a walk on the beach....oh yeah, we don't have one anymore". 
We spent the first three days on O'ahu and then on to Kauai. From Kauai we flew on Island Air to Maui. I really liked the airline. Small turbo prop planes that fly a little bit lower so it is easier to see the islands a little bit closer. It took longer but we didn't mind. DS 25 invited a friend who was landing at Kahului around the time that we were so we had seven of us. The Ka'anapali Alii was great. I loved the condo, the location and the view. The weather was perfect as well. One thing that I noticed this year that wasn't the case during past trips, was the price of groceries. They are much more in line with mainland prices. However, if you don't have your Safeway card, count on spending 30% more. When I left my card back at the condo, they were "out of cards" when I asked for one. When I returned back to the condo, I linked the card with my phone number so I didn't get caught without it again. We drove around Haleakala again also. It is still a tight squeeze around those corners but fortunately we hit the turn outs and didn't need to back up to let any oncoming traffic pass. The road around the north east side seemed improved since our last attempt at it. This time we weren't traveling counter clockwise in a line of traffic trying to circumvent one of the many road closures en route to Lahaina. We went up north to Kapalua and drove down to Wailuku clockwise. That day we went to Io Needle in Io Valley, just below the second wettest spot on earth. Some quick observations; Minimum wage in Hawaii is meaningless. They have an incredibly tight labor market and a 3% unemployment rate. Everyplace is hiring. McDonalds at $9 an hour, a convenience store at $10/hr. Wait staff at most places at $6.88 plus tips. In fact, Pizza Hut is flying employees from O'ahu to the Big Island and putting them up in hotels to cover shifts. The burning issue in Maui right now? Carding everyone who buys alcohol. DH and I went to the ABC Store and when I went to pay for the rum and Mai Tai mix we bought, (being informed ) I pulled out my ID. DH started to laugh so hard that he had tears in his eyes.....until the clerk asked for it. Then I had the last laugh. No, I can't be flattered. They are asking grandpa and grandma too. Perhaps its a sobriety test. If you can't find it you shouldn't be drinking. The second burning issue? The candidate for mayor Dain Kane wants to raise property taxes on second homes. That essentially means "mainlanders". Of course those homes that are sitting vacant for half of the year aren't using the expensive educational system, the roads, water, energy and other resources but apparently its an attempt to curry favor with voters. It didn't seem to be getting a lot of support on the editorial pages of the Maui News.
We spent the first three days on O'ahu and then on to Kauai. From Kauai we flew on Island Air to Maui. I really liked the airline. Small turbo prop planes that fly a little bit lower so it is easier to see the islands a little bit closer. It took longer but we didn't mind. DS 25 invited a friend who was landing at Kahului around the time that we were so we had seven of us. The Ka'anapali Alii was great. I loved the condo, the location and the view. The weather was perfect as well. One thing that I noticed this year that wasn't the case during past trips, was the price of groceries. They are much more in line with mainland prices. However, if you don't have your Safeway card, count on spending 30% more. When I left my card back at the condo, they were "out of cards" when I asked for one. When I returned back to the condo, I linked the card with my phone number so I didn't get caught without it again. We drove around Haleakala again also. It is still a tight squeeze around those corners but fortunately we hit the turn outs and didn't need to back up to let any oncoming traffic pass. The road around the north east side seemed improved since our last attempt at it. This time we weren't traveling counter clockwise in a line of traffic trying to circumvent one of the many road closures en route to Lahaina. We went up north to Kapalua and drove down to Wailuku clockwise. That day we went to Io Needle in Io Valley, just below the second wettest spot on earth. Some quick observations; Minimum wage in Hawaii is meaningless. They have an incredibly tight labor market and a 3% unemployment rate. Everyplace is hiring. McDonalds at $9 an hour, a convenience store at $10/hr. Wait staff at most places at $6.88 plus tips. In fact, Pizza Hut is flying employees from O'ahu to the Big Island and putting them up in hotels to cover shifts. The burning issue in Maui right now? Carding everyone who buys alcohol. DH and I went to the ABC Store and when I went to pay for the rum and Mai Tai mix we bought, (being informed ) I pulled out my ID. DH started to laugh so hard that he had tears in his eyes.....until the clerk asked for it. Then I had the last laugh. No, I can't be flattered. They are asking grandpa and grandma too. Perhaps its a sobriety test. If you can't find it you shouldn't be drinking. The second burning issue? The candidate for mayor Dain Kane wants to raise property taxes on second homes. That essentially means "mainlanders". Of course those homes that are sitting vacant for half of the year aren't using the expensive educational system, the roads, water, energy and other resources but apparently its an attempt to curry favor with voters. It didn't seem to be getting a lot of support on the editorial pages of the Maui News.
