I knew there was something missing!
I was not aware that there is now Diet Coke Plus. Yes, that's right, Diet Coke with vitamins and minerals! Because really, the people that care about the nutritional value of their beverage will obviously be the same people that would choose to drink a Diet Coke above anything else.
So I decided to give it a try (pretty much just because the regular Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper were gone). Verdict - does NOT taste the same, and if I wanted vitamins and minerals, I'd drink a V-8.
That's how we roll.
Andi's unofficial theme of the trip. Un-freaking-believable, btw. If you ever get the chance to go to Kauai, TAKE IT. Gorgeous. Every way you look, there's another fabulous view. I downloaded the pictures off my camera last night, and they just don't do it justice. It kind of even seems pointless that I took any pictures at all.
So, the week in review. First off, we almost missed our flight out of San Diego. We had some time to kill, so we went to have a beer (yes, at 7:00 in the morning, "that's how we roll," but keep in mind who is on this trip). Sportscenter was on, and we got caught up in the top 10, then suddenly realized it was 7:58 and our flight was taking off at 8:13. Inflight entertainment was Music and Lyrics = not a good movie. Put me to sleep, and according to Andi had some of the worst acting known to man, even with a couple of Heinekens. We landed on the island around 1:30, got our luggage (Lihue airport has to be the quickest at getting your luggage off the plane and onto the carousel), got the rental car (Chevy Cobalt - score!), and ventured off to the Marriott for lunch at Duke's. After some exploring, we finally found it and had drinks and yummy food on the beach. Drove to the condo while gawking at the number of chickens (yes, chickens, they're everywhere) and Mustang convertibles (again, they're everywhere - popular rental car, apparently), with a stop at the grocery store for bread, milk, cereal, and most importantly, Diet Coke, Hawaiian beer, and mango Malibu. Once we got somewhat organized, we poured ourselves rum and diets and took off exploring the area and formulating a tentative plan for our week. Got back to the condo, finished the rum, watched Pirates (which only made complete logical sense since we were, in fact, drinking rum and "that's how we roll").
And the adventures begin. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we had no real adventures - we didn't get lost, we didn't almost fall off any cliffs, we didn't fall out of a boat, we didn't almost drown, and no one even really said anything clever. Except for this:
Joan (doing the People crossword): "Oohs and blank."
Andi (pauses, thinking): Chips? Pretzels?
Joan: No, oohs, not booze!
Andi insisted we rent bikes (bitter childhood memories, that one), which was hilarious, for multiple reasons. We ended up caught in a full-on rainstorm, complete with wind and rain coming at you sideways. We had to pull over in a random covered driveway because the rain had almost washed out my contacts and to wring out our clothes. And, we got mistaken for locals. For those of you that know Andi, this of course makes perfect sense because she's always so tan.
Hiked the Na Pali coast. That's right - the part of the island that you can only get to by hiking. We trekked up and over boulders on all fours, jumped across streams, and ended up at a beautiful waterfall. Our day consisted of 8 miles total, in just about 6 hours, with a total stopping time of maybe one hour total for water breaks, picture-taking breaks, and swimming-at-the-waterfall break. Crashed out by 8:00 p.m. Cause "that's how we roll on a Saturday night in Kauai."
Drove around the island. Well, as much as you could anyway - we drove from one end of the road to the other and saw everything in between. Somehow, we ended up at a firing range and the entrance to some high-security naval base trying to get to a particular beach. Saw the Waimea Canyon in the rain, so really we only saw part of the Waimea Canyon. Tried to tour a sugar plantation. Tried to stop at a brewery. Tried to find chickens actually crossing the road. Stopped at Coconut Grove, which turned out to be a shopping center, not an actual coconut grove. Did massive shopping at the ABC store.
Took a kayaking and snorkeling tour. Now, Andi had never kayaked, and I had only done it once, so we weren't sure how well that was going to go. Until the hilarious family of 11 showed up and ended up kayaking themselves into a tree before we were all even in the water. Close to the end of our little trip, one of them commented, in all seriousness, "You guys must be in a rowing club or something - you're like professional rowers!"
Luau. All-inclusive all-you-can-eat buffet and all-you-can-drink bar. Enough said. Even though we were way far back in the line, we scored front row seats across from the cutest couple ever from Calgary who had just gotten married on the beach. Andi and I got taken onto the stage by the cute little hula girls before the show to help "demonstrate" the hula, we watched the pig come out, ate massive amounts of food, drank more, watched some demonstrations of husking a coconut and local island fashion, ate massive amounts of dessert, then watched the show. Very cool. Toward the end of the show, they asked for volunteers to come on stage and hula with the professional dancers. A girl at the table next to us started going crazy immediately, jumping up and down and swinging her arms and begging to get picked, a lot like Donkey in Shrek. As we're staring and making fun of her, who gets picked but me. Great. Throw my camera at Andi, thank God that I've been sucking down mai tais for the last 2 hours, and somehow end up onstage without falling. Luckily, the other person they picked was some older guy from North Carolina who looked like he'd never danced a day in his life, so I can't be that bad, right? Well, I don't even know. I managed to not fall off the stage, that's all I can say. Fabulous night all the way around - great food, great drinks, and Andi even got her picture taken with the hot guys.
Such a great vacation. We didn't even get (very) sunburned. SPF 45 - that's how we roll.
I am not ready.
The flight leaves in about 15 hours. I have spent the entire day adding things to my list of stuff I forgot to put in my suitcase last night. Not good. And considering that my traveling companion has yet to begin packing, this trip is already interesting. I cannot wait!!!! Now if only my fax machine would fax a little bit faster so I could get out of here.
Aloha!
T minus 3 days......
I started packing yesterday for Hawaii. Meaning, I have a giant pile of stuff in my living room not in my suitcase but sitting next to it. When I realized how disorganized I actually was/am, I decided to work on my base tan. Because getting a sunburn on the first day of vacation is never a good idea.
I cannot wait.
I can tell by your car you went to Phoenix.
That's right. The front is covered in bugs, which are covered in dust. And people ask why I don't drive over with the top down.
The weekend in Phoenix - Forgot to take contacts. That was almost a mess - you'd think that after wearing contacts since the 7th grade, and disposable ones since about 11th grade, it'd be automatic to pack them. Met my sister's new boyfriend. Really great guy - Kim, keep him - and has a hilarious grandma. Watched my brother's baseball games and developed a really attractive tank-top tanline. Hung out with relatives. Celebrated my dad's birthday. Saw my parents' new house, whose address will now be Griswold Drive - incredibly appropriate.
We leave for Hawaii in a week, and I now have the required because-I'm-going-on-vacation new swimsuit. It's very cute, especially the back, which makes it a little complicated to put on. Andi described it like this: "We have to make sure you put this on when we're sober, because I don't think we'll be able to if we're drunk." This is going to be a fabulous trip.
