We started off our holiday slowly. Our flight out toSouth Koreawas around 6 pm, and having finished packing at around 9 am that morning we found ourselves with nothing especially to do. In the end we decided to get organized and leave early, and kill time at the airport instead of waiting around at our house. Both were air conditioned but at least at the airport someone else was paying for it.
We had our ceremonial “first drink of the vacation” at the bar in Kansai International, and then we killed the rest of our time walking around the airport and writing last minute e-mails. Our flight toKoreawas delayed a bit, but we made up some of the time in the air and were able to make our connecting flight with plenty of time to spare. Then it was just eight hours in the air, mainly sleeping. Surprisingly, our seats were somewhat separated, and I switched my aisle seat with Kuniko’s emergency exit seat. That put me next to two cute girls for eight hours. I (wisely) decided not to start any conversations.
We had a few hours to kill at Honolulu airport before our quick flight toMaui, and then we finally met up with the Susan, Alex and Drew at the airport. They put leis over our heads, and gave us a very warm welcome. It is always good to see family again after so long.
Dividing and conquering, I took Alex and Drew with me to the car rental place, while Kuniko went with Susan back to their place. The car rental went smoothly enough, but I was surprised how many dents, bumps and scratches were all over the car. Luckily I had purchased the loss damage waiver, so I didn’t have any problems. Still, if I hadn’t, it would have taken 20 minutes to outline all the damage on the form. Seemed like a scam to me. The care itself was fine – and we drove on out to the Underwood estate to kick off the rest and relaxation.
It was our first time to meet the family dog, Bentley, and he was a very friendly (and agile) pooch who didn’t mind crawling all over you to show his affection. Kuniko was a little wary at first, but they had made friends by the end of the visit.
Susan and Dave put out a bit platter of homemade lasagna for dinner, and we ended up in bed a little on the early side thanks to all that travel in one day. What started out as a slow day ended up being quite a long one, as well.
