It’s just hit me: I’m REALLY in Hawaii. This is really happening.
I've been planning for this trip, fundraising, cycling, and (gasp!) organizing for this trip since January. And it's finally here.
Today the Team and I took off from Omaha at 6:25 a.m. and then had a three hour layover in Salt Lake City before taking a 6 hour flight to Honolulu. It's always fun to chat up to the random people on flights about what Team in Training is and what all of us have done. I think the most common question I get asked when I say that it's a 100-mile bike ride is "So do you do that in what 3 or 4 days?" It's always fun to see the look of shock on everyone's faces when you tell them it's done in just one day. :-)
It was fun because as we were coming into Honolulu, the flight attendance made a really nice announcement about us. It was fun to have this amazing group of athletes and fundraising gurus get noticed for what we have all done...and to have a plane full of 300+ people applaud you. A Hawaiian gentleman sitting behind me patted me on the back and said he sent many blessings for my ride, which was really cool.
This trip marked the first time flying over open waters for me! Which I found kind of exciting. And it was fun to see the crystal blue waters from high above when you finally caught view of the shores of Hawaii! I even got a great view of Diamond Head from the plane! And I managed to see a huge submarine in the waters...which...what?? I can't say that I have ever seen an active submarine before. My coach turned to me, and knowing how much of a nerdy "LOST" fan I am, said that it was The Other's Submarine...referencing the sub that takes them from the island to the mainland. When we arrived in Honolulu, Julie, the campaign manager for Team in Training had organized for us to get a lei greeting! It was so much fun! And so pretty!!
From there we checked into our hotel. It's a really nice hotel...shopping close by, food and drink within the building or within one block from the building and it is right on Waikik!
I met up with my brother Jason and my sister-in-law Shanna and had a quick Mai Tai with them at the tiki bar across the street (where I am listening to the live music from my lanai as I write this). It was a very brief drink though, as I had to come back and get my bike assembled for a warm-up ride tomorrow. But after assembly, I told the team about the Tiki bar and we all headed over there to grab some tiki tapas and some beverages. I had THE BEST edamame I have ever had in my life...it was in some sort of garlic buttery goodness. Oh man...I'm going to dream about that for the rest of my life. Or at least until tomorrow when I go back and get it again. :-)The tiki bar was a hit though! They even added a live band post-happy hour.
Around 8:00 this evening there was a firework show on the beach. Unfortunately, it was not on the side where I have my view. But I did get to see the reflection of it in the building across from my lanai.
Everyone else is probably asleep. And for the life of me I cannot figure out why the hell I am still awake! I am about an hour short of being awake for 24 hours. I figured it would be best to push through this evening so as to get on a better local time-zone friendly sleeping schedule. It's only 8:50 pm here, whereas it is 1:50 a.m. back in Nebraska.
I am currently waiting for my bestie Laura to get in from her flight from NC!! So pumped she is coming down for the ride and for the most amazing vacation ever!
I'm going to have to cut this short...Laura just arrived and should be getting here soon!
Let the good times roll.
Cheers,
Sara
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