Entry 676: Back To School

Nice night here in DC -- maybe a little on the hot side, but when you sit out with a fan on, it's quite nice. Getting our decked screened-in was such a good move. It was pricey, but worth it, because it means we can actually enjoy sitting outside now without having to slather ourselves in bug spray. We sit out there all the time now. I'd be out there right now, but the neighborhoods are over using our trampoline, and I don't feel much like socializing at the moment. So, I'll just hide away in the basement, instead, blogging and tending to my sore head.

My head is sore because I got stung by an insect today while running -- at least that's what I think happened. All I know is I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of my head just to the side of my left ear, like somebody had jabbed a needle into me. I reflexively grabbed up there and threw whatever was on me off of me, but the only thing I felt (or saw) leave my head was my headband. Then that spot hurt, like really hurt. And it still hurts now. It's not particularly swollen -- it's barely noticeable, just a little red dot -- and I'm not having any sort of allergic reaction to it, so I'm not super worried about it, but it certainly smarts. It's so weird. I've been stung by a bee before, and it never hurt this bad for this long. So, it makes me think it was something else, but what? A spider? A tree snake? A blow dart? I dunno, but I guess this is what I get for going with the headband instead of the hat, my usual running headwear.

In other news, 'tis the season of birthdays for the G & G boys. All three of us have them within 15 days of one another at the end of August. Mine is last, which usually means I get short-shrift, which is fine by me. Last year my birthday cake was left-over ice cream cake from Lil' S1's birthday. We just put a candle on it, turned it around so that the half-eaten part wasn't obvious in photographs, and called it good. I mean, I love ice cream cake, and we had a significant portion of one in our freezer that was going to get all gummy and gross if we didn't eat it, so it would've been silly to get a whole other dessert.

I'm not even sure what I'll do on my birthday this year. It's on a weekday, and I don't want to take any more vacation, so I'll work from home for part of it, and then... I don't know. I might actually go shopping, which would be a strange birthday activity, given that I hate shopping, but I need jeans, and if I have to shop for jeans, I like for S to come with me, and my birthday might be one of those rare moments, when we have a few hours to do something without kids around. So, I might just have to go practical. That's the way to go, anyway. When you're a kid, socks is the epitome of a lame gift, but now if somebody bought me some nice socks that actually fit, I'd love it.

Originally, I wanted S to buy me some jeans online, so I wouldn't have to go anywhere. I gave her my size, and she went to the sites of the brands she likes, but she said there are too many different options, and I will need to try them on. She's right -- last time I bought jeans I tried on one pair and then bought another pair with the same waist and length without trying it on, but they were a different cut, so now I have a pair of quasi-skinny jeans that I don't really like. When your legs are as buff as mine, anything with a taper to it looks weird.

In other other news, school starts on Monday. We're about to hit a milestone: our first child's first day of middle school. We'll see how it goes. He has to take the bus -- like, the city bus; DCPS doesn't have school buses -- to get there, but so do a bunch of other kids in our neighborhood, including a few of his friends, so I think he'll be fine. He's kinda fearless in that way, which is a great trait to have. (Conversely, he will veto the movie choice of his brother -- his three-year younger brother -- because it's too scary.) The hardest part will probably be getting him up in the morning. He has to leave about an hour earlier than he did last year, and he is not always super easy to wake up in the morning. He's like his old man in that regard. He always wants to stay up late to read and sleep in a bit. So, he'll have learn, like I did, to adapt. (At least until college when he can schedule only afternoon classes and sleep until noon.) The world just isn't cut out for us night owls.

 Until next time...

Entry 675: The Good Part Of The Trip

Last post I wrote about being on Maui during the worst of the Lahaina fires. It was a weird experience that gets weirder and sadder with each passing day, as the extent of the disaster is uncovered. Latest reports: over 100 people confirmed dead, nearly 1,000 still unaccounted for. Mind-boggingly tragic numbers, given that last week Tuesday, when we touched down, we thought a temporary power outage was the only "hardship" anybody would be facing.

But time rolls on...

The first part of the trip, the part in the Aulani resort in Oahu, was quite lovely. It was my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, so the whole fam was there, 14 of us in total, and it was so nice to hang out with everybody. We spent a lot of time at the beach, more time poolside, and even more time walking back-and-forth between the resort and the Starbucks across the street.

That last part is a joke, but like all jokes there is an element of truth to it. The time difference in Hawaii is pretty extreme for us East Coasters (six hours), so we were waking up super early and flagging severely by mid-afternoon. Multiple caffeine injections were needed to keep things running. The resort actually had drip coffee as part of their drink deal (unlimited refills throughout your stay for $25), but I'm almost always willing to pay for iced coffee in the summer if it's nearby. I'm high-end that way. Plus, Lil' S2 loves the egg sandwich from Starbucks with the Impossible sausage patty, and it's probably healthier than pizza and nachos, so we don't mind going to Starbucks a bunch to get them for him.

We spent most our time at the resort (that's what resorts are for), but we did get out a bit too. I went to Pearl Harbor with my mom and dad, which was, well, I won't say fun -- that's probably not a very respectful way to put it -- so, how about worthwhile? It was worthwhile. I'm glad I went and had that experience with them. Then S and I took the kids, just the four of us, on a guided tour around the island. We went to the Waialua coffee estate and the Dole pineapple plantation, got lunch at some food trucks, and hiked up to (and swam in) a little waterfall. That I can say was fun.

The most memorable part, however, was probably a luau at the resort. The performances were excellent and the food was delicious.* The Aulani is owned by Disney, but it's not Disney! the way, say, Disney World is Disney! It just looks like any other beach resort, but then you will occasionally see, like, Chip and Dale posing for pictures by a palm tree. During the luau the performers invited up their "very special guests" Mickey and Minnie Mouse to sing with them, which was pretty hokey, but it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the show. Plus, I think the kids like that sort of thing.

*Except for the prime rib, which was bland on the inside and a salt-bomb on the edges. I don't eat too much red meat, so I was extra disappoint that I made an exception for it.

Anyway... I'm going to do a photo dump and call it a post.

[Luau performers]

[Ocean views from the resort and a lagoon near the resort]

[The top rainbow didn't come out in the photo very well, but in-person this was very clearly a double rainbow: What does it mean?]

[View of the "lazy river" from our hotel room deck]

 

[Pearl Harbor: USS Arizona memorial (top) and the USS Missouri (bottom)]

 

[An old advertisement featuring Tommy Lasorda and Hideo Nomo that was randomly hanging at the Waialua coffee bar]

[I've talked about my love of fruit before, so I couldn't pass up a hollowed out pineapple filled with fruit from a food truck; honestly, I would've preferred to just eat the pineapple]

[The only pic in this post from Maui -- near the Iao Valley]

 

[Dole Pineapple Plantation]

Until next time...

Entry 674: Evacuating Maui

We're home in DC now, but we spent two days this week on one side of Maui while the other side burned. It was a surreal experience. Superficially, it was little more than an inconvenience for me and my family, but it was nerve-racking at the time, and my emotions have only intensified, now, after the fact, as I read about the extent of the death and destruction, much of which was unknown or still unfolding while we were there.

We either got incredibly unlucky or lucky, depending on your perspective. We arrived in Maui on Tuesday, and had we been scheduled to do so a day later, we would never have been allowed to enter the island in the first place, and we would have avoided the entire ordeal. But had we flown in a day earlier, we would have very likely been in the exact area the fires hit the hardest, at the exact time they hit the hardest. That's... a scary thought. So, I think the correct perspective is just to be happy to be home and safe. Others were not so lucky -- at least 80 people are confirmed dead, and hundreds of others lost their homes and businesses. They are still trying to evacuating people as I type this, but it's a slow-going process, as many roads are still shut down, and the ones that are open are clogged with cars. The airports can only handle so many flights a day. Many people don't have anywhere to go and are staying in pop-up shelters.

Things escalated so quickly -- that was the problem. We flew from Oahu to Maui Tuesday afternoon amid very strong winds from hurricane Dora, and my first worry was our flight. S and the boys and I were traveling with my bother and his wife and their two kids and my mom and dad -- so ten of us total. My friends JY and CC* were already at their condo on Maui, and I was really looking forward to seeing them, so I was worried the winds were going to prevent us from flying there. That turned out to not be an issue (although the flight was super rocky), but then we got word the power went out at our Airbnb in Lahaina, so my worry shifted to us having to stay in a place without electricity. How will we charge our devices or do laundry?!

*We never saw them and only had limited communication, as they had no power and spotty cell service. They had to leave their place a bit north of Lahaina and stay with some friends in Paia before flying out. I got a text from them today saying they made it home safely, which was a big relief for me. 

Upon landing, S got word from the property manager -- who is an unsung hero in this whole ordeal -- that things were getting a little sketchy in Lahaina. A lot of the streets were blocked, there were downed power lines everywhere, brush fires, and there was still no electricity and limited cell service. It certainly didn't sound like a pleasant place to bring children, and she suggested we stay near the airport one night (on the other side of the island from Lahaina), and hopefully things would be sorted out by the morning.

At this point, a lot of travelers were realizing they were in a similar boat as us, so hotels were filling up fast. Thankfully, I have a wife who can work Travelocity faster than anybody I know. She's like those kids who can solve a Rubik's cube in under five seconds. She had three rooms for us booked in no time at the Maui Seaside, only a few miles from the airport. Everybody else went to check in, but I stayed back to wait for a rental car. It took forever (two hours! and we had a reservation!), but I waited anyway, because at that point I still thought there was a vacation to be had after things cleared up, and we would need a car.

And that's pretty much how we spent the evening, thinking there was still a vacation to be had after things cleared up. It wasn't until I went on Twitter, after S and the boys were in bed, that I realized things were much more dire. Usually going on Twitter because you can't sleep is a terrible idea; in this case, it probably saved us a lot of consternation. Social media can be hyperbolic, but even accounting for that, it was clear watching the videos of raging fires and reading people's horror stories, that we were not going to Lahaina anytime soon, and, in fact, we should probably leave the island ASAP.

So, I woke up S, and then I called my sister-in-law and my dad and told them we were going to move our flight up as much as possible. They agreed that that was the best idea. Then S and I, with the patience of Job, sat on the line while a very slow and confusing airline rep changed our tickets. We wanted Wednesday, but could only get Thursday, so that's what we took. When I went to the front desk of the hotel to ask about extending our stay one more night,* the phone was literally ringing every 20 seconds with people looking for rooms for the night. The receptionists told the callers they were full, but that Maui High School had opened their gym to shelter-seekers for the night. Shit had officially gotten real.

*Weirdly, the hotel computers wouldn't let the receptionist extend our stay, but they still had rooms available on Travelocity for the next night. I guess when people are concerned about shelter for a night, it doesn't occur to them to book something for tomorrow. So, we just booked new rooms at the same hotel. Whatever. It worked and they didn't make us check-out and check-in again.

Then we hung out in Maui for a day and went home. They put a ban on all incoming passenger flights, and put out an order for all tourists to book outgoing flights and leave as quickly as possible. The fires were now front-page news, and it felt really weird to be on the island. We did normal vacation-y things -- what else are we supposed to do? -- but it didn't feel completely right to me for obvious reasons.

We went to the airport super early on Thursday, and the security line was quite long, but it wasn't that different than any other busy day. Our flight was delayed, just a half-hour, but that was enough to cause us to miss our connection in San Francisco, so we stayed a night at a hotel adjacent to SFO, and flew back to DC the next afternoon. I didn't really mind. It was a nice hotel, and I wasn't looking forward to a red-eye, anyway. Mostly I was just happy to be on the mainland.

I watched John Wick on the flight because I was in the mood for the most mindless entertainment possible. It was a good choice.

Until next time...