Up at 4:00 AM, out the door at 5:30, at the airport at 6:15, checked in and enjoying a coffee by 7:00, take off at 8:45. We met our old friends and fun, up-for-anything travel buddies, Sandy and Alan, at the gate yesterday morning totally pumped for our back-to-back adventures. First stop: Honolulu, Hawaii.

The 10.5 hour flight took us through 6 time zones. It was daylight the whole way. The time passed pretty fast with two meals, a short nap, two movies (Ticket to Paradise and The Elephant Queen), a small snack, four episodes of 1883, a guided stretching session, and a few chapters of my new book, Daisy Jones & The Six.

Our approach gave us a beautiful view of the aqua water splashing the shores. The real treat was seeing Pearl Harbor from the air. It is huge with islands delineating different sections within the harbor. In contrast, the entrance to the harbor is quite small, or seemed so from the air. Seeing it from above made me excited for the tour we’ll have later in the trip.

Once on solid ground, we took a cab to the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach. We opted for an early dinner and a quick stroll around before settling in for an early night.

Today … 82 and partly cloudy
Determined as were were to sleep late, we both woke up around 3:30 local time, tossed, turned, relaxed, made mental lists, and counted our blessings. All under the covers, in the dark, with our eyes closed hoping sleep would come for us again. We threw in the towel at 5:30 and started rustling around.

We arrived a day early for our seven-night cruise so that it would not be a fire drill or a stress fest getting to our ship today. We enjoyed a lazy morning and headed to the cruise port around noon. The in-processing procedure was efficient and quick. Once on board Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America we went straight to lunch and then passed the time visiting until we had access to our cabin and our luggage was delivered. After the mandatory safety briefing, we took a quick shower and then headed to a delicious dinner. Tired from our uneventful day, we all passed on the show (an Elton John tribute) and headed to our rooms to wind down before calling it a day.

… Did You Know? …

Surfing was invented in Hawaii hundreds of years ago.

Hawaii is the only U.S. state with two official languages: English and Hawaiian.

Vog = volcanic haze. Voggy skies make for beautiful sunsets and moonrises.
The magnified sun and moon look huge and orange.

Good news: there are no snakes in Hawaii less a tiny, harmless one resembling an earthworm.
There are also no squirrels, hamsters, or gerbils.

Aloha serves as hello as well as goodbye.

Hawaii is one of only two U.S. states where all forms of gambling are illegal.