As I previously mentioned, I’m in Hawaii. You probably couldn’t tell, what with the very few posts and even fewer photos we’ve plastered all over social media.
But if you had asked me a month ago what I was going to be doing in January, my answer would have been, “Oh, probably freezing, like everyone else in Ohio.”
Instead, I’m relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and warmth and the absolute beauty that is Maui.
How it happened was all rather random. One evening in mid-December I came home from work. Vince had had the day off and, instead of doing helpful things around the house like, oh, like laundry, he spent the day chatting with family and friends online and over the phone.
But – in this instance – that was okay. Because he reconnected with an old friend, Donna. And Donna was heading to Hawaii at the end of the month. She had invited another couple to join her for a couple weeks in January, but they had had to cancel at the last minute. It just so happened that Donna was talking to Vince right after the couple cancelled.
So during the conversation, Donna spontaneously asked Vince if he and I would be interested in taking a vacation to Hawaii.
Um…yeahhhh! Like she had to ask twice.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
The thing was, though, Donna and I had never met before. When Vince asked her about it, Donna’s response was, “Well, if she’s married to you, then she’s probably a nice person.”
Nevertheless, Vince suggested the three of us get together to make sure we were all compatible. So we did – and we were. And so we decided we’d love to go.
Of course, the hurdles were, (a) could we get reasonable flights in this short a time and (b) could Vince get the time off work?
When the answers were “yes” and “yes” – I started mentally packing.
Oh, who am I kidding? I was already upstairs dragging my flip flops, summer clothes and suitcases out of storage!
And before too much more time passed, we were winging our way to Maui.
So now we’re spending our days in the sunshine. We have relaxed, eaten great food, dug our toes in the sand, hung out by the pool, gone sightseeing and shopping. And we still have some fun things in store.
So we are loving it.
The flight on the way here, however, was long and arduous. Last time I spent that much time in an airplane, I was traveling to another country. And the flight attendants offered free booze. Take a note, United Airlines. But we made do with water and juice to stay hydrated and I read an entire book from Denver to Maui – so I wasn’t completely bored.
When we arrived in Maui, Donna met us at the airport with real flower leis. They were beautiful and smelled heavenly!
As it was late afternoon, we went to an Italian restaurant near the airport for some sustenance. Both Vince and Donna had steak – probably the last time either of them have had anything except seafood. Makes sense, sure, but for this non-seafood-loving traveler, I was pretty happy with the chicken and pasta on the menu!
I fell asleep pretty early that night – and slept in pretty late the next morning. When I awoke, I started my morning routine. I had barely finished brushing my teeth when I saw an Emergency Alert come over my phone, which stated:
EMERGENCY ALERT
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII.
SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
My first thought was someone who was really, REALLY good with computers was playing a joke on me.
My second thought was, Oh crap. We just got here. And now we’re going to die?
But rather than rush out to see where Vince and Donna were, I just stayed in the bedroom and got dressed for the day. I figured we were on the fifth floor – if it was real, we were goners anyway. I might as well apply a little lipgloss and fluff my hair. If it was a joke, I’d be ready for the day. And if it wasn’t, well, it wouldn’t matter.
Truthfully, I concluded that if it were a real threat, Vince would’ve come in to tell me he loved me so we could kiss each other goodbye or something. I had brief visions of the old couple on the Titanic who lay down on their bed fully dressed with their arms around each other waiting to sink together into the murky depths.
Instead, I heard nothin’.
A little while later, I saw another alert flash over my phone that said, basically…Oops. Our bad.
Vince and Donna had been out on the lanai talking and drinking coffee. When they saw the initial alert, they had called down to the front desk to ask about the alert. They were told to stay in the room, close the drapes and lock the door.
Phhht. Like that would’ve helped protect us from a missile.
Since then, many natives have asked us if we were around on Saturday during the “crisis.” It was truly frightening to people who live here. And many friends back home have told us they were thinking about us during the initial scare. Guess we didn’t realize that it had been national news.
Leave it us to arrive in Hawaii just as an employee got a little trigger happy on the computer. Yeesh.
Ah well. It was a relief to know we were safe - at least for now. And we have more stories to add to our Hawaii arsenal.
Just another day in paradise - right?!
