Day 1 – A Change of Plans

Our trip started before it started — with a bit of chaos. The night before we left, Santa Barbara’s 911 system went down, and air traffic control was having issues communicating with LAX which controls the Santa Barbara airspace. Flights were getting delayed all over the place, and ours suddenly looked like it would miss the Vegas connection. We were still packing (well, one of us was packing — the other was still at work), when we realized we had to make a last-minute switch. Southwest was shockingly great: they answered fast and let us reroute our flight for free out of Burbank instead.

So, July 23rd started with a drive down to Burbank. We lucked out with parking — literally snagged a spot in the C lot just before it filled up. That luck held: we flew through security, had a smooth flight, and even got into a lounge in Oakland thanks to Priority Pass. A couple drinks and snacks later, we had early boarding and seats together for the leg to Kauai.

Sometimes travel days call for creative napping solutions

We landed in Lihue around 4 p.m., got our rental car, and rolled into the resort just as they were finishing up our room. Instead of waiting around, we grabbed groceries — vacation essentials like fruit, coffee, and snacks — then came back to settle in.

The room’s great. Full kitchen, king bed, lanai with a peek at the ocean. We’re also sharing it with a whole crew of roosters and chickens who have very strong opinions about wake-up times.

Dinner was at a barbecue place in Coconut Marketplace, where we got distracted by the tap-your-own beer wall and accidentally ordered way too much food. It didn’t matter — we were in bed and out cold by 9.

Not a bad first day, considering it almost didn’t happen.