Aloha to The Next Chapter

Havin' fun in the backseat!

Finally the summer has arrived! This chapter of our year has been long in coming, but much anticipated. I can't officially close the Texas chapter, because we will be back for a few days in August, but I am happy to begin this new, slower paced life (even if it is in the short term).

We left San Antonio on Friday afternoon, and it was a long, but relatively easy drive to El Paso. I watched West Texas pass by in the window, and although I was sad to be leaving, I was glad this was the last time I would have to make this drive in a while. We spent the night in El Paso, and were back on the road early for Phoenix.

Pretty good traveller.

 I have no pictures to post from Phoenix because it was such a whirlwind of activity. We arrived around noon, ran some errands, and were at my mom's by 1:30pm. Paul spent 2 solid hours swimming in the pool, when although it was 108 degrees outside, we had to pull him out to warm up. He gets so cold, even if it is hot outside! He used all his new swimming skills and had so much fun. :) Mom hosted a small BBQ and invited a friend of hers, and Nathan had an old friend over also. I soaked in the time with my family and we all had a really good time together. Everybody left there with a smile on their face. From there we went to meet my dad, and Grace at dinner. They are going through a lot right now, but it always makes me happy to see my dad. I keep both my mom and dad in my heart all the time, and I hope they know that. After a delicious dinner, Donnie and I were planning on meeting up with my old friend Kyle, but we were so tired we could hardly carry on a coherent conversation with each other, let alone hang out. I wish I had the energy, I would have really loved to see him. But hopefully when we come back through we'll have a chance to catch up. We crashed out at the hotel around 11pm, and all of us (except Paul) woke up at 3am when the power went out! It wasn't just our hotel, it was all of Tempe and some of Phoenix. It started to get warm very quickly with no a/c, but luckily it was back on by 4, the time we had planned to get up to get ready. Again a day of very little sleep, facing a long day of travel.

Happy to be in Kona!

We made it to the airport with time to spare, so we grabbed some breakfast.  Since it was the day of a Spurs game, Paul and Donnie were decked out in their jerseys. I was surprised to find that most people don't like the Spurs! I guess we've been sheltered in SA for so long, and Phoenix is so anti-Spurs. It was kind of funny how people kept making comments about it.

Kona! On our way to the condo.

From Sky Harbor, we flew to Salt Lake City, and then we were on the flight to Honolulu. It was a 6.5 hour flight, a good test run for the long flight that is coming in August, and Paul did pretty well. He threw his share of fits, but eventually fell asleep for a good 2.5 hours of the flight. I just know it's going to be super hard to keep him entertained for 15 hours on an airplane, and I know now that I will need a lot more sleep to deal with that stress. 

In Honolulu, we had to catch a small airplane to Kona, which I was sure we were going to miss. We only had an hour and a half to get our bags, shuttle to the other terminal, check in, make it through security and then board the plane. It took us 30 min to get our bags and get on the shuttle! When we got to the other terminal, I realized I had nothing to worry about. Everybody was moving at their own pace, and there was no threat of us even missing the plane (so Andie, it'll be super easy for you!).

Loving island life and Trunki

Two minutes from our condo

After the short flight over, we got our rental car and drove to the condo. Kona is an interesting place, beautiful, but in a different kind of way. The beaches we've seen are small and beautiful, but surrounded by jagged volcanic rock. 

Our condo is super nice!! It is such a huge place compared to our tiny apartment in Munich, but the downside is that there is no air conditioning. This has taken a couple days to get used to, but mostly with fans, we're fine. The weather is humid, but refreshing.

All of us were so exhausted from the travel and the time change, that Donnie prepped a delicious salad for dinner and we went to bed pretty early.

Beach spray

Paul was up early on Monday, and so were all of us, so Donnie and I headed out for a run. We'll have to carve out a better run though, because we ended up beside a highway and I'd rather find a more tranquil place to run than that. But with the beach below you and the volcano looming in distance, it's hard not to enjoy it everywhere.

We spent yesterday doing our shopping, prepping for our stay here. It is expensive here! I guess we'll have to get used to it though, because I'm pretty sure that is how China will be. After stocking up on all our supplies, we hung out eating fresh tuna on the patio. That is one thing that is relatively low priced. I look forward to lots of fresh meals and fresh fish.

I did make it down to the beach by our condo for some pictures, it is beautiful, but the waves are too rough for playing in them. They do look perfect for surfing, so we'll see. :) We are off to a different beach today, one that is sheltered for families, so hopefully it will be good for Paul.

Here is my warning: I will be posting tons of pictures of beaches. So I apologize in advance if that gets old or boring. ;)