Partying Why don’t we come to Hawaii more often? It is a direct flight, which means less time spent in the airports, or does it?
Our direct 10:00am flight to Maui is delayed by a few hours. The excuse? The crew needs a minimum of 8 hours between flights. But wait a minute: the flight is at 10:00am, and there is a 11:00pm curfew in SJC… shouldn’t they already have had enough time, unless they went out partying? Needs a strongly worded letter to Hawaiian Airlines!
Hertz, Not Gold We make it to Maui — yes, we figure if we are all the way in Hawaii we need to visit the last of the Hawaiian national park: Haleakalā National Park. Heading to Hertz Gold to pick up our full-size SUV, we are shown an empty row of what would have been compact SUVs. Extremely unfriendly gal basically tells us to take a chill pill while someone — on Hawaiian time — fetches more cars. Hm. Nope! We complain to the office and eventually pick up a mid-size SUV. Still not what we had reserved and paid for. Needs a strongly worded letter to Hertz. And was that a one-off experience? Nooooo… exact same thing happens a few days later when we go to the big island. Really needs a strongly worded letter to Hertz!
Midday We make our way to the summit of Haleakalā. We know that parking at the summit needs a permit during sunrise and sunset. Fine, we go in the middle of the day. It is high, desolate, volcanically, and full of empty. Why the need for a permit? Perhaps the views are beautiful, but they are always beautiful. Who knows! We gladly do the drive when the road is rather empty, and gladly return to the posh Hotel Wailea to spend an afternoon by the pool, followed by another amazing dinner.
Lava Back on the Big Island, Kilauea has been spewing lava since December of 2024! Over a year! It has been quite predictable, if not for the USGS’ tilt meter… whatever that is. And of course where’s the best place to see it? At Hawai’i Volcano House in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. So when we snag a room for a few nights we are super hopeful for an eruption. Lo and behold, USGS predicts an eruption exactly during out stay. We are elated… only to be disappointing a few days ahead of our trip. The tilt meter didn’t tilt enough — or did it tilt too much? — and poof! Our eruption chances disappear. Of course we still hopeful, but the one time in the history of predictions, this one is correct. No eruption.
Not all lost: we take a fun night hike where we see lava glows and walk by steamy vents. But still, needs a strongly worded letter to the volcano!
Disappointment We have enough foresight to reduce our stay in HVNP in favor of a longer stay at Four Seasons Haulalai, which does not disappoint… for the most part. Actually, why lie, it does kind’a disappoint! First, a used-up soap left in our shower grosses us out! We have to ask multiple times before they finally clean it up. There are kids running around! The restaurants are snooty and wouldn’t seat us without a reservation (even though we can see empty tables!).
!Spa Worst of all: we — both of us — have an equally sub-par spa treatments, with two equally clueless masseuses who are clueless in the same way! How is that possible? Did they both go to the same horrible-treatment school? Our deep tissue massages were neither deep, nor massages. They were a bizarre series of asymmetrical knuckle assault and reverse joint bending.
Everyone gets a strongly worded letter!
