Spring Break 2021: Day 2

We had a great time driving around the island and taking in the beautiful scenery! Unfortunately, it was overcast the entire day, which does not make for particularly nice photos, so today's scenery pics are pretty limited. The windy day did make for comical ones, though, so all was not lost!

Over the course of our drive, we got some delicious snacks, including a fresh coconut, which we'd never had before (glad we tried it, but not my favorite thing). We also made a quick stop at a mall, and I ended up spotting a watch at the Swatch store that I had to have. As I was paying, the employee looked at my nails, bracelet, and existing Swatch, and said, "Rainbow is your jam, isn't it?" and truer words were never spoken! LOL!

After spending last night on the southern part the island, we checked in to a Courtyard on the northern part of the island for one night. Unfortunately, most things around the hotel are closed on Sundays, so we ordered pizza for dinner (one of only three options!) and ate in our room, which was actually a nice way to end the day!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's adventures...the forecast is calling for some sun and some showers, so I'm hoping to spot a rainbow or two!

This is the "after" pic,

when we stood facing

a different direction and

waited for a calm moment

in between the gusts:

These are some of the

many failed "before" shots

thanks to the wind:

The rest of our day:

Happy Tails to you!

Spring Break 2021: Day 1

This is our fourth trip to Hawaii! We visited the Big Island in 2004, Oahu and Maui in 2007, and Kauai in 2014. We had a specific reason for returning to Oahu this week and I'm pretty excited about it!

We left our house at about 3:45 am to drive to Reagan National Airport; from there, we flew on American Airlines to Dallas Fort Worth Airport for a short layover before flying to Honolulu. Despite any minor annoyances throughout our flights, it was so great to be on an adventure! One of the cutest moments of the day happened at the end of the 7.5-hour Dallas-Honolulu flight when a little girl a few rows ahead of us called out, "We finally made it!" in a very animated voice. Adorable! And exactly how I was feeling after a long day!

As I previously mentioned, we had to have proof of negative COVID tests within 72 hours of the trip, and when we landed, we had to go through a security/customs-type checkpoint while they verified our test results. It was a fairly quick process, and after we grabbed our luggage from baggage claim, we picked up our rental car and were on our way to our hotel. We spent the night at a Hampton Inn, so after we checked in, we grabbed a bite to eat and went to watch the sunset. Along our drive, I spotted two rainbows, so the trip is already off to an amazing start!

We are thrilled to be here in this incredible natural beauty! We went to bed very early because of the time difference and the very early start we'd had to our day. Hopefully that will help fight the effects of the jetlag!

Ginny was not happy we were leaving; so grateful
my mom is able to watch her for us!

The bathrooms at DFW airport had
availability indicator lights above the stalls!
Genius!

We sat in a row right above the wing,
so this was the only pic I got from the plane!

I was on the hunt for a "Welcome to Hawaii" sign
for a "50 States" pic, but this was the closest thing
to one I could find when we were in the airport!
(thankfully, the one in the pic in my
previous post was at our hotel!)

Happy Tails to you!

50 States in 2021: 9

Last May, we booked our Spring Break trip, fully believing life would be back to normal by now. Obviously, that was foolishly optimistic.

Over the past month, we've been worried that the trip wouldn't happen because rules and restrictions are constantly changing. Even over this past week, some things had to fall into place.

One issue was that we had to both had to have negative COVID tests 72 hours before our flight to Honolulu, and while I'm vaccinated, I was still a bit nervous, and C wasn't vaccinated yet, so I was very nervous! Thankfully, both tests came back negative, so we were good to go on that front.

The second issue was that my mom had to complete her IV medication and have the physical IV removed from her arm before we'd be able to go anywhere. Thankfully, that happened on Thursday!

Such relief that everything has worked out! We hadn't been on a plane in 406 days and we're feeling very fortunate to be in our 9th state of 2021!

Hawaii!

Happy Tails to you!

Life Lately March 2021

There's really not too much to write about March that I haven't already posted this month!

We've spent the last three weeks taking care of my mom and I'm happy to report that her IV was removed yesterday, which is such great news for her! She also got her first vaccine shot this week, and I am at a loss for words to describe how happy that makes me!

The only other noteworthy event was that I attended a state literacy conference and the sessions were really outstanding. One of the presenters said something that really struck me (and I'm paraphrasing here): the person who enters a book should be different than the person who exits that book. That is really a profound thought! Books change you and the way he articulated that idea really resonated with me because I am always a different person when I finish reading a book – whether that's because I've learned something or because my eyes were opened to a new way of thinking about something.

I will have more to share over the next week, but until then, here are pics from this month!

more blood work for Ginny

this is how she slept
during the literacy conference...
tail and leg hanging off her bed

and also like this...
with her ear in her water bowl

the cutest messages from students
at the end of our reading group meeting

this neon blue Mickey balloon
was my Valentine's Day gift from C
and we finally hung it up!

this UP art is so fabulous...
I love supporting small shops because
they offer such unique handmade items!

it's wooden and hand painted!

Happy Tails to you!