Travel day. Big deal. It is literally a 20 minute flight to Maui. 40 minutes gate to gate. Not really a huge travel day, but travel nonetheless. We are up at our usual early hour. Have our coffee, take our last walk through Ala Moana, then pack up our meager suitcases and check out of the condo. Our transfer shows up right on time at 10:15, and we spend a delightful 20 minutes or so chatting with Chris our driver about traveling, Oahu during the pandemic, and how all the high end stores in Waikiki are still empty because the Japanese aren’t able to travel yet. What we figured.

Anyhow, we’re at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Checked in. Bags checked. At the lounge in no time. We hang out there (after having our IDs and vaccination cards checked) for a couple of hours, munching on prepackaged little sandwiches of turkey and cheese or mushroom and onion, chips, Biscoff biscuits (my fav) and beer and wine. Finally it is time to board the plane, which is jam packed, not an empty seat in the house. But again – it’s 20 minutes. Who cares?

The flight is super easy (even though there is an annoying kid in front of us who keeps slamming her arm rest up and down – sigh), we even get juice (fast service!). Flying over the Waikiki coast and Diamond Head….

….then before you know it we are flying over Molokai…

…and on over the West Coast of Maui. Beautiful!

Yay! We’re finally here! A year late….but…what’s one year? (Actually, 525,600 minutes according to Jonathon Larson). Deplaning is, well, interesting, but we make our way out to baggage claim, grab our bags and head toward the rental car booths – which are all now in a new “out” building accessed by a tram. Progress! A jam packed tram, I might add, which disgorges all of us at the main entrance to the rental car offices….and boom! It’s Amazing Race time! Honestly – that’s what it felt like. People shouting, people running. Okie dokie. Well this leg, we won as we make it to Budget before anyone else and are ushered right up to the agent! (And no it does not give us confidence to actually DO the real Amazing Race!)

Checked in, car found, suitcases stowed, we drive our way out of Kahului and onto the familiar Pi’ilani highway heading toward Kihei. Again – seems like home to us!

After a hectic shopping stop at Safeway – that place was slammed, and out of so much, it was insane. The produce department looked like it was pillaged like it was the first days of the pandemic. And people everywhere, parking lot packed, carts not to be found except outside in the return carrels. Yikes. But, we persevered, got most everything we were after – including the $5 fried chicken – a bargain – oh – and an impulse buy of the pork–an 8 1/2 pound Boston Butt–that was crazy cheap (after the Poke guy pointed it out to us, telling us what a great deal it was!). We are so set for food.

Then onto the condo, which was easy to find and easy to access – and voila! Our cozy home away from home for the next 10 days is all set up. Sort of reminds us of Sanibel in a way. Food stowed, bags unpacked, clothes changed, we head out to Kalama Park for the first of our many, many park walks, then repair to our condo and great balcony to eat a fried chicken dinner and hang out on our first night back in Maui.