Huki-Lauck
You know you are on vacation when you don't know or care what time it is, can't remember which meal comes next, and your biggest decision is rum or vodka.
Last week was manic - my husband was on a business trip and I was unable to get all my ducks in a row before my own departure. Instead, I picked up as many ducks as I could find, crammed them into a large plastic storage box and threw them into the garage, where they are probably pissed. These are metaphorical ducks, of course. No actual ducks were harmed in the preparation for my trip. There are, however, actual plastic storage boxes full of stuff. Pissed stuff. Stuff I will be dealing with this week. Without the rum or vodka.
With JetBlue grounding flights on the East Coast, my husband wasn't even sure if he'd be able to get a plane in Los Angeles for the trip home. I suggested that he figure something out. Strongly suggested. An hour before the sitter arrived at my house, my son stumbled out into the living room, with weepy eyes and a fever. I snuggled him up, and then grabbed my suitcase to finally pack. Because I like the randomness of outfits packed with no forethought.
If I was a good mother, I probably would have taken one look at sick-boy and called off my trip. Instead, I handed the sitter a bottle of fever-reducer and cough syrup, kissed everyone on the head and gunned the engine of my husband's little car.
(for those of you reading this in my feed, I have no idea if the extended entry shows up... there is more below!)
I watched the sunrise as I sped through the East Bay Area. I arrived at the airport, parked and speed walked to the check-in counter, jumped in front of the line (because I play dumb really well) and checked my one suitcase full of strange, non-matching outfits. This gave me about 20 minutes to board the plane, and after sashaying through security and taking a final bathroom stop, I walked to the front of my boarding group and skidded to a stop in my window seat.
Dude, there was nothing to see for 99% of the flight. So glad I demanded a window!
Anyway, Aloha Airlines was quite pleasant. The flight was smooth, and the chocolate chip cookies rocked. And there was the Russell Crowe eye-candy movie that they gave me free head-phones for. Good times for Ms. Lauck, I tell you.
I also had the good fortune to be sitting next to two delightful women who were either very good friends or related through the marriage of a cousin (or something - I blame the lapse in memory on Russell Crowe.) They had me giggling with their tales of traveling the world together. Just their descriptions of how they had managed to book a private villa at a swanky resort for a regular room price had me rolling in the aisles. The flight, er, flew by.
Once we landed, I wandered down to baggage claim, where I was met by my brother, his fiancee and my sister, who had arrived the previous day. They all decked me out in leis, and we took a bunch of photos in front of the wrong baggage carousel. And then we got my bag.
After lunch near the airport, we bombed along in my brother's rented Jeep. Yeah, that made my hair look extra pretty. My sister needed a pair of shoes, so we went shopping in Paia, where we found a bunch of great stuff. This is also when I discovered that my feet were swollen up like loafs of bread. I am so glad I didn't waste the money on a pedicure before the trip. The swelling never subsided until I landed in California.
Ahem. Back to the recap.
The trip from the shopping area to our accomodations took about 30 minutes. We passed gorgeous beaches and kite surfers. We also passed several burned out cars. There doesn't seem to be any correlation. We drove up the mountain to our lovely vacation house. The house is set into a lush, jungle-looking hillside, and we were able to quickly change and organize our things before we headed out once again. My brother and his fiancee needed to change for dinner, so we accompanied them to their condo, took vampy self-portraits and then headed out to dinner in Lahaina.
My brother's future mother-in-law treated us to a wonderful dinner, and then escorted us to a theatre show called Ulalena.
The show was wonderful and intense, with the occasional WTF moment. Like Pig Man, whom I am sure represented something or other. There was lots of pelvic thrusting and grunting. I snickered. A lot. Then there was the insanity dance, depicting the horrid living conditions for the immigrant laborers. All this was accompanied by crazy-good percussionist and musicians.
We arrived back at the house after another beautiful drive around the island. We said good night to the bridal couple and hung out with the other house guests until my parents and their friends arrived later on. We stayed up late, drinking rum and laughing about Pig Man.
To Be Continued...
Comments
Your hair! Is brown!! I love it!
Posted by: Mir | February 22, 2007 12:18 PM
Ooh, this is fun. I'm waiting for me. I cracked up at the comments built into your photo(s).
Posted by: Stephanie C. | February 22, 2007 6:40 PM
Is that clifftop house on the road to Hana? Did it have a pool and lots of buddhas? Cos if so, we stayed there a few years ago. just checking...oh, the one we stayed in had a picture of the host couple (very pretty) and then a picture of the host couple wife, half naked and straddling a Harley...poster size. Hello.
Posted by: Lin | February 23, 2007 11:56 AM
In bloglines, the entry ended after you said there was more, sos you knows.
And I can't tell you how awesome it is that you got away sans kids. Is it wrong of me to be dreaming about that day?
Posted by: Elaine | February 24, 2007 9:49 AM
i am enjoying the adventure as it unfolds, and also the photos. but i had to comment and say that this post's title, Huki-Lauck is PURE FREAKIN' GENIUS!
i gently hula in wonder before you, oh pretty-haired woman.
Posted by: hadashi | February 25, 2007 9:27 PM