Friday August 29, 2014 Hawaii Vacation

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Daily Blog -
Up around 5am. Tired, especially Kathy. Out the door around 6:15am. Long drive to Lihue. Had to stop for gas, the pumps were the slowest in the world and gas costs around $4.59/gallon. Dropped the car off at Thrifty and rode the bus to the airport. The airport is open air; I guess it doesn't rain too often. I had upgraded our seats on the flight from Lihue to Honolulu since we only have 23 minutes between flights. We to Hawaiian Air counter and Alan got to use his TSA Pre-Check "Known Traveler Number". Best thing ever!!! When we went to TSA security it took Kathy 6 minutes to traverse the line, while Alan only took 60 seconds. Alan didn't have to stand in the spinning x-ray machine or take off his shoes and belt. Big Yeah!!!
We had time to eat breakfast at the airport, food barely okay. The flight from Lihue to Honolulu took 32 minutes. Then it was a leisurely stroll by 8 gates to the next flight. People already starting to line up, so no problem between flights. The flight from Honolulu to Kona was 44 minutes. We arrived around 10:45am. Beautiful skies, 80 degrees and 65 percent humidity. Again the airport is open air style. Not sure what happens in downpours.
Went on Thrifty bus, but this time there was Blue Chip special area, so no line to get a car. They upgraded us (no charge) to Ford Fusion. Much bigger than Mitsubishi Gallant. Yeah!
Drove south thru Kona and stopped at Umeke's. It's a tiny little place. Kathy had a chicken salad and I had a fish salad. Both where good at $25 including water and desert popper.
Finished up and drove another mile down the coast to the Royal Sea Cliffs. We checked in and since we arrived too early for our room, we had to wait. We talked to the concierge. Told him no timeshare talks, but as usual he still tried to talk us into it. Tried to tell us all about the best places (restaurants - I think they get a kickback). He thought my Google map was a cake, wanted to show frosting, but I didn't think he had anything better to give. We changed and went to the pool. Kathy wasn't impressed and worried that we didn't get a good place. Worried that we might have to go home early. We stayed at the pool for an hour until called and finally got our room. It was a huge 2 bedroom with a balcony around 150 feet from the ocean with a nice view of the ocean and the bay.
We went to Safeway for our weekly needs and by the time we got back we were tired. Kathy fixed a frozen pizza. We ate and shortly went to bed around 7pm.

Videos -
Royal Sea Cliffs Resort - Puapuaa Point waves
Royal Sea Cliffs Resort - Puapuaa Point waves

Photo Groups -
Dinner at Umeke's Kona Poke and Local Style Lunch Bowls Restaurant
Royal Sea Cliffs Kona by Outrigger (a Wyndham resort)