Kaua'i Day 1

So...for all of you wondering if we made it to Kauai... we did. But it took a little creativity and a lot of stress. Here is a recap of our little adventure:

Friday October 17th

5:30 AM Utah time (1:30 AM in Hawaii): Me tossing and turning. I went to bed at 11:45 the night before. I had checked flights right before I got into bed. We had still looked ok for the LAX flight.

5:40 AM: I can't go back to sleep. I am anxious about flights. I get up to look at the standby list for about the 1000th time. Counting down the list 22,23,24, ... CRAP. I am 25th and my cousin Katie and her husband Tedd are 34 and 35. And now there are only 38 seats available. It is not looking good since people list on their way to the airport, or list on another flight if they didn't make the earlier one.

However, there was a flight to the Long Beach Airport that had enough seats. But it leaves at 8:30. We were planning on the 10:00 flight to LAX. I frantically call my cousin. We decided to take the earlier flight to Long Beach, rent a car, and drive to LAX where our flight to Lihue, Kauai is. So I quickly book a rental car.

6:35 After booking the rental car and grabbing my things, I leave to go to my cousins house

6:48 I realize I left my wallet, with my license, at home. I have to drive back to my house to get it! Things like this only happen when you are in an extreme hurry.

7:15 We leave for the airport.

7:35 We enter the airport to find a massive line to the kiosk, the baggage check, and security. I am real concerned that we will miss our flight.

8:00 We get in the security line (T-minus 30 minutes to take off) The security guard states that the line will take about 25 minutes (my heart sinks), but if we are leaving from gates D or E that we can go over to international and get security checked there and it is about a 10 minute wait (someone loves us).

8:30 We make it through security and onto our flight. We let out a quarter sigh of relief.

9:30 LA time (10:30 Utah time) We arrive to our destination.

10:00 Waiting in the Hertz line for 30 minutes to get our rental car. We are worried that LA traffic will make us miss our flight. The rental car lady tries to sell me gas, insurance. I was like, "Lady, we are only taking this car to drive to LAX" (16 miles).

10:30 We arrive at LAX safely and securely with little to no traffic. 30 minutes for a rental car. But hey, it was about as much as a TAXI and we WERE flying FREE. 1/2 sigh of relief.

11:20 AM. We make it through security and are at the gate. 3/4th sigh of relief. This is where you spend the next hour looking at the standby screen to see if you have been cleared to get on the flight. Of course they board everyone else before they tell you whether you made it on or not.

1:10 PM (2:10 Utah time) I am in my seat on the plane as well as Katie and Tedd. We are on our way. Huge Sigh of relief.

4:30 PM (8:30 Utah time) We arrive in Lihue, HI.

5:45(ish) PM We check into our hotel/condo.

6:30 PM (10:30PM Utah)We cross the street and eat at this great little place called Kauai Pasta. Best Pesto I have ever had.

8:00PM (12:30 PM Utah) Lights out... It has been an incredibly LONG day. But we miraculously made it to Kauai.