Anderson pulls up at exactly 6:13AM....and we're off. We head to San Jose International and check in our luggage. And as expected... it's overweight. We quickly shift some stuff around our baggage. Did we overpack??? Nahh.... better to be safe than sorry.
Southwest flight was at near capacity... but most everyone was behaved and masked. Caught the movie that everyone's raving about, "Everything Everywhere All At Once." Boy was it a let down. Nothing against Michelle Yeoh who actually might win an Oscar one of these days, at her pace. But I can't stand the whole multi-verse concept. Wonder who copied who... and did Marvel "tsk-tsk" them for beating Dr. Strange 2 to the theater.
Landed and got our car without a hitch... checkin luggage arrived at baggage claim before I even got there. Hawaii.... great service. That's when things start unraveling with a 14 person Family Vacation. "Let's go get lunch!!" I wanted to go to this ale house for burgers and comfort food. But someone said let's head to the hotel. Someone said it's too far (how do they even know what far means?!) Someone said let's got to Costco. Someone said there's no room for Costco in the car... so let's head back to the hotel and come back.
I called an audible and headed to a staple of of the Big Island - Broke Da Mouth. But didn't realize that this (and many other places) are gonna have uber slow service, no parking, and no seats. Stood in line for 20 minutes and it barely budged. Ended up going next door. The mom and pop place was gleeful, but unprepared to serve so many of us all at once. They're use to take out... or onesie / twosie diners. At one point, I they gave us an extra serving of fries... only to realize we stole our neighboring tables food. HA!!
We then headed to Target cuz one of the kid said "he might need to go #2." He might??? C'mon man! Either you do or you don't.
Target was a different adventure. Four families going shopping... and not for an AirBnB mind you. How are you suppose to shop?? In my mind... it's plain and simple. You get your own cart... and get your own thing. But this family kept piling stuff in our cart. Water. Juice. Snacks. I mean... did she think we'll pay and then split it? It only got more awkward when we decided to not go to Costco. And then at the check out line... I gave Joyce the stare, "You fix this. Your family!"
Heh...
Ok... kids were good (great!!) up to this point. Let's reward them with some Shave Ice. We don't have to caravan!! You do you...and we'll do us. But alas... I got scolded. Found a place that was highly recommended... but again, no parking!! I do my thing and drop off Joyce and the kids so I can circle. Grace pays the $10 parking. And the last car....?? They arrive 10 minutes after us... and they find parking after we were done. Sorry man... you snooze you lose.
We head to the hotel... and it took 45 minutes to check in... cuz we wanted to check-in together and try to get adjacent rooms. Holy Cannoli. If it was just me... I would've been done in 5 minutes. We get into our room and started to chill... only to get a text from the last family... that they were sent to a completely different tower on the other side of the resort.
Around 6... we decided to head to dinner. And we sat at the lobby for over an hour... waiting for this family to "change rooms." Can't really fault them. It's the right thing to do. But the even more right thing to do... is to tell everyone, "Go eat without us." It's 7PM local time... but 10PM Pacific time. Kids are tired. It's hot and sticky. Everyone is hangry. It got to a point where the grandparents were done waiting. They threw in the towel and headed back to their rooms.
So now the three families decided to head to a local tavern.... only to find out the waiting time is 2 hours!!! Omg.... and we're so far away from town it's not worth the drive. I threw my hands up and gave Joyce another look. She felt helpless - now what.
Ended up heading back to the hotel and ate bar food - the only place left open. Grace's kids were so tired at this point, they just cured up in the seats and fell asleep. The food... horrible. The service... slothful. But alas... we were in Hawaii as a family. Ohana. Where no one gets left behind, right??
Nope. Everyone, including my family inhaled their food and headed back to the room while I waited for the check. There I sat... with a half eaten nachos... pizza with 2-3 bits... a bunch of chicken wing bones... and 6 empty chairs. I did what any normal, sane person would do. I asked for another beer.
Not a good start to a vacation. Not at all.
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