Arrived

We are here, in paradise. Yes, we are. J. was right. Traffic was fairly light. We didn't leave the house until 4AM and we still made it all the way to OAK airport by just after 5. Even parked at one of the various parking locations off airport property and shuttled in and STILL were at the check-in counter by 5:20. Well ahead of many of our fellow passengers. No time for a leisurely breakfast so we opted for expensive airport food instead. It wasn't very satisfying but it got us through. The flight was fine though a bit bumpy. And long. Boring. Slept a little and was appalled to find myself waking up with my mouth hanging open - but I can't breath through my nose at the moment so my options are suffocating or breathing through my mouth. Wished I had a sheet or something to hide the peak at my molars and then I could have really slept more soundly and longer. Embarrassing but sleep overcame me after the movie - we didn't go to bed until close to 10 and were up at 3.

It is beautiful here. The condo is SPECTACULAR - all glass walls in the main room that look right out on the ocean. We have all the windows open to hear the surf and know why the rental place called this unit 'Surf Song'. It is RIGHT on the water - I'll try to post pics soon.

It is 4PM at home but just after 1 here. We found a little burger joint to grab some lunch - we were all absolutely famished. And then headed to the little local market to get supplies - $100 later, we have fixing's for a couple breakfasts and lunches and some snacks. Milk was $7.89/gallon. Other things similarly expensive. It's nuts. But we just ignored the prices and bought what we needed and can get through a few days. The burger and fries lunch we just consumed was $58 so I guess $100 for a couple days of meals isn't all that bad. All things considered. H. asked for some corned beef hash 'cuz that's always one of his favorite 'weekend' breakfasts. I had thought for sure the price of that item would be over the top - and yet, it was only $1.49/can which is less expensive than home. Go figure. And we bought the teeniest box of Frosted Flakes and it was close to $5. It's so 'cute', I sort of hate to open it - and with H. being the primary consumer of those flakes, that tiny box will probably not last much past this time tomorrow. But it's still less expensive than eating 'out'.

Tomorrow is just a 'hanging at the beach' day - no plans, really. Sunday we are sailing all day. And snorkeling. And J. and the kids are going to scuba dive also from the boat like they did in Maui a couple years ago. Monday is another 'free' day. Tuesday is our anniversary and we have reservations at The Beach House restaurant which is right next door to our condo building. Wednesday we go to a Lua. In between all those days, we'll be just driving around, seeing the sites, enjoying the scenery and the 'on vacation-ness' of the time. It's a nice feeling to be 'free' of work for awhile. And we found we have wireless Internet (we're getting a signal here from somewhere) but it's not a secure connection and apparently, my work email will not allow me to connect. Isn't that sad?

The 'town' is surprisingly devoid of 'tourist' stuff. A couple galleries and shops - but hardly any 'food' places. Unlike Maui which was wall to wall food joints, stores, ice cream shops, etc. This place is scant on the 'hoopla' of 'tourists'. We did find one Starbucks but it's quite a drive away and will not be a daily event. Most definitely not.

Bye for now. I'll update more later.