No in-room safe. I can't remember the last hotel or resort we stayed at which didn't have in-room safes. Hopefully they'll resolve this as they say they intend to.
Overall, this is our favorite hotel in any location we visited. Rating: 9.5.
Heading Home
After returning the car, we were shuttled to the Kahului Airport hours before our scheduled 5:00 p.m. flight. We asked for and got an earlier flight at 2:45, knowing this will lead to a 6+ hour layover in Honolulu before our 10 p.m. flight to San Francisco. At least it's at an airport where we can walk around, shop and find a decent place to eat. But after doing all this, it was still just 6 p.m., so we found some comfortable chairs in an airy location and zoned out for awhile.
Taking off from Kahului
The waiting area at our departure gate didn't open up until 8 p.m. for some reason, once inside the gae, we resumed waiting. A family with a very loud infant (about a year, year-and-a-half in age) who was constantly screeching for no apparent reason turned out to be a royal pain. A few of us were casting looks back and forth like "Dear God, don't let them be sitting anywhere near us on this plane!" Oh, the child's mother was a big help. 
When the kid would screech (by the way, this happened at least twice a minute), she say "stop it!" and give him a whack on the leg. Meanwhile, Dad was standing there looking at them without an apparent clue. Attaway, pops.
While this was happening, two first-class seats open up. Northwest announced this on the loudspeaker and said they're available for just a $250/seat upgrade. Patty and I consulted quickly, and decided not to go for it. Had it been for a straight shot to Minneapolis, we would've opted for this in a heartbeat. But this was to be "only" a five-hour flight, so we decided to take our chances with the Swiss Family Clueless.
Finally, boarding commenced (by now we're been awake for 16 hours and will be awake for at least 13 more) Looking toward the back of the plane, we noticed the Screech Family is in row 27, over fifteen rows ahead of us! 
. As we walked down the aisle, just as we reached their row, the kid lets out another screech, and I instinctively go "GEEZ!". The kid's grandma goes "well, what do you want us to do...gag him?". I thought she was talking to me, but it turned out after talking to Patty that there was another guy sitting very close by who wasn't in the mood to listen to this for five hours and had already said something to the mother. So, when grandma says this, I retort "leave him home!" but at the same time, Irritated Guy shoots back "gag him and bag him!". And grandma calls him a jerk. Heh heh.
I managed to sleep for about an hour during the flight and it helps slightly. Concerns about the tight timeframe between our arrival in San Francisco (5:55 a.m.) and the subsequent takeoff of the connecting flight to Minneapolis (6:30) had been put to rest by the Northwest employee working the waiting area at our gate. At it was, when we departed the plane in Frisco, all we had to do was walk about thirty feet and straight onto the next plane which was already boarding. Slick.
We managed a little more sleep en route to the Twin Cities, but by now we had been up for nearly a full day. I was toast! At last, we caught the final of four flights, and we're back in Duluth. Patty's cousin met us at the airport for the short drive home. It's 50 degrees and raining and felt somewhat like 20 degrees after the warmth of the past three weeks. It was a cold shock of reality.
Approaching Minneapolis
But, we finally found ourself at home with stuff to catch up on; three weeks of mail (and unfortunately, bills), over 1,500 pictures to weed through, and other assorted loose ends before life could get back to normal. Whatever "normal" means. 
Final Thoughts
As I type this, we've been back for over two weeks. Life returns to what it is pretty damn fast after a vacation, even one of this length. We have memories, videos and pictures to remember this trip with. And I have a few last thoughts, even though it seems I've covered everything:
1. This was our best vacation ever. Ever. No doubt about it, and Patty concurs with this. Not because it was the longest trip we've ever taken, but because of the fun we had and the weather we had. We'd been looking forward to this since our last trip in 2004, and now it's over and done. We have another trip planned in 2010....oops, wait a minute...next year a milestone birthday for me and Patty wants to know how I'd feel about a return trip to Maui? 
2. I'd like to thank the good folks who inhabit the Hawaii forum at tripadvisor.com. You've given a lot of information to me and others (mostly correct) and it helped plan this trip. Thanks also go out to Andrew Doughty and Harriet Friedman, authors of the series of Revealed books (Oahu Revealed, Big Island Revealed, Maui Revealed). The information and recommendations in those books also were a big help.
3. We've been to other warm, sunny climates such as Las Vegas, Orlando and the Caribbean. What is it about Hawai`i that draws our attraction so strongly? Is it the memories, especially of our wedding/honeymoon trip in 1996? Is it the Aloha spirit we see almost everywhere we go there? Is it the laid-back, hang loose lifestyle? I think it's a combination of those things but as time passes, I also think that something spiritual happens to me when I'm there. The small everyday hassles seem less important, not just while we're there but after we've returned home. Maybe that's what they mean by "attitude adjustment". Maybe that's what they mean by "spiritual awakening". I'm not sure; all I know is that these things keep bringing me back.
4. It's funny; I've been exposed to Hawaiian music through various means for the past two years, and after hearing it over there (primarily throuth KINE, 105 FM...guys, don't change your format one bit!), I can now close my eyes, remember a song (especially if it's one by my favorite artists such as Hapa, Na Leo, the Brothers Cazimero, Cecilio & Kapono, Kalapana and Olomana) and it takes me back there. I hope that will continue on into the future, because it's where my heart truly lies.
Too bad visiting there couldn't be as cheap as visiting the Wisconsin Dells, eh?
5. We miss it. Already. We'll be back. Count on it.
Previous: 5/14/2007--Our Trip to Hawai'i (2007)--Day 22
Index of Blog Pages
last updated november 12, 2021