The Decompression of a Boomer

We pulled it off! A trip to Kauai in the midst of the seemingly endless Covid pandemic. Our last trip there was in 2019. We visited Kauai every January from 2012 to 2019 and every year when we returned home I blogged about our adventures, 50 blogs, covering seven visits. (Find them all in my Kauai category.) We booked this trip about six months ago, July 2021, you know, about the time the world was declaring the peak of the pandemic behind us. Yay! Then Omicron hit, which, has it peaked yet? … Even in January 2022 pulling off a trip to Kauai without incident feels like no small miracle.

We got blasted with snow here in Idaho Falls in early January but of course, who cares, we’re headed to Kauai for 10 days. And when we return January will be behind us! Well, we’ve been back from Kauai for five days, the snow hasn’t melted one bit, and February feels just like January. I know! Let’s go back to Kauai! Do you want to come along? My sister Stephanie and husband Victor have invited us to stay with them at their house in Princeville! Although I have to warn you, it’s a bit of a trek getting to Lihue, Kauai from Idaho Falls. Are you ready? … We’ll experience it vicariously thorough our January trip.

So here’s the travel plan: Wednesday evening, January 19, we drive to Salt Lake and get a motel. Then Thursday morning we catch a 6am flight from Salt Lake to San Francisco. One hour layover in San Francisco gives us plenty of time to catch our 8:30am flight to Lihue, landing in Lihue about 1 pm. Perfect!! Gives us a full afternoon and evening to enjoy on our very first day in Paradise! Here we go…

Wednesday, January 19, 4pm – We’ve hit the road to Salt Lake from Idaho Falls. David is driving, my brother Eric is riding shotgun and Megan and I are in the back seat. (Yes! Our daughter Megan is coming with us this time.)

Megan couldn’t be more excited!

An hour into our trip we’re approaching McCammon, Idaho

Near McCammon, Idaho

Gorgeous winter landscape! I wonder what it will look like in 10 days?

Sailing down I-15 south at 80mph near Downey, Idaho, we nearly own the freeway

The sunset bursts into bright yellows and oranges

Who says there isn’t a God?

By 7pm we pull over in Layton and stuff ourselves with dinner at Red Lobster, as is our tradition.  Pull over at Red Lobster, feast on lobster, scallops and crab, and then pull into Country Inn and Suites just off the freeway in Bountiful, Utah, where we’ve reserved a king suite. Now try to sleep!  We’ll be up at 3:30am to catch our 6am flight from Salt Lake to San Francisco.

Wonderful! Well, let me just say, Megan is in bed by 9pm, but David, Eric and Jody (myself) are naughty; stay awake way past 11pm, feeling chatty, and not sleepy at all.  But had they known about the travel debacle that lay ahead, starting in just a few hours, they might have behaved differently.

So, we’ll call it a night. Sleep, I say!  3:30am is nigh upon us.  In a few hours a new day dawns. We’re headed to Paradise!

This entry was posted on February 4, 2022 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Kauai. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.