Because I have visited Hawaii several times, people assume I know how long it takes to get there from Orlando. The answer to that question requires that I remember a number, so it’s usually allusive to me. Bob is numbers and I am words, so that’s his department.

But, Saturday early in the darkness of morning, we once again began a trip to Hawaii. That means I should still remember how long it took. We awoke at 3:30 for our 4:00 am pickup. Since Saturday was touted to be the busiest airport day of the holiday season, we did not check luggage but managed to stuff everything into our carry-ons and personal items. Quite a feat, if I do say so myself.

We took off at 7:00 am for our connection at Phoenix, ultimately landing in Kauai at 4:00 pm, which would be 9:00 pm Eastern time. I figured 14 hours, but I ran my answer past the engineer.

I’ll spare you the eye rolling and questioning my mental acuity looks that Bob gives me when I ask such things, but he did say that I was correct.

If you add the two hours at the airport before our flight and the lines to get a rental car plus the hour drive to our resort in Princeville, the number swells to almost 18 hours from one tropical paradise to the other. No wonder we’re tired.

This is my fifth time making this trek and I can say it’s worth it, even though it’s been raining on and off ever since we got here. The greens are greener and the blues bluer. The fog is prettier. The birds sing louder. The aloha spirit is alive and well.

Our first event the next day was whale watching. I will say the whales weren’t whalier, if that can be considered a word. They were wilier and would barely make their presence known. The Captain J’s Kauai Offshore Adventures tour guide called their behavior “spout and out.” He said the whales are recently back from gorging themselves in Alaska so they are too fat to breach. They have repopulation on their mind and I suppose that will burn some blubber and allow them to use their powerful tail fin to propel themselves upward. I guess we would need to come back in February or March to see that, but probably not.

We did see one fin and had many “there she blows” moments so it was successful. Plus the Captain J’s crew was great. It was a fun day with no rain while on the ocean.

From the boat we spotted Spouting Horn doing its thing, so we ventured over there on land for a view from the other side. It’s a blowhole formed by wave erosion. The waves crash in the rocks and spout out the blowhole with a cool hollow whistling sound. If you position yourself just right for a selfie, it can look like you’re spouting.

There are chickens everywhere here. The gorgeous roosters wake up hours before the sun rises and at this writing I still find it charming.

Tree Tunnel is spectacular and was not on the agenda, but it was a lovely bonus on the way to Costco.

Everything in Hawaii is much more expensive than on the mainland. This would include prices at Walmart. But when you arrive at Costco, you are able to get that Costco goodness for the same cost that you get it in Orlando. Plus, they have installed fancy-schmancy new bathroom stall availability lights. Way to go, Costco. Nobody is going to bust in on you and say aloha while you’re taking care of business. Impressive.

Aloha!