Picture Gallery Saturday, July 8
A04: Waikiki from hotel
A14: Waikiki sunset

My alarm went off at 5:30 AM (that's 12:30 AM Hawaii time) to shower, eat, and check the house. Janet Gray picked us up at 7:00 to take us to the airport, and the early Saturday morning drive was easy and pleasant.

We quickly checked-in at the Continental desk, where we were assured that seats 33K and 33L were good ones. They were: by themselves on a row. That was nice, since 8 hours on a plane is difficult anyway. We slept a little, but mostly read and watched the in-flight movie without the $4 headsets.

As we arrived at Honolulu a little before our 12:45 pm (that's 5:45 pm Houston time) arrival time, we suddenly felt ourselves rising up just above the runway. The landing was aborted due to another plane on our runway. We circled once to return to an empty runway and a smooth landing.

Right at our gate, Brandon from Elite Travel was waiting to take us to our baggage, then onto Outrigger Waikiki. The note upon checking in told us where to find Mom and Rebecca - on the beach. And what a gorgeous beach! Aqua water under a blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds. The sand was hot under the strong sun, but the beach umbrella Mom and Rebecca got made it much cooler. We went for a swim in the Pacific, then went back to the hotel to plan for an early dinner (that's midnight snack Houston tummy time).

We ate at the hotel's Sunset Terrace above the pool, watching the waves roll in. Donna and I concluded the evening chasing the sunset down the beach, finally turning in at 8:00 PM (that's way late, Houston time).

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