And We're Off...

We woke up in Atlanta early in the morning in order to make our way to The Crowne Plaza to get our vehicles parked and catch the shuttle for our 8:30 a.m. flight.  **Side note: we had a great, easy experience with The Crowne Plaza and the price was very reasonable.**   This was the girls first ever flight so they were very excited and a little nervous to begin our journey to Kauai.  The airline recommended that we arrive three hours before departure in order to get through security.  We arrived about 6:00 a.m. and had no problem getting through the TSA security; in fact, we had no wait at all.  Ava brought her laptop with her and it had to be ran through twice which freaked her out a little.  She thought she had done something wrong.  This was a great opportunity for us to explain why they did that and by the second stop she knew exactly what to expect and went through security like a pro.

Flying over the Rockies on
the way to Denver

We had a little wait before boarding but we were not bored as everyone was excited with anticipation of our trip.  Soon we were boarded and on our way!  Kelly was seated with the two older girls and Julianna and I sat together.  The take-off was smooth and the girls were bursting with awe, excitement, and wonder!  Kelly and the girls had a window seat by the wing so Ava and Claire were able to see how the wings worked.

We had about a three hour flight to Denver where we had a short layover before our long ride to Honolulu.  The girls were thoroughly amazed at the boarding process, the take-off, the airport, snack cart on the airplane, etc.  They learned so much!  Once we arrived in Denver we had enough time to get lunch, use the restroom, and get ready to board the next plane.  Our flight from Denver to Honolulu was about six hours.  We were prepared, however, with snacks, books, and games.  Julianna slept most of the flight so once we landed in Honolulu, she was ready to go.

We flew United Airlines until we got to Honolulu and then changed to Hawaiian air.  Both airlines were very good and I highly recommend them.  We did not get the Hawaiian experience until we reached Kauai.  The flight from Honolulu to Lihue, Kauai was about thirty minutes.  Kauai is absolutely breathtaking!  We got our luggage, made our way to the shuttle for our rental car, and got our car with great ease.

I snapped a picture of the car's license plate.  I never thought about not seeing Hawaii's car tag on the mainland.  I thought it was so pretty!

The Tunnel of Trees

We stayed at the Marriott Waiohai Resort on Kauai on Poipu Beach.  Poipu is located on the south side of the island.  We had about a twenty minute drive from Lihue to Poipu and the scenery was amazing!  It was better than what you imagine Hawaii to look like.  We had to go through The Tunnel of Trees, which is the most famous road on the island, to get to our resort and it was beautiful!  I just could not believe all the beauty I was seeing!  Once we made it to Poipu we checked in, unloaded, and went to sleep.  It had been a long day of travel.