And we're there!

Art's ready to leave! Our travel to LAX was uneventful after a late start out of ATL. Stay at the Marriott LAX was pleasant including a $40 discount due to some minor issues with the room...lovely. We had a wonderful dinner with Host Walt (Cruise Critic) and his wife, Barbara...although Walt's idea of a welcome was to immediately spill a glad of red wine all over my travel jacket and pants :( I quickly changed clothes and the rest of the evening went smoothly. Art and Walt quickly found common ground in multiple sports discussions (made even more fun since Walt is a Tar Heel). Barbara and I had fun talking about Marriott timeshares (both of us are owners) among other topics. We look forward to our next meeting where Art says the wine is on Walt - figuratively and literally.

Walt and Sheila meeting for the first time Face to Face after a long virtual friendship!

Up early to make our flight to HNL. Had fun in the airport chatting with a family heading to HNL to take a Hawaiian cruise. Their 5th grader was flying for the first time and was very nervous...we checked on the plane and he was having a ball. Flight was a good one - and a purchased sushi lunch was amazingly good. Typical Honolulu traffic jam heading to our Waikiki hotel but Art's new GPS (an early birthday present) worked well and we made the trip in good time. What a good deal at the Courtyard Waikiki beach - excellent rate, upgraded room, great lobby bar with charming bartender and valet parking.

The best part of the day was Art's reunion with his cousin Robert, whom he hadn't seen since they were young boys, and his wife Agnes. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing stories of family history and of their many years in Hawaii...lots of pictures - they were nice enough to give us some copies. We hope to see them again during our week here.

Nice to sleep well without an early wake-up to catch a plane. Leisurely Sunday morning drinking coffee, reading the paper and getting ready to head to the grocery store prior to checking in at the Ko O' Lina Beach Club. We are so looking forward to Ellen, Mike, Carson and Nick joining us this afternoon.