Hawaii 2021

 

In April, Grayson and Keaton joined Kolby's family in Hawaii for a week. This was Gray's second trip (see Hawaii 5-0). Because of Covid, they both had to have a specific Covid test (only certain providers were accepted by Hawaii). Luckily, Clay and Courtney had just gone on a family trip to Hawaii, so they were able to give us some pointers. I was able to get both guys scheduled for a drive-through test at the local Walgreens on April 17, Saturday morning before they flew out to Seattle. They got their results quickly, and were both negative, so the vacation was on. They spent Saturday evening, Sunday, and Monday morning in Seattle, and flew out to Hawaii Monday, April 19, on a 6:00 flight. Tuesday-Saturday the guys got some sightseeing, snorkeling and eating exotic foods. They flew home LATE Saturday night and arrived back in SLC Sunday, April 25. They hadn't really been able to sleep on the flight, and were dealing with jet-lag and time changes. Keaton still had Monday off, but Gray was back to the grind and a full inbox at work. I asked Keaton to write up his memories from the week, and here they are ...

Me and pops went on a 9 day vacation to Hawaii. Here’s how it went...

We first had to get a COVID test within 3 days of the flight to Hawaii. This was a little tense because if we were positive then the trip probably would’ve been outright cancelled for that person. Luckily, we were both negative so we headed to the airport to leave for Seattle and meet up with the fam there. We got there around 7:00 pm on Saturday and hung out and ate Indian food while Bogdan said his goodbyes.

On Sunday, Dad, Kolby, and I went to breakfast at Pomegranate. I had a massive sandwich and those two had avocado toast. We went home to chill while Mia and Jamie were working. A big part of this trip for me was Kolby introducing me to a ton of great movies that I’d never seen before. We watched Kung Fu Hustle, Pulp Fiction, Django, and Fargo. They were really fun and Kolby would geek out at little bits during the movies that only a movie nerd like him would know, but it was also for clarifying purposes to understand the story even more so. We also watched a few Simpsons episodes and I can’t believe I’ve never watched those before haha. All of us went to dinner that night at Din Thai Fung at my request. This place is one of my favorite restaurants and there’s not even one in Utah. They have green beans, dumplings, pot stickers, rice and noodles and there’s nothing that I don’t like.

Monday we watched some more shows and movies. Kolby and I took Hazel and Otis to the park so they can run around. I definitely fell in love with these pups there. We left for the flight at 6:00 pm and it was a 6 hour flight. I listened to music and watched Invincible on Amazon Prime. The flight wasn’t so bad. We get to Kauai and the humidity punched me in the face. It’s 9:30 pm there (4 hour difference from Utah and 1 from Seattle). We check into the hotel suite at the Koloa Resort after getting our rental cars; a red Jeep for me and pops, and then a Buick for the Seattle crew. There’s a master for Kolby and Jamie, bedroom with a queen for Dad, bedroom with two twins for me and Maddie, and then a fold over couch-bed for Mia and her boyfriend Jack. There was an outdoor balcony and that’s where we all hung out most of the time at the hotel. We were 3 stories up overlooking a pool with palm trees all around and music playing on a speaker at all times while birds came to hangout with us.

 

Tuesday morning, Maddie had class at 6:00 am Hawaii time. Mia and Jack get up early to work on school too. Dad and I went down to the resorts restaurant Holoholo Grill for breakfast. They served POG juice, banana nut pancakes, taro bread French toast, loco moco, surfer burrito, and pork hash. Everything there was delicious, especially the side of Portuguese sausage. Then, Dad and I explored around a bit visiting the other resorts, finding the beaches, places we’ll hit later and such. I had no idea there were roosters everywhere around the island. Holy crap. We found a bunch of sea turtles swimming near a shore and no one was around! There was probably 8 or so. Dad, Kolby, and Jamie went to Costco later to get groceries while Maddie, Mia and I got in the pool. When they got back, we visited the beach to see 5 or so sea turtles sleeping on the shore, and a seal too if you walk down a ways. We had Puka Dog and if it’s not the best hot dog you’ll eat, I don’t know what is. When we got back Kolby, Dad and I watch stand ups of Nate Bargatze and Daniel Sloss. This turned into a nightly thing of the trip, and one that I looked forward to throughout the day.

Wednesday, Jamie, Mia, Jack, and I went to get Açaí for breakfast. We brought Maddie back her bowl and I went down to the pool to hangout with Dad and Kolby. Kolby and I went down the slide a few times while the lifeguard made fun of us, but whatever. It started to rain pretty hard and Pops was all too happy about it. I had no idea warm rain was his favorite thing ever. People were getting out of the pool and under umbrellas or heading back to their crib while he was, just now, cannonballing into the pool, the only one in there, and he’s just gliding around wishing that he can be in that moment forever. Kolby and I were making fun of him during all this. I went back and got lunch with the same crew from this morning and right next to the açaí place. We went to Da Crack which is similar to Cafe Rio but to no ones surprise was really, really good. Then all of us, except Dad, went snorkeling for only an hour because it was a bit windy. That night we watched John Mulaney, a personal favorite of mine.

Thursday, all of us went to Holoholo for breakfast. It was a lot nicer that day so we immediately went to the beach to hangout and snorkel. We were there for a few hours. We got some Puka, Maddie got some cool shells, Jack flew his Kite, it was solid. Most everyone took a nap after that and then we went to a fancy restaurant called Beach House. When we came home from dinner, we watched Mulaney’s other two stand ups.

Friday was the highlight of the trip for me. Holoholo for breakfast and then we were splitting into two groups. Those that were going on the catamaran to the Na Pali coast and those that were doing a bike ride because they’d get motion sickness from the boat. Dad, Kolby, Maddie, and I went on the catamaran. It started at noon and lasted for about 6 hours. Setting sail was so much fun! This boat was a party boat and everyone was feeling it. There was about 25 other people on there with us, drinks, food, music, and the best crew mates ever. I cannot describe how awesome they were. 30 minutes out and we stopped at a snorkeling spot. We’re there for about another 30 minutes and got a couple sea turtles swimming by. Everyone hopped back on and right before we set sail again, Maddie got sick. It didn’t affect her much, she was just bummed she got motion sickness and was probably going to be like that the rest of the ride. We make it to the coastline and the cliffs there are so cool to see. When we turned around to go back, there was a double rainbow, clear skies, and we saw a whale breach out of the water! Some of these waves were rocking us back and forth. On the way back, more people got sick and you can see all the crew mates just running with buckets, cleaning up peoples messes, back and forth and back forth. It was pretty funny (sorry Maddie haha). That night we watched Ryan Hamilton.

The last day of the trip, I wondered around a bit for souvenirs. Then all of us except Maddie and Jack went on the bike ride the others did the day before. It was really fun and the view of the ocean was great. After that, all of us hiked to Secret Beach. I really liked it there because the sand felt great, the waves were fun to get pushed around in, Maddie and I found thousands of tadpoles and frogs the size of flies, Jack flew his kite, and then we went home for homemade steak dinner. It was really good, but then we had to say goodbye because the Seattle crew was staying another day while me and Pops left at 10:00 that night. Some real sad goodbyes looking back at a truly epic week. It was a solid group and a solid trip.

Gray and Keaton didn't take a ton of photos, but I was glad for the few I got. In addition to what they took (the first photo collage at top) Maddie took some spectacular scenic shots (middle and below).