My 2 teenagers and I were invited to a wedding in Kauai, Hawaii in August so we made a summer vacation of it. We were hoping to get a "fly 3, get one free" airfare but found out that the same person had to fly three times. I must say that United was on time for all our flights, and we had many flights! We packed too much of course and found ourselves lugging it around airports. So, ask me why we had to purchase a suitcase for my son at Wal Mart in Hawaii.

Our first stop was the Circus-Circus Hotel in Las Vegas. Lots of strollers and little kids. They had 2 pools, but they had to close them both for awhile due to kiddie poo-poo and throw-up.

The pool at the Stratosphere Hotel was nicer. We took a taxi to around Bellagio, Caesar's Palace and Mirage. Went to the Secret Garden ($12 per person) and saw the Tigers and a dolphin exhibit. Very nice. Major construction is going on at Treasure Island, but it should be nice when finished. We met friends there who took us to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.

Next stop, Honolulu. The Best Western Ohana Surf was in a perfect location for my daughter and I. Right across the street from the International Marketplace. This is the place to shop. 7 souvenir tee shirts for $20.00. You can bargain, too. A glass dolphin that I saw elsewhere for $24.00, already discounted at $20.00 at the marketplace, ended up costing $15.00. And a 2 block walk to famous Waikiki Beach. We rented a car and drove to other beaches outside of Honolulu.

I really like Oahu (the island that Honolulu is on).

Next we flew to Kauai for the wedding. Boy, those check in lines for flights are "out the door".

2 hours was needed to get checked in. Portable CD players and gameboys really come in handy. The beaches in Kauai are gorgeous. The Napili Coast and Weimeia Canyon are magnificent. The wedding was at 6am at the Aston Islander on the Beach Hotel. It was phenomenal. A bit of rain and the sunrise caused a double rainbow. They let butterflies out and one stayed with the bride and groom throughout the ceremony.

We did the most on Maui. Jake went surfing and a photographer swam out and took his picture. Went to the Luau. Megan got chicken nuggets. We took a tour with a native Hawaiin to Hana which I highly recommend (not driving on your own). We didn't miss anything that way. Went swimming in the Seven Sacred pools. This is an all day tour. Megan is into dolphins, so we took a snorkeling trip out to Lanai and saw them swimming. We drove up to Haleakala Crater for the sunrise. We were freezing with rain pelleting on us, but when the sun rose and it was magical. The Maui Lu hotel in Kihei was an excellent location for us. They had a nice pool, but there were only a few lounge chairs. It was strange. The hotel was very pretty, across the street from the beach, and very reasonably priced. Our hotels in Kauai and Maui had laundry facilities, so we did a wash about every 3 to 4 days.

We flew all night from Honolulu to San Francisco and arrived at 8 in the morning. Since we had paid for the hotel the night before, we were planning on going to our room and straight to sleep.

The reception person said they didn't have our room! She said we should have called the night before to inform them we weren't arriving until the next morning. I was furious. Even Jake mentioned how much nicer people were in Hawaii compared to the mainland. Diana had written on our itinerary, " proceed directly to your room". The manager had to be called and we were finally given our room. This was not a very welcoming place. We are going to write a letter to get some compensation for our trauma. The kids hated Fisherman's Wharf.. They loved Alcatraz. I went online and got tickets in advance which is really a necessity if you don't want to wait forever. We stayed for the ranger's talk which was excellent. Muir Woods had nice walking trails and Sausalito would probably have been better suited for a boyfriend/girlfriend. The kids were ready to go home by this time and I couldn't get them to Chinatown. They told me they didn't want to be on the go from 8am to 8pm every day. I said, "Why not?". I want to get my money's worth!
JoAnne