Hawaii - Jan 25, 2026 - Day 2 - Waikiki Beach

 Today was a "chill" day, just exploring around our hotel.... it turned into over 23,000 steps and very sore feet.

We got up around 7 am and headed to the 4th floor for breakfast buffet, we didn't know what to expect, but it was pretty good buffet, with made to order omelettes, and a wide arrangement of beverages.  Lola is always excited for the rice with breakfast. Lola was pretty hungry as she hadn't eaten a meal in a long time.

After breakfast we went for a little walk, as we couldn't get our free tote that was on the main floor because the lady wasn't there yet. So we headed to the beach board walk and ended up walking all the way to the Hilton, reminiscing about the time we were there when MBMell and DD got engaged at the beach.  AA made 2 rules of the day, don't wreck our feet with sandals and don't get sunburnt. 

Well this little adventure.... in sandals wrecked our feet....

Back at the hotel we got our free tote, and signed up for yoga tomorrow morning.  

We went to our room to get read for the day.  Lola blogged on the balocony until AA was gettting antsy and couldn't want to go for a walk. We decided we would put bathing suits on, and head down to wiakiki beach and eat at one of our favorites, Lulu's for lunch.

Once we started walking along the beach, we didn't stop, and made it all the way to the Diamond Head Light house (which we drove too in 2023.). This ended up to be over and hour walk, but it was sure a nice walk.  

We walked back to the main beach and had lunch at Lulu's liked planned.  We forgot that the football semifinals would be on.... and it was sure loud and busy in there, as it was the end of the first game when we were eating our lunch.  AA was so excited to have 2 draft Long board beers with his meal.  He had a chicken and guac burger, while Lola had a gluten free pork and beef burger! we both enjoyed our meals a lot, and we got to see the end of the first game, where New England won, and most of the fans at the bar were cheering for.

After lunch, AA couldn't wait to get in the ocean, we found a spot to put our bag on the beach, and we ventured into the water.  It was so refreshing as the temperature was getting pretty warm at 28 degrees and a UV of 8. We "floated" in the water for a while, then sat on the beach to dry off.

We cleaned up our stuff and headed to Target to get some drinks, chips and sunscreen. Back to the hotel, we cleaned up and AA had a nap while Lola watched the end of the second football game.  It was a close game too, but happy to see Seattle win!

At 5:30 we headed down to the 4th floor for the daily reception where we got free drinks and snacks.  AA enjoyed his 2 mai tais, and gold fish crackers, while Lola had pineapple juice and a virgin Rum Punch (a mixture of juices), and the carrot sticks.  They also had raw zucchini which lots of people were taking, but we think maybe they thought it was cucumber.

After enjoyed listening to the lady singing and our drinks and snacks, we headed down the elevator to the main floor to heat to YardHouse.  We enjoy this restaurant and it was super convenient location. AA had a half yard of beer and a pork chop, while Lola had the seared ahi, and an unsweet iced tea.  It was very good, but we were sure getting tired.

Back at the hotel, we watched some tv, then headed to bed.  We only got a few spots of sunburn, but nothing too bad, but our feet are sure blistered up, and AA has a sore calf too. We are getting old...

We have an early morning tomorrow, so its time for bed.

Mahalo, Lola.

Hawaii - Jan 24 2026 - Travel Day - Day 1

We are happy to leave -40 with the windchill this morning to head to the airport. Lola looked at photos back, and realized she was wearing the same jacket and same hoodie in 3 of the last trips at least... guess its time to get a new hoodie.

We took an Uber XL to the airport to fit our golf clubs, and arrived at the airport just in time for about a 20 minute delay to be announced.  We got our luggage in, and went through the empty line of "trusted traveller" and got through security in a breeze... although Lola's Massage Gun was searched as they didn't know what it was. 

We had over 2 hours to kill (its hard leaving in the middle of the day for Hawaii, we got to the airport way too early, as we couldn't wait to leave).  AA somehow has gold status with Westjet, so he got us into the lounge.  We had a few beverages, AA enjoying his Caesar while we waited for our plane to arrive.  

After an hour, we headed to get some food before our flight.  Lola and AA both got Freshii and ate it at Gate 6 while they waited.  

Boarded the plane, it was sure cold waiting in the jet bridge to get on, but it was manageable.  It was so cold, the runways and plane were clear of snow and ice, so we took off without de-icing the plane. 

The flight was pretty standard, but nice to be sitting in premium seats, and enjoying the premium snacks and drinks.  They actually have chips and nuts that Lola can eat!  AA enjoyed 2 margaritas.

Once in Calgary, the weather there was quite different.  -11 degrees and snowing. We headed to the WestJet Elevation lounge as we had 3 hours till we had to board our next flight.  We enjoyed some food, AA with beef stew and pergoies, Lola with 2 orders of homemade spicy mango chips and a salad (where she took off the crasins).  AA had 2 Elevation Beer's and Lola enjoyed a Mocktail, but she can't remember what it was called.  It had Vanilla, Lime, tonic, and some berry thing.  It was delicious. 

We had to go back through American Security and Customs, so we didn't want to cut it too close, so we left the lounge at 4pm for our 6pm flight.  Security only had 1 lane open, and Lola had her bag searched once again, but this time because it was so backed up, the guy felt like he didn't have enough time to really look at the imaging.  The other attendant was like, it looks good to me, and apologized for the inconvenience. It wasn't a problem, and I was done before AA came through.

On the other side, Lola searched for gum she could have (as she forgot to bring some, and had no luck).  She also looked for some food, as there was no Gluten free meal provided in the Premium Economy class (only Premium class).  She had a really hard time finding something, and ended up getting a stirfry, but they wouldn't let her get no flavor, so she picked LemonGrass.. (which turns out to be a mistake).

We boarded the plane, and waited a really long time to take off, boarding, pushing back, de-icing, and just taking off took over 1 hour, but there was a lot of snow accumulated on the plane.

AA loves a deicing nap!

The flight was good, we really enjoy the Boeing 787.  Lola tried to eat her stir fry but wasn't successful, just didn't taste very good, and just didn't feel good in her tummy.  She was very disappointed in her choice, and was hungry, had a little cry to herself on the plane, and moved on.  

We watched movies, and TV, played a few games on the screens, and had little cat naps.  Lola went to the washroom a few times, and we enjoyed some drinks, AA had one more beer, then changed to alcoholic drinks.  He was definitely on vacation mode.

We arrived in Honolulu flight time was 6 hours 2 minutes (over 30 minutes ahead of schedule, even though we left late), it was a smooth ride!

Once at the airport we deplaned, and waited for our luggage.  It was a long wait, as the luggage carousel 19 kept not working, they tried at least 3 times to turn it on and off, as the conveyor seemed to be stuck, but eventually we got our bags, and went to the rental car garage (by carousel 26 and across the street).  Straight to our car we went without talking to anyone, and off to the hotel.

We haven't stayed at Waikiki beach area since 2011, so our drive was very different than we remember, right along the water into downtown.  We unpacked our car, and headed to check in.  We got to our room on the 19th floor, and instantly checked out the view.  We could see the reflection of the moon on the ocean....we had made it to Paradise!

See what tomorrow brings as we don't have much planed.  

Good Night, Lola.