We are on our way back to Honolulu tonight. We spent the day in Kona today and it was beautiful! After 2 days of rain – stuck inside a ship – where the average age was 60… (not as bad as the Alaskan runs…) – it was nice to walk on soil once again. We had an earthquake-free day full of sunshine and shopping and a last minute opportunity to suntan!!! The Ironman Triathalon is going on this saturday but we got to see some of them training and the grand opening parade. These are some seriously fit people and after being on the cruise and eating none stop… (an eating triathalon) I feel a little guilty, not to mention totally out of shape!

It took us 2 hours to get from the shore to the ship at the end of the day, we had to “tender” – which means the ship couldn’t fit in the port and we had to take little boats back and forth from the pier to the bay. It was particularly rough today due to the rain and storms and earthquake (and the aftershocks!!) … I’m not a fan of “tendering” to say the least. Did I tell you I puked the other day on a Zodiac boat/snorkel excursion? Ya! The highlight of my trip let me tell you! Not to mention the coldsore and sunburn and my monthly arriving yesterday…. Everything else has been great though.

I can’t believe this is our last night on board the Norwegian Wind. The last half of the cruise has gone by so fast. It feels like a whole other cruise ago that we departed from Honolulu for Hilo. My impression of this cruise line is a mixed bag. The service was impecable. We were treated like royalty. The shows were so-so and most of the meals have been ok, some even great. But the breakfast meals left something to be desired, boring is the only word I can think of. I’ve had scrambled eggs for 11 days!!!!!!!!! The same food every single day with no exception. No thanks.

All in all – it has been very enjoyable. I do miss the kids however – I called them from Kona today and cried when I heard Q’s voice. I got a chance to talk to all 4, Q told me that JZ smiled when he heard my voice. Liam almost screamed with sheer joy when I told him I was still looking for Lilo and Stitch!

The sad news is… I won’t get to see them until Sunday morning. We fly out of Honolulu at 1pm tomorrow and get in to Bellingham, Washington around midnight (pst). We then spend a couple of days in White Rock, visiting family until we leave for home from Vancouver on Saturday afternoon. I am so looking forward to hugging my kiddios. Speaking of flying home… our ride is still in West Virginia, we don’t have a ride home from the airport on Saturday night. Any takers?? We arrive around 10pm, I’ll get the details when we get back to my parents.

Time to finish packing – we have to be off the ship at 7:45am!!! I’ve just gotten used to this time zone, where I’m not falling asleep in my dinner and up at 5am – now I have to deal with BC time then a couple of days later – back on East coast time. Then back to work on Monday. Oh man… I’ll need another vacation just from that.

Love ya all,

Shash