The Garden Isle

One thing to love about UCLA being on the quarter system is that the boys were finished with their finals on December 10. This meant that we could time a trip to Hawaiʻi before the prices on lodging and rental cars went up for the holidays. Another incentive to traveling off-peak would be avoiding crowds (and hopefully COVID!)

On the topic of COVID - all four of us have been vaccinated and boosted, so we were exempt from having to pre-test or self-quarantine upon arrival per the state's requirement. United even had a customer service counter in the terminal at LAX where we could show our proof of vaccination to get a wristband to bypass the verification line after landing in Lihue.

Our morning flight was nowhere near full, so we were able to spread out (no middle seats!) For our onboard entertainment, the crew had a contest to guess when we would be exactly halfway to Kauaʻi. Provided with our exact departure time, distance, average air speed, and headwind, I used some simple algebra and guesstimated one of the closest answers to win a memory foam pillow from first class. Woohoo!

It took a little while to get our car from Hertz because they had originally assigned us a tank huge SUV!  After we finally got switched over to a smaller vehicle, we headed straight to Hamura Saimin in Lihue. Since we arrived after the lunch rush, we didn't have to wait too long to get seated at the counter. All of us really liked what we ordered and even got a slice of lilikoi chiffon pie to go.

Regular saimin, special saimin, BBQ beef and chicken, fried won tons

From here, we did a Target run to pick up some supplies for our stay and then drove over to R's uncle's house in Wailua. R's cousins are graciously letting us stay at their parents' house while we're here. Our roomie for the next few days is another cousin (twice removed) from Chicago, who is taking a gap year to work at a vet clinic on the island to gain experience before applying to vet schools.

The house where R's dad grew up is still in the family, so we stopped by to visit with C, another cousin. If you've seen any of my previous family reunion posts on the blog (#ohana), it should be no surprise that R has a b-i-g extended family. There are 26 in his generation (he's the youngest one). So happy that we will get to see several of them on this trip!

The last time R visited the family home was for his obachan's birthday in 1983. At that time their lot had not been subdivided, and the road was on the other side of the house - just a little disorienting! Here are some pics of the house, then and now...

The family home in the 1930's and now

Family photo taken circa 1944. The front porch is now enclosed.

To wrap up our first day, we decided to try Kenji Burger in Kapaʻa for dinner, the location which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. So yummy!

Chicken katsu bowl with furikake fries, Japanese burrito,
Kenji burger and loco moco