September Travel #1 (cont.): Hawai'i Hiatus (Part 4/End of Trip)

Tuesday, September 3: Work, Foot Massages, Pesca Restaurant #2

We had a final workday in our respective rooms, and my NYU classes started up for the Fall semester. After some lunch and afternoon reading time, we went to a nearby salon for foot massages and did some final souvenir shopping. Then we returned to Pesca but unfortunately didn't have as pleasant an experience in terms of service, until we luckily got saved by David, the older bartender from Chicago with the multi-colored hair. We enjoyed some conversation with the friendly couple Eric & Donna from Idaho and Iowa who bought a unit on the 12th floor nine years ago ad have been retired since October 2023. Mr. E and Eric talked Big 10 sports for quite some time...!

We got back to our room for sunset on our lanai and then did most of our packing to get ready for our departure tomorrow. I added on a short yoga practice before we finished the evening with our usual favorite TV show set on Oahu.

Wednesday, September 4: Travel Day

A lovely sunset accompanied my final morning walk through the Modern and the Prince Waikiki as a prelude to my usual workout.

We had enough time for breakfast at the hotel before catching a Lyft to the airport for our return flight from HNL to SMF. All was on time, so we were home with the kitties by the evening and had some time to settle in and get ready for the work week.

Final Thoughts About Ilikai

This was our first time staying at this condo hotel, and we have somewhat mixed reviews. We learned that the Aston manage 190 units and all of the rest are owner-occupied. It's definitely an older building, and L and M stayed here for their honeymoon! We liked the studio units that we ended up in for their layout and views, but the a/c was a bit tricky to manage given its location in the room and the picky remote control. Hotel amenities covered by the daily resort fee included a daily newspaper delivered to our door, daily kids size ice cream or sorbet at Dave's Hawai'ian Ice Cream in the hotel lobby, two bottles of water (which we stopped getting once we realized that the hotel didn't have any recycling for plastic bottles ???!!!), and a few other things we didn't really take advantage of. 

One thing that I loved that wasn't mentioned anywhere on the web site was the awesome free lending library with four big bookshelves of fiction and non-fiction that were available for owners and hotel guests. So nice that I didn't have to buy any more books during the trip or for the return flight! I think I ended up reading four books during our stay, and I loved being able to browse the offerings and also donate the book I had brought with me as part of my Beers books purchase before we left Sac.

The hotel staff was super friendly and helpful, making it easy for us to change rooms, for example. I appreciated the morning reserved pool time and the fact that the pool was a decent length for lap swimming. We rearranged the furniture in our primary studio multiple times, and I could stack two of the end tables to make a DIY standing desk arrangement, which was very helpful (glimpse of this to the left in the image below).

The kitchen supplies weren't quite as comprehensive as at the Aston Sunset or the condo hotel on the Big Island. But overall, it was a good location and suited our need for a longer stay. However, I still don't think we've found "the one" lodging on Oahu that we'd return to without question for future visits. More exploring to be done!

September Travel #1: Hawai'i Hiatus (Part 3)

Sunday, September 1: Union on Strike, Waikiki Walking, Dinner Cruise

My longer morning walk led me towards Waikiki, and I noticed that the hotel union workers were getting organized for the 3-day strike that had been activated that day. Our hotel wasn't impacted, but we could hear them from where they were striking at the Hilton and also saw and heard them at several of the properties along Waikiki Beach. Good for them!

I was able to do a full swim workout thanks to the morning reserved time, although my inflatable pull buoy finally decided it was done, so I had to forgo using that piece of equipment after a couple of laps. Mr. E and I enjoyed brunch, reading time, and planning for our upcoming temporary relocation to Evanston.

In the afternoon, we did some browsing and shopping along Waikiki, and Mr. E fit in a short workout. Then we set off for our evening dinner cruise on the Star of Aloha. We had opted for the package that included lobster and steak, so Mr. E graciously gave up his lobster to me while he enjoyed my steak. A perfect pairing! We were seated at a table for two on the "good" side of the ship (i.e. in the shade as we headed out towards Diamond Head). 

We took advantage of our two drinks per person offering to order martinis and enjoyed wonderful service from Allie along with pleasant jazz music and vocals while dinner was served. I thought I might have leftovers of the lobster to somehow bring back to the hotel, but I managed to eat both of them after all!

Once we got back to the dock, the cruise wrapped up with a hulu show and then some audience participation to the song YMCA at the very end. We were docked near the Aloha Tower, which includes dorms for students at Hawai'i Pacific University, and we could see several of them dancing along with us!

In our Lyft back to the hotel, the driver was playing the movie Moana, which was very appropriate. Mr. E went out to procure a nice bottle of Stag's Leap cab to accompany more Hawai'i 5-0 as we wrapped up the evening.

Monday, September 2: Rough Water Swim, Mr. E Diamond Head Run, Laundry

The Labor Day holiday started off for me with a sighting of some local wildlife and a pretty sunrise over the boats in the marina.

Earlier in our visit, I had noticed the t-shirt of a gentleman in the elevator promoting the Waikiki Rough Water swim. We learned that it was happening on Labor Day, so we made sure to catch part of the finish line on the beach near Duke's Lagoon. Amazing. I'm totally good with swimming two+ miles in a pool, but I'm so not an open water swimmer. So cool to see all of these folks who could complete this adventure!

We took our time wandering through some shops before returning to the hotel for lunch and reading time. In the early afternoon, Mr. E took advantage of the somewhat cooler temperature to do his Diamond Head run. Impressive! I enjoyed a longer yoga practice instead, and we spent the evening relaxing at the hotel and doing several loads of laundry (particularly important this time around because our own all-in-one washer/dryer unit had given up the ghost just before we left for our trip!).

August Travel #3 (cont): Hawai'i Hiatus (Part 2)

Saturday, August 31: Art & Food

I took a longer morning walk through Fort de Russy and back along the beachfront promenade around Duke's Lagoon, accompanied by some local wildlife at times.

My morning workout included a 20-minute swim during the 7-8:30am protected pool time for lap swimming and rehab activities (i.e. no rope divider, no kids!). Mr. E and I enjoyed breakfast together while reading parts of the local paper that was delivered to our door every morning as one of the hotel amenities. Then we set off for to the Honolulu Museum of Art (HOMA) to meet up with our group for the 11am tour of Shangri La, Doris Duke's estate. 

This was my third time at Shangri La and Mr. E's second. We were surprised to learn that the visit was no longer a guided tour but instead an opportunity to explore the site on our own, with a few scheduled docent presentations scattered throughout our 90-minute time block. I'm very glad that we had already visited in the past to hear the narrative and history from the fully guided tour, since the site doesn't include many curatorial notes, so anyone visiting for the first time would miss out on a lot of interesting facts about the collection and how it came to be. I took lots of photos...!

We made it back to HOMA just about in time for our lunch reservation at the cafe, where we both ordered the yummy ahi tuna salad. Then we explored the wonderful Fashioning Aloha exhibition, which was closing that weekend. In the afternoon, we had more reading time at the hotel and another lovely sunset.

After Mr. E cooked dinner, we tried out our new cat card game and wrapped up the evening with yet more Hawai'i 5-0 episodes.

August Travel #3: Hawai'i Hiatus (Part 1)

Tuesday, August 27: Travel Day

We had a very reasonable late morning flight from SMF to HNL and arrived at Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites just before 3pm. We had reserved a 1-bedroom Ocean View unit (Room 2238) that we discovered had more of a view of the next-door Hilton Hawai'ian Village tower than it did of the ocean! But we figured it was good enough so we unpacked, I chatted with A, we walked to Foodland at Ala Moana to grocery shop for the week, figured out our wifi issues, secured a banquet chair for the desk, and just generally settled in for our week of "work-cation."

Wednesday, August 28: Musical Rooms, Work, Sunset

I did a morning walk through the Hilton before my workout. By the time I was done and thinking about how to set up for work, I realized that I really wasn't satisfied with the room and the [lack of] view that we'd have for the entire week. So I checked with the front desk for other options and learned that there were no other 1-bedroom suites available in other wings of the building with better options for a view. However, they did have a few studios available, so after Mr. E and I discussed the situation a bit more, we opted to switch to a "Sunset View Marina" studio (Room 2231) and a slightly less expensive "City View" studio (Room 2223) as a preferable alternative. Great decision! We made the Sunset View room our primary space, and the view was fabulous -- way more ocean to see from this expansive lanai than from our original room!

We also noticed several other differences between the two types of units, including some additional items in the kitchen, a modified bathroom layout, and a fridge that opens the "correct" way. We had our first work day in our separate rooms :-) and met up for lunch together on the lanai overlooking the marina. No set plans for the evening, so Mr. E went to work out and I got some great photos of the first of several amazing sunsets from this side of the building.

Thursday, August 29: Rainbow, Work, Pesca Restaurant #1

I did my morning walk though the next door Modern Hotel before my workout. And I spotted a rainbow from our lanai!

After another work day in our respective "remote offices" (ha, ha), I was able to join my Spanish class virtually. Being 3 hours behind CA time was actually quite nice for this, since I was then done by 4:15pm HI time, so we still had the entire evening ahead of us.

We decided to go up to Pesca to check out the all day Happy Hour and had a great experience sitting at the bar, with two fabulous staff who were super friendly and very accommodating with any dietary requests. I ordered the oysters and secret off-menu lobster sliders, and Mr. E ordered the grilled octopus with polenta (with modifications) along with the regular sliders. The portion sizes were perfect, and the sliders each came with three perfectly cooked steak fries, which was just the right amount for me. We attempted to play some cards but learned that it was technically illegal to do anything that could be construed as gambling in an eating establishment that serves alcohol. Who knew?!

Once we got back to the room, we had another brilliant sunset to admire before some reading time, more Hawai'i 5-0 episodes, and booking a dinner cruise for the weekend.

Friday, August 30: Work, Afternoon Tea, Fireworks

I had an early meeting to align with CA time (7am - yawn!) after a misty morning walk through the Hilton and a staggered workout routine to accommodate the meeting. Mr. E took a half day off, and we had lunch together before heading off in the late afternoon for our tea time on the Veranda at the Moana Surfrider. We ended up with quite a few leftovers, which we packed up to enjoy for later. The experience wasn't quite s nice as when we were there over the holidays, but it was still a lovely view and a nice way to stay out of the afternoon drizzle that gradually came in.

We did some browsing as we started to walk back to the Ilikai and stopped for wine at Island Vintage Wine Bar in the Royal Hawai'ian marketplace. Then another fabulous sunset, reading time, Hawai-i 5-0, and great fireworks over Duke's Lagoon at the Hilton.

August Travel #2: Austin Family Birthday

Thursday, August 22-Sunday, August 25: Remote Work, Shore Happy Hour, M Birthday

Mr. E and I headed to Austin on Thursday afternoon and arrived at a relatively reasonable time compared to many other Austin trips. We settled in and got prepared to work from our respective spots in J's house on Friday. Luckily, we were able to wrap up our days on time and took C with us for of the great Happy Hour half-off oyster deal at Shore Raw Bar & Grill. 

Since J didn't have any meal plans for the evening, the three of us had dinner there as we sat at the sushi bar and played cards while watching the staff prepare various raw bar items. Then back to the house for reading and relaxing in the evening.

On Saturday, Mr. E and I figured out the new way to HEB (it's different every time with visit because of the highway construction!) to pick up M's cake and a few other items for the party. Then we helped with some food prep as we waited for guests to arrive for the pool party. Very hot and humid. Ugh! After about an hour, we went to pick up the pizza for lunch and got everything set up outside on the porch. I mostly stayed in the house in the a/c since the weather was so steamy! 

Folks started to leave in the mid afternoon. I was fortunate enough to score a late afternoon appointment at Deep Relief for a massage, and the therapist really dug into my left psoas area, which surprisingly seemed to have a positive impact on my chronic lower back pain and tightness. A little pricey for the "orthopedic" massage, but the effects have been lingering so it was well worth it. Yay!

Once I got back to the house, M opened his presents and had a blast trying out some of his new toys and activities. Leftovers for dinner and some game and reading time to wrap up the evening. We also got to see an amazing sunset thanks to the stormy weather in the distance, and the temperatures cooled significantly even though the thunderstorms and rain didn't actually reach our area.

Our late morning departure allowed us to have an enjoyable morning with some final family time before we left for the airport. We got home to Sac in the early afternoon, giving us the entire rest of the day to unpack, do laundry, go through mail, snuggle the kitties, grocery shop, and just generally get ready for the couple of days we were home before our next trip.

Up next: Hawai'i. Aloha!

August Travel #1: Portland Wedding

Thursday, August 15-Sunday, August 18: BBQ, J&M, Books, Wedding, Art

Mr. E headed to the Rose City early in the morning on Thursday and connected up with friends during the day in anticipation of the wedding weekend, when he would be officiating for C and M. C is the son of one of Mr. E's closest friends, M, and he was so excited to be asked to officiate at his second wedding. Oddly enough, he apparently is building a niche market for weddings involving someone named C, since his first officiant gig was for our close friends C and E. Encore career potential???

I joined him later in the evening, and we stayed at the Courtyard Portland Downtown/Convention Center, a very convenient location for the wedding ceremony and reception locale. Mr. E had secured some basic provisions earlier in the day, so we could just relax that evening.

Both of us worked on Friday. We began the morning with a Safeway run for lunch stuff and got breakfast sandwiches at Subway. Once we were done, I found a spot to set up in the lobby so that I could stand at a long high-top table near the bar, and Mr. E stayed at the desk in the suite. Eventually, we swapped places because I had a late afternoon call that needed to be someplace without any distractions. Mr. E took time for a workout and then headed to the rehearsal. A bit later, M's brother D and spouse M were kind enough to pick me up at the hotel so that we could all go to the rehearsal dinner, which was at a local BBQ spot. Not many options for me with that buffet, but I did enjoy some chips and [very] smoky mushrooms. We left at a reasonable time and were able to pick up some other food for me to round out my dinner.

On Saturday, we walked to J&M Cafe, one of my favorite spots that opened when I lived in PDX in 1994-1995 and a place I'd taken Mr. E during previous visits. So great to see that it's still open! And still has the awesome self-serve coffee with eclectic mugs to choose from. We were lucky enough to grab a table outside in the shade and enjoyed our brunch offerings. Then we headed across the Burnside Bridge to Powell's City of Books, where we ended up running into the rest of the Z family clan. Mr. E and I both found some good reads, and I also picked up a cat Zodiac puzzle that I somehow managed to fit in my carry-on for the trip home.

We drove to the wedding venue in the late afternoon, and the simple ceremony was truly lovely and moving. Wonderful comments and stories from friends and family as part of the ceremony, and integration of some meaningful Jewish traditions as well. Then time for photos during cocktail hour and mingling. And then... the rain started. Just a bit at first. Then the wind picked up. Then the vases of dried flowers on the tables set up for the outdoor reception under the pergola started tipping over. Then the napkins started flying off. Then the downpour started!

Luckily, there was enough room inside to relocate everything, so the banquet staff and a handful of us guests teamed up to make the transfer of the 10 tables, the 60+ chairs, and all of the place settings. Surprisingly, this unexpected challenge didn't interfere at all with the overall timing, so the dinner buffet could still go on as planned at the appropriate moment.

We stayed a little of the dancing but were still back at the hotel at a reasonable time. A really lovely event, and a memorable story with the weather disruption!

Sunday morning we grabbed breakfast at Starbucks but were disappointed not to find any seating there. Instead, we headed back across the river towards downtown and perched along the riverfront. Then we made a visit to the Portland Art Museum for the exhibition of Monet to Matisse: French Moderns. Much of the museum is currently closed for renovations and expansion, but we very much enjoyed our visit and our free entry thanks to our Crocker reciprocal membership.

On our way to the airport, we met up with another of Mr. E's good friend, M, and had lunch at the Japanese restaurant where we had attempted to get me some take-out after the rehearsal dinner (their POS had gone down so they couldn't operate) -- quite a coincidence! Mr. E and M were able to catch up about work and life, including some challenging news about M's health. Then we were off to the airport for our flight home to smooch the kitties and get ready for the week.

July 4th Holiday: Family in Chicago, Friends in San Francisco

Wednesday, July 3-Sunday, July 7

After my four days of work travel June 24-27 to visit eight of the Finish Line Scholars Program colleges in the Central Valley (San Joaquin Delta, Reedley, Clovis, Fresno City, Madera, Sequoias, Lemoore, Coaling) and the San Francisco museum weekend, Mr. E and I embarked on more out of town adventures for the July 4th holiday weekend. We had a late afternoon flight on United First Class, so we took advantage of the food and beverage offerings, especially since we knew we'd be arriving a bit later in the evening. All was on time, although we had to wait a bit for our Lyft due to traffic at the airport. But we eventually made it to Mr. E's mom's place, unpacked, and enjoyed some chatting with her accompanied by snacks and adult beverages.

I had a nice long swim on Thursday morning in the awesome pool under the dome in her building, followed by breakfast and some grocery shopping with Mr. E. He wanted to fit in a workout before our afternoon outing to his sister's home in Oak Park, so after a bit of reading time, he went down to the fitness center and I made a trek to It's Sugar on Michigan Ave for some sweets. L had scheduled for a 1:30pm pick-up so to take us to Oak Park, where L and M hosted L's birthday gathering, which included L, G, B, J, and E. Lots of yummy food, including several items specially prepared allium-free for me, and some lively conversation. We lingered a bit after other folks left and eventually departed in a Lyft around 6:30pm. Then we just relaxed back in the condo with L for the rest of the evening.

Another swim for me on Friday morning (not as long). After breakfast, Mr. E and I caught a Lyft to Evanston to meet with a realtor and tour three condo buildings in anticipation of a potential future purchase. Then we saw two apartment options and grabbed some sushi lunch at Whole Foods before touring the nearby Evanston Athletic Club. Our final apartment viewing was farther south, but we had enough time to walk and found a shady street to help make the journey more comfortable. Then we caught the train across the street back to downtown Chicago to meet up with L. We had planned to take her out to RL Restaurant for her birthday dinner, but she requested staying in to relax instead. And we discovered that she had made shrimp spring rolls so we had plenty of food given that there were leftovers from the day before as well. We spent the evening reading, watching TV, and filling out the application for the apartment at The Park Evanston, which we had decided was the right spot for us to try out having two home bases for the next year.

On Saturday, I skipped the swim so that I wouldn't have a wet suit to bring home and instead did my Zumba and yoga workout before Mr. E and I met up with R and S for brunch at Dollop Diner. Mr. E and I shared a veggie omelet supplemented by overnight oats for him and a side of fruit for me. Afterwards, we walked to see R and S's new condo, which they've been in for just over a year now. We had enough time to chat for nearly an hour before we needed to catch a Lyft back downtown. 

I had changed my return flight on Southwest to 2:45pm rather than waiting until nearly 9pm, and we had enough time to take the train to Midway since I had already packed up in the morning. Mr. E came with me to send me off, since he was staying in Chicago for the rest of the week to spend more time with his mom, see friends, and run the Big 10 5K raced on the 13th. My flight from MDW through PHX to SMF was on time, and I was home with the kitties before 8:30pm.

One of the reasons for me to get home a bit earlier on Saturday was that I had plans on Sunday to take Amtrak to San Francisco to meet up with A, J, and Kiddo during their whirlwind tour of the US as they transition from life in BKK to Shanghai. The timing somehow worked out perfectly, as this was the only day that all of us were available! They took BART from where they were staying in San Bruno, and we all arrived in SF within about five minutes of each other. Perfect! The weather was beautiful -- sunny, clear, breezy, in the 70s. Definitely a welcome respite from the heat of Sac (I actually drove to Amtrak and parked for the day because it was too hot to walk and paying for parking was less than two Lyft trips).

I had suggested The Grove for lunch, as it was nearby and I remembered it from when Mr. E and I stayed at the Hyatt across the street during a previous SF weekend. The broad menu provided options for all of us, although Kiddo wasn't a big fan of the "too eggy" French toast. They gifted us with some lunar New Year goodies, which was very thoughtful, and I added them to our collection once I got home.

After lunch, we grabbed coffee at the Target Starbucks and J and Kiddo procured a new yellow jacket for her to wear in these cooler temperatures. Then we explored Yerba Buena Gardens and found the awesome kid's area with a fabulous playground, including climbing hill, multiple slides, sand box, and various ropes and jungle gym activities. Kiddo had a great time running around and trying out everything, which gave A and J and I plenty of time to perch in the shade and get even more caught up on life. 

It's amazing that we can just slip right back into comfortable conversation each time we see each other, even thought it's only every couple of years or so. The last time was when we went to BKK in January 2023. Yikes! I'm not sure we'll make it over to Shanghai, especially since J's contract is currently only for two years, but we'll see what happens. A really wonderful visit, and I'm so glad that we were able to make the logistics work out.

They walked with me back to the Amtrak bus stop as I had a 3:40pm pick-up to catch the connecting train in Emeryville back to Sac. The afternoon train was much more crowded than the morning train, primarily because lots of folks were traveling back from the afternoon As game. But I was still able to find a forward-facing seat on the shadier side without anyone next to me, and I decided to enjoy my typical train "Happy Hour" of rose wine and a cheese plate.

A very hot car greeted me at the Amtrak station, and I was very glad to get home to the cool house and spend the rest of the evening relaxing in comfort with the kitties. I think they were pretty happy to have me home for snuggles, too!