Vacation on the horizon

Good morning, all. One month from today, Sweetie, some family members, and I will be heading off to Hawaii for a week in the tropical sun. I know, boo hoo, poor California boys having to jet off to Hawaii in order to get warmth and sun. OK, you're right. We are pretty blessed to have nice weather most of the year here in CA. But it is always nice to get away and from here, Hawaii is a somewhat inexpensive trip.

This will be our fifth trip to Hawaii. But, it will be our third trip there in the past eighteen months. And even worse, we were just in Hawaii about three weeks ago. This makes it sound as though we just hop a flight whenever the mood strikes, but that's not really the case. Let me explain.

Earlier on in our relationship, Sweetie and I made two separate trips to Hawaii, specifically to the island of Oahu. On our first trip, we went to Honolulu and did a lot of the touristy things. We had a ball! We found the small gay night scene, had marvelous *ahem* on our balcony overlooking Waikiki Beach, you know, all the things that young lovers do on a trip to Hawaii. We liked it so much, we went back a couple of years later. Same type of trip, but only to Oahu.

Fast forward about ten years, and many other trips later. In December 2005, we decided to escape the wet and cold and spend a week, and specifically New Years Eve, on the island of Maui. We had a wonderful time. Here again, we did all of the touristy things- snorkeling, biking down Mt. Haleakala, trip to Hana, helicopter tour, whale watching, etc. We tend to be very busy travelers. On that trip, we re-connected with a former Sacramento resident who moved to Maui a few years back. An idea was hatched to bring our performing group to Maui and do a joint concert with a performing group this person is involved with. So, we went with our group to Maui during Easter week this year.

We had a great time. The performances went very well. We also spent four days on the Big Island to see the volcano, more snorkeling, etc. Just about the time we booked that trip, some family members expressed an interest in going to Hawaii with us. Too late to tag along on the group trip. So Sweetie and I decided that it would be a great idea to make the family trip too. Thus, just before we left on March 30th, we booked the second trip. On this trip we will go back to Honolulu for four days (haven't been there in about ten years) and then back to the Big Island for four days. It should be a really fun trip.

Even though I was just on vacation, in a month's time, I'm sure I will be ready to go again. I will soon be packing and getting ready to leave again. Don't worry, I promise to have a Mai Tai for each and every one of you!!

Best regards.