Saturday - Kamie's Hawaii 5 (no 0)

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My dear husband, who is about turn 50 but was acting 5, woke me up this morning around 3:30am telling me he doesn’t want to go on this trip and he doesn’t want to see Hawaii and he isn’t going. I firmly reminded him that he basically forced me to go to China and I loved it so he’s going to Hawaii and he’s going to love it, too. He mumbled on and on about not going and I got tired of his nonsense and got-up and left the bedroom. I shut the door and finished packing our carry-ons. By the time I was finished, he was snoring and it was 5am. I got in the recliner in the living room and slept for an hour with the dog on my lap. I got up and watered all the plants and decided Arthur and I were going for a morning walk. We took a walk around the currently destroyed golf course (they’ve cut down over 100 trees this week) and finally came back home. I took a shower and Arthur crawled in bed with Mr. Grumpy. I woke-up Kamie at 8am and told him we were leaving at 9am. The next 2 hours was my husband acting like a 5 year old and me ignoring him. I loaded the car and he told me he hated Hawaii. I moved the dog bowls so the dogsitter would know where they were and he told me wasn’t going. I continued to get things done and reminded him to get his ass in the shower because we were going on vacation whether he liked it or not. At one point, we were at least 30 minutes late leaving for the airport so I went downstairs and asked him what he was doing and he said “Being Obnoxious!” We both busted-up laughing. He really was. It’s a good thing I just let him be a drama queen and go about my business. I finally got him in the car and out the door but we ended-up with about 20 minutes to eat and get to the airport so we ran to McAllister’s and had soup and sandwiches. Mr. Obnoxious ordered a “6 inch” sandwich at McAllister’s. I didn’t dare say a word (but I’m laughing about it now).

We got on our already delayed Allegiant Air direct flight from Springfield to Los Angeles and for some reason, we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes. That was the longest 3 hour and 45 minutes flight EVER. Passengers around us agreed. It was tough. We were on that plane at least 5 hours. I sat next to 93-year-old Joyce from Oceanside, California. She has lived a good life and had interesting stories. She lives in a gated community with other older people. She has assistants to clean her house and drive her because she has braces on her lower legs and can’t drive now. She has a timeshare in Branson and family in Springfield. She wants to live her life out in her little golfcart community where she sings in a choir with 80 friends and she attends a prayer group each week and she said she has activities to keep her mind busy. Her daughter is trying to force her into assisted living. She almost cried telling me that. Her life sounded so full, I wanted to move to Oceanside, CA with her…. well, until she told me her water bill is easily $500 a month and she always washes laundry in the early mornings and generally conserves water. Apparently, she pays a fee because she chooses to water her lawn. She said utilities are outrageous in California. She monitors the amount of TV she watches and tries to use almost no electricity around 4pm because that is the peak price time. She said that $500 was just for the water only. Crazy, huh?

We wished Joyce well and got off the plane and was greeted by a chilly Los Angeles.. kinda like Missouri which felt fine to us but the locals were all freezing. We checked-in and got billed DOUBLE+ what we booked the room for at Hilton LAX. We have stayed there so many times and I’ve said this in the past but we won’t stay there again. I digress. The hotel ballroom was hosting a local prom so there were ballgowns and long dresses everywhere. I am surprised at the number of high school girls with giant back, shoulder, and arm tattoos. We were just down the street from In-n-Out Burger which is basically a famous California-based burgers, fries, and shakes joint. We obviously walked inside but the drive-thru line wrapped around the building and the inside was packed too. Two double-doubles later and we were back at the hotel. Kamie said In-n-Out is a lot like Steak n’ Shake in Missouri. I agree. We sat outside for a bit (they have large courtyards outside the rooms) with a bunch of high school kids getting high in their prom clothes. Kamie noticed they left almost a full joint at their table when they were gone. He complained about how high schoolers now don't know what it was like to be a high schooler in the 80s and 90s when pot was illegal. I wondered if they realized they smelled like a pack of little skunks. We were in bed around 11pm and the alarm was set for 3am.

I cannot get pictures to load from my phone to my new laptop. 😞 I don't know what the deal is and I don't have time to fool with it. I will upload pics when I figure out the system maybe tonight after dinner but not right now... I'm off to the water!

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Photos

In n' Out Burger
clean, packed, cheap and good

Two double doubles and fries
Cheapest meal we would have all week $18

Prom
They were holding a prom in the hotel ballroom. This must be some of the teachers