Soaring like an eagle!

Lots to recap after a long fun-filled adventurous day……Do I have to come home so soon? 🙃 Vacations fly by too fast, thank goodness we have one more full day🙏🏻

I wake up very early, I think Sari liked that we had separate rooms in Waikiki, lol I heard her stirring early so I suggested doing my Oprah/Deepak meditation at 6 ish….remember its 3 hours earlier here. So after it ended I could tell she was asleep. I made my coffee in the Keurig in the bathroom and headed to the balcony to read my book. I was a bit noisy, feel like my mother ha ha. By 8:00 I leave the  room, we are independent travelers yet a cohesive team. I know she needs more time and I want to get moving. I head downstairs, meet a very well mannered pre-teen boy from Reno in the elevator. We exchange stories about how long were here for and it was a happy way to start the day 🌞I sit in the lobby reading a bit more before meeting Sari in the gym. The gym at Turtle Bay is all floor to ceiling windows staring at these huge waves where so many real surfers surf! No beginners here, these surfers mean serious business and the view is breath taking. Feels good to exercise! Lift weights, run on treadmill, feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new day. We make our way to the breakfast restaurant and opt for an outdoor table overlooking the pool on a balcony. Again cant get enough of these ocean water views. Only problem is, its hot and my burnt skin feels like it is on fire, ouchy! This was a yummy breakfast, veggie frittata, mine real eggs, my healthy counterpart has hers with egg whites. 

We get on bathing suits, (thank u Rachel H for the many suits I borrowed)and grabbed perfectly situated pool chairs. I bought another macadamia nut caramel chews, they are SO good! I get a Coconut Chi-Chi cocktail and soak up the sunshine rays! Eventually needing to get in the water, its a hot day in Paradise. Thankfully the pool is less crowded today being Sunday. I love how friendly people are when on vacation. Everyone is smiling, happy, and up for a nice exchange of hello’s. I finished my book, I plan to include some of the inspirational quotes I gained from this optimistic girl Stacy, perhaps in tomorrows post 🙂 Great news…..at noon we received the call from the Glider Port that our flight is set, we are directed to arrive by 3 pm for this once in a lifetime scenic ride. More to come…..checkout FB photos/videos as this experience exceeded my expectations and knocked my socks off!!!

I go to the room to shower and get ready for this next outing to a different part of the North Shore, approx an hour away. I realize this is why I need to go to destinations that you are safe and free to explore. Im not a sit around for long kind of girl, go figure….lol I was ready first, laying on my bed looking out the sliding glass door I feel like I’m on a cruise Ship. We have a wonderful ocean view from the 4th floor and constantly keep the door open to hear these loud powerful waves crashing. 

Sari wants a break from driving, no problem. Im so happy to jump in our cute little Bug, put the top down and take off. This lil car has such a kick in its step and we zoom away. I had done my hair, forgot a hat or pony, or sunscreen. Once again baking as we drive while the wind slaps my hair around my face, the views of new coast line we had not seen is spectacular. The green lush dense leaves, trees, flowers, and mountains are beyond tropical. The waves crashing in this area of Hawaii are known to surfers. An ambulance passes us by and I’m reminded of one of our(wollheim kids and i) favorite movies-Soul Surfer, Im pretty sure filmed In this area. Bethany Hamilton, the true story of the girl who got her arm bit off by a shark. Perhaps TMI 🤪 We make our way past a cute town to be explored later….. We are passing by beautiful homes, cottages, shacks, elementary schools, actual real life neighborhoods and not just vacation land. I somewhat feel like we are making our way to the middle of nowhere?! A flash of Thailand elephant jungle memories flash before my eyes. 

We finally arrive at Dillingham Airfield to our glider port. Okay, its like a ghost town, only a few guys are hanging around, the lady I have been talking to on the phone is not there and left us in these guys hands. They ask what we want to do, you know me the planner, I had researched this and got the 411 from the lady. We are here for a 15 minute scenic glider flight. We learn we can go together. Okay, so imagine…..all the players- we have a tow pilot, he is the guy flying the plane with the engine that will tow us down the runway attached by a rope that Mike, our pilots 8 year old son Gavin attached. We all walk out to runway. They are the nicest people but just know we never had to sign any waivers, nothing. Just pay with a credit card and sign up for this exciting experience. If you were like Sari you just la la la and don’t think of what we are actually getting ready to do. Im ready and wanting to go, but also thinking, holy shit are we really getting strapped into a tiny tin plane with a glass top to soar over the Ocean and a huge green mountain with no engine?! WTF… Talk about truly having faith and trusting, all is for the good! All I could think in this moment while smiling ear to ear with the biggest grin on my face, totally excited was that my dad would want to KILL ME!! No doubt he did not approve, but I was gonna be closer to him at 3000 feet in the sky 🙂 So we get buckled, good thing we are 2 skinny girls, this would not be an option to go together if we weighed more. Mike instructs us not to touch certain things and informs us the air circulation will begin once we take off. He closes us in, the glass cage, the 3 of us all together. The plane starts towing us down the runway and we are off!!! Up up and away….immediately its a Stunning View, wowee! We are so giddy, like little school girls. Lots of video footage to prove it, ha. All is great, I’m in awe, its so quiet and peaceful inside our cockpit. The clouds are at eye level, we are soaring like an eagle. This glider is huge, long wing span. You can see all the sky divers in the distance, this is freaking cool, so awesome! I am a serious thrill seeker and so is Miss Sari. We have both sky dived and hang glided before. She is much calmer than me…I cant believe we are over water with NO engine, as our tow pilot just disconnected the rope and we are alone in the air, soaring like an eagle. The pilot answers my questions. Explaining how this is all based on wind, how we are staying up here and the science part of aerodynamics. The green hilly mountain range reminds me of The Sound of Music. Sari is searching for Whales in the water below, no sightings. We turn and go up and down the coast. This guy thankfully shares he has been a glider pilot for 10 years. I have faith We will Survive 🙂 Im so curious how this thing is gonna land? Im staring out the glass top, windows to our sides, looking down and around. It was more than I had anticipated and worth every penny!! The landing was smooth, we were impressed. If you could see the tiny tire on this thing, after touch down it sort of skids to a stop on pebbles. Crazy this is possible and totally cool, I highly recommend it if you have the chance. Especially if over blue turquoise water. We pose with our glider, take lots of photos, are totally energized and ready for some fresh sushi 🍣 

We arrive at Banzai Sushi, it was super cute with pillows on the floor to sit to eat at a tiny table, Japanese style. We order the yummiest Sashimi, Toro a special butter-like Tuna, salmon, yellow tail, rolls, big-eye tuna under belly, fresh spinach. Its Saki-Sunday, we both ordered special Saki drinks. Coolest thing….they bring out the drinks in a funky glass inside a wooden box. The drink has overflowed into the box…I give the waiter a strange look, he explains- if Sake overflows it means you will have abundance of good fortune and a long life, cheers to you Mr Ro. I love this meaning! We like this place! Another waitress is from NJ, she just moved here 2 months ago, is 21 yrs old and super cool. She chatted with us about her journey. This is the town next to Turtle Bay called Haleiwa- which means Home of the Eva Bird. Im loving that everything has a meaning! Life is good and we feel as though this is a beyond super perfect day. Roosters are cackling, kids are laughing, there is a cool breeze in the air now, its almost time for another sunset. 

Miss Sari loves to shop…thinking her and Miss Fancy, (Tracy) could travel together perfectly 🙂 I stay outside of stores and people watch as she tries on clothes and chats up the store keepers. We jump back in the bug and make our way back. We stop at a beach actually called Sunset Beach where lots of people are waiting to watch the show in the sky. I watch a lovey dovey sweet couple with a tripod pose for photos kissing with the sunset in the background. The sky is like a water color of purple, pink, and blue cotton candy as there are SO many huge fluffy dense clouds. The sun is a fire yellow orange sneaking through. Photos are magical, I do my signature writing in the sand with my finger, my name, a message for my daddy and Saris Bday. At the exact moment I think of my daddy, 2 birds fly overhead and he makes his presence known. 🙂 Love the signs!

We stop at Teds Bakery for this famous Chocolate Haupia Cream Pie. It was okay…..glad we tried it. We had left the top down and it has started to sprinkle. My butt was soaked for the ride home. Currently in the room early, yay! We rented a movie and of course have the door open so waves crashing in the background. We have another perfect day planned for tomorrow, Sari’s Birthday and the last day of this adventure. Hope this entry was not too long. Miss u all!Love Laurie Sue AKA Dora 🙂 😘