The next day, we slept in to recover from the late night, and head down to the aquarium in early afternoon, only to find out that the rest of the world did the same thing. There was a mosh pit claiming to be different lines for different ‘entry times’ so Tim and I each picked a line and he won, getting tickets before mine had moved at all. Time for entry, 2 hours later. So we try to find a place to eat, and fail at the local burger joint near the aquarium, and decide to walk back downtown to the mall we saw on our way in. Apparently, even on a busy 3-day weekend, the downtown Atlanta mall is CLOSED on Sundays. Getting more irritated by the minute, we find a Hard Rock Cafe down the road that is open and serving.

Back to the aquarium. It was ok. Not sure why it gets so much excitement though, I’ve seen better. We hung out and watched the river otters play for a bit and then walked back to a microbrewery restaurant near the hotel for dinner. Atlanta was like a ghost town. The park outside the aquarium was pretty.

As if things couldn’t get worse, on our drive back home Monday, the van’s wipers stop working, and it’s POURING rain. This story makes me too mad to bother typing it all out, but the highlights involve AAA, tow trucks, NASCAR traffic, wrong parts, and Rain-X. We made it home safe in the end.

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So we started by hiking through the rainforest up to what should have been a big waterfall, but the drought had dried it up to a trickle. Still very pretty. And we walked back out through a bamboo forest which was very surreal. Felt like I was in one of those Japanese fighting movies, I kept preparing for an unexpected attack.

Next up, we biked (downhill) from the rainforest down to almost desert climate. Hawaii has a wide range in such a small area. We stopped briefly for lunch with a great view down the valley towards Waikiki.

After biking, we went out on the water and tried snorkeling. Now I love the water. I love to swim. I thought I’d love snorkeling. No. Did Not Like. Something about the fact the mask closes off your nose to prevent you from using it instead of your mouth to breathe made me feel like I was suffocating once I went underwater. I gave up on the mask and snorkel and did fine holding my breath like normal. Tim did much better at the snorkeling and got to swim with some giant turtles.

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These are first day pics, after the loooong flight, we just had enough energy to stop at the Dole Plantation on the way to our hotel on the north end of the island.

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Disney likes to say vacations at their parks are magical, or something like that. Usually the lines would make me disagree to some degree. But, with Kaycee and her secrets to fast passes, baby swap (worth renting a baby if you don’t have one of your own), and alternate wheelchair entrances (not as easy to fake…), Disney was truly magical this time. And I think Kaycee has completely ruined me for future trips where I will have to wait in line with the other lowly commoners.

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