Only 12 days until we land in Kauai, our next retirement adventure. It hardly seems possible that the holidays are upon us with the new year just ahead. We will get there first to set up the menu, while the other two couples arrive two days later with our rental car. It will be a fun family week of drinking, eating, sunning, playing games, hiking, running, and swimming, including lunch on an ocean  catamaran. We also hope to go to Michelle & Todd Rundgren’s island restaurant, Tiki Aniki. It will be a ten-day holiday family celebration, followed by a few extra days with just the two of us. Two nights at the  Seattle Airport Aloft will also help break-up the long flights to and from Fort Myers, Florida. 

This will be my 10th visit to Hawaii, beginning with a 25th wedding anniversary trip in 1998 with my ex-wife. I.U., where both of us attended, was the runner-up to Syracuse in the Maui Invitational. It was the first time that we met Coach Bob Knight. Five years later, I was in Honolulu with a new wife, our first of nine times together. One was for the 2008 Maui Classic with a group of Indiana friends where we shared a Thanksgiving dinner. It was the start of a miserable basketball season for the Hoosiers. Four of my travels to Hawaii were to accompany my wife for the Auto Dealers Association annual meetings. She may have gone once by herself. 

Outside of Honolulu and The Big Island our lodging was primarily at Marriott Vacation Clubs, frequently in Wailea. For fun, we tried various “Rock Star” restaurants like Gannon’s and Fleetwood’s. We’ll soon add Todd Rundgren’s place to this distinguished list of musicians. Other restaurants favorites include Longhi’s, Hali’imaile General Store, Mama’s Fish House, Monkeypod, and Lahaina Grill. It will be a whole new experience on the island of Kauai, since we were only there for one day on our recent cruise. We’ll also take turns preparing meals in the condo because there are few restaurants in our secluded area