Gloria,
So glad you are able to travel and it sounds like you are having a very nice time. Thanks for the updates. Hope the rest of the trip goes so well. You are so organized!
Pat
Preparation for Hawaii Trip
Moderators: Rosie, JFR, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh, mbeezie
Enjoy Paradise, Gloria. I am so jealous.
We won air miles, some years ago, at a regatta at the sailing club and were able to go to Kauai. I spent day after day, hour after hour searching on the computer for the perfect place to stay. I got a great deal directly from an owner (they later sold the condo). I teared up when I thought of leaving Paradise.
http://www.whalerscoveresort.com/
The owners kept their other condo http://www.mauikauai.com/?11-9+9:26:17 I would have sold it and kept Kauai.
We won air miles, some years ago, at a regatta at the sailing club and were able to go to Kauai. I spent day after day, hour after hour searching on the computer for the perfect place to stay. I got a great deal directly from an owner (they later sold the condo). I teared up when I thought of leaving Paradise.
http://www.whalerscoveresort.com/
The owners kept their other condo http://www.mauikauai.com/?11-9+9:26:17 I would have sold it and kept Kauai.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
Hi Everyone,
Yes, Hawaii is Heaven on Earth. We went to the beach yesterday and today. My neurosurgeon called me to give the results of my followup MRI (the tumor is stable - yeah!) He asked me how I was feeling. I told him I was sitting on Waikiki beach and I was feeling great.
He said he wished he was here, too...
I should tell you about our "Hawaii beach bag." Before our last trip, we bought a large duffle-type bag with wheels. We also bought two canvas beach chairs that sit about 3 inches from the ground. The chairs have a canopy that attaches to the back and gives shade when desired. Our bag holds the chairs, towels, beach pads, reading materials, beach shoes, water, suntan lotion and treats. It allows us to pick up and go with minimal effort. We are only a block from the beach, so we can easily wheel it down the sidewalk. Of course, we had to pay to check it on the plane, but we also filled the top compartment with my clothes, so it served double-duty.
We went to Whole Foods today. It was a little hard to see all the local fresh fruits and not buy any. DH just bought grapes, so I don't have to look at mangos, papayas, pineapples in the refrigerator all week. There's a Wolfgang Puck express down the street and he bought a pizza there for lunch. He ate the turkey I made yesterday with a box of scalloped potatoes. Tonight he ate a pork chop with me. He seems OK with the eating schedule, especially when we look at the cost of eating out. He picked up a dish from Whole Foods today for tomorrow's dinner.
We booked a tour to Maui for Thursday. I've never been there, and it's my brother's favorite island. We will be gone from 5:10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., about the same amount of time as when we traveled here. I'm already worried about eating on the tour. I'll be eating breakfast very early. It's my turkey day, so a turkey sandwich will work for lunch. Dinner - I guess I'll pack some cold turkey meat, a muffin, and cold quinoa. Maybe the cold quinoa will work with instant pudding like the rice did. I'm realizing that not being able to eat chicken or beef, which are readily available in restaurants, greatly limits my ability to eat away from home.
It's just one day, though, and I won't starve. I'm sure the tour will be worth it and I'll know if I want to stay on Maui the next time we come.
I've noticed that no one here talks about the weather as a conversation piece. It's always the same - what's to discuss? What a wonderful life!
Gloria
Yes, Hawaii is Heaven on Earth. We went to the beach yesterday and today. My neurosurgeon called me to give the results of my followup MRI (the tumor is stable - yeah!) He asked me how I was feeling. I told him I was sitting on Waikiki beach and I was feeling great.
He said he wished he was here, too...I should tell you about our "Hawaii beach bag." Before our last trip, we bought a large duffle-type bag with wheels. We also bought two canvas beach chairs that sit about 3 inches from the ground. The chairs have a canopy that attaches to the back and gives shade when desired. Our bag holds the chairs, towels, beach pads, reading materials, beach shoes, water, suntan lotion and treats. It allows us to pick up and go with minimal effort. We are only a block from the beach, so we can easily wheel it down the sidewalk. Of course, we had to pay to check it on the plane, but we also filled the top compartment with my clothes, so it served double-duty.
We went to Whole Foods today. It was a little hard to see all the local fresh fruits and not buy any. DH just bought grapes, so I don't have to look at mangos, papayas, pineapples in the refrigerator all week. There's a Wolfgang Puck express down the street and he bought a pizza there for lunch. He ate the turkey I made yesterday with a box of scalloped potatoes. Tonight he ate a pork chop with me. He seems OK with the eating schedule, especially when we look at the cost of eating out. He picked up a dish from Whole Foods today for tomorrow's dinner.
We booked a tour to Maui for Thursday. I've never been there, and it's my brother's favorite island. We will be gone from 5:10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., about the same amount of time as when we traveled here. I'm already worried about eating on the tour. I'll be eating breakfast very early. It's my turkey day, so a turkey sandwich will work for lunch. Dinner - I guess I'll pack some cold turkey meat, a muffin, and cold quinoa. Maybe the cold quinoa will work with instant pudding like the rice did. I'm realizing that not being able to eat chicken or beef, which are readily available in restaurants, greatly limits my ability to eat away from home.
It's just one day, though, and I won't starve. I'm sure the tour will be worth it and I'll know if I want to stay on Maui the next time we come.
I've noticed that no one here talks about the weather as a conversation piece. It's always the same - what's to discuss? What a wonderful life!
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Gloria,
In Maui, you have to drive the Hana Highway. Also, drive to the top of the state park where the observatory is. Awesome. La Haina is very cool too!
I'm pretty sure you will want to stay in Maui next time.
Have fun and relax.
Rich
In Maui, you have to drive the Hana Highway. Also, drive to the top of the state park where the observatory is. Awesome. La Haina is very cool too!
I'm pretty sure you will want to stay in Maui next time.
Have fun and relax.
Rich
"It's not what I believe. It's what I can prove." - A Few Good Men
Gloria, I'm so glad about your good medical news and that you are having a relaxing, beautiful vacation. You are an inspiration to me to gain more confidence about traveling. I'm sure your trip to Maui will be wonderful. Have fun, JoAnn
Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. John Wayne
Winding down tonight - we're leaving tomorrow and will be home Monday morning. I hate to leave; it's so wonderful to be here.
Our trip to Maui was great! Rich, we took the tour on the Hana highway and we loved it! We didn't get to see the top of the volcano - too much in one day, but there's always another trip!
I packed a lunch for the day, even though a box lunch was provided. I mixed my instant pudding during lunch and planned on eating it for dinner once it was set. I forgot it was in my lunch bag when I went through security, so rather than throw it out, I dashed out of security and ate the pudding on a bench. We were gone from 5:10 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. I was OK because I had a muffin and the pudding to tide me over. I ate dinner after we got home at 8:30. I also had some coconut candy that we bought at a stand on the Hana highway. All it contained was coconut, cane sugar and water. It was delicious! I haven't had candy since I gave up chocolate in June, so it was a real treat. I'll post the recipe as soon as I figure out how to make it myself.
DH has been very understanding about eating out. He's eaten pizza and a few fast food items from restaurants, but we've eaten in our hotel room most of the time. I haven't eaten anything from a restaurant. DH considered going to a nearby restaurant for some salmon tonight. The menu also had pork chops for me, but I'm just too gun-shy to eat out right now. There are too many foods on my intolerant list to take a chance. Besides, I'm pretty content with the meals I can eat; I've become accustomed to them and they're safe.
I've had one nagging problem for the last several days. My left knee has been giving me pretty severe pain after I walk about 25 feet. I'm afraid it's arthritis. When I had surgery on my right knee for a torn meniscus four years ago, the orthopaedic surgeon told me I had arthritis in both knees and it would get worse someday. He said there wasn't anything he could do to fix it. I've taken glucosamine/chrondroitin for years and it did a great job of relieving the pain. However, I stopped taking it about 4 months ago when I suspected I couldn't tolerate rice, and noticed the pills contained rice. I've since realized I can tolerate rice, but noticed that the pills also have a warning for persons allergic to shellfish. I believe I am intolerant to shellfish - any fish for that matter, so I didn't resume taking them. Instead I ordered glucosamine tablets from Freeda vitamins because they don't contain any fish. I know it takes a while to get the benefit, and I'm hoping the pain will eventually go away. I'm concerned because the Freeda tablets don't have any chrondroitin and I'm not sure how beneficial that is.
I ordered a wheelchair at the airport for my return trip. I have to walk slowly and try not to bend my left knee. I'm hoping we'll be able to manage our luggage and a wheelchair.
My meals for tomorrow should be pretty easy. I'll eat a hot lunch just before we check out. My dinner will be the standby turkey sandwich, corn chips and pudding. I'll have a muffin in the morning before we land. Maggie once wrote that she does destination vacation trips and stays in a place with a kitchen. I think that's a pretty good strategy. It has worked very well for me.
I'll be off the board for at least a day. I'll be back on Monday!
Gloria
Our trip to Maui was great! Rich, we took the tour on the Hana highway and we loved it! We didn't get to see the top of the volcano - too much in one day, but there's always another trip!
I packed a lunch for the day, even though a box lunch was provided. I mixed my instant pudding during lunch and planned on eating it for dinner once it was set. I forgot it was in my lunch bag when I went through security, so rather than throw it out, I dashed out of security and ate the pudding on a bench. We were gone from 5:10 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. I was OK because I had a muffin and the pudding to tide me over. I ate dinner after we got home at 8:30. I also had some coconut candy that we bought at a stand on the Hana highway. All it contained was coconut, cane sugar and water. It was delicious! I haven't had candy since I gave up chocolate in June, so it was a real treat. I'll post the recipe as soon as I figure out how to make it myself.
DH has been very understanding about eating out. He's eaten pizza and a few fast food items from restaurants, but we've eaten in our hotel room most of the time. I haven't eaten anything from a restaurant. DH considered going to a nearby restaurant for some salmon tonight. The menu also had pork chops for me, but I'm just too gun-shy to eat out right now. There are too many foods on my intolerant list to take a chance. Besides, I'm pretty content with the meals I can eat; I've become accustomed to them and they're safe.
I've had one nagging problem for the last several days. My left knee has been giving me pretty severe pain after I walk about 25 feet. I'm afraid it's arthritis. When I had surgery on my right knee for a torn meniscus four years ago, the orthopaedic surgeon told me I had arthritis in both knees and it would get worse someday. He said there wasn't anything he could do to fix it. I've taken glucosamine/chrondroitin for years and it did a great job of relieving the pain. However, I stopped taking it about 4 months ago when I suspected I couldn't tolerate rice, and noticed the pills contained rice. I've since realized I can tolerate rice, but noticed that the pills also have a warning for persons allergic to shellfish. I believe I am intolerant to shellfish - any fish for that matter, so I didn't resume taking them. Instead I ordered glucosamine tablets from Freeda vitamins because they don't contain any fish. I know it takes a while to get the benefit, and I'm hoping the pain will eventually go away. I'm concerned because the Freeda tablets don't have any chrondroitin and I'm not sure how beneficial that is.
I ordered a wheelchair at the airport for my return trip. I have to walk slowly and try not to bend my left knee. I'm hoping we'll be able to manage our luggage and a wheelchair.
My meals for tomorrow should be pretty easy. I'll eat a hot lunch just before we check out. My dinner will be the standby turkey sandwich, corn chips and pudding. I'll have a muffin in the morning before we land. Maggie once wrote that she does destination vacation trips and stays in a place with a kitchen. I think that's a pretty good strategy. It has worked very well for me.
I'll be off the board for at least a day. I'll be back on Monday!
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Very happy to hear the good report from your doctor.
Gloria, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. So glad that the food situation worked out okay.
I haven't been to Hawaii since my kids were little and we were passing through on our way to Indonesia, back in the days when the planes had to stop there to refuel, so it didn't cost any extra to make a stop there. My brother and his family were stationed there with the military so we had a place to stay, and someone to show us around. My sons' favorite thing was to feed the fish frozen peas at Hanauma Bay.
Safe travels home!
I haven't been to Hawaii since my kids were little and we were passing through on our way to Indonesia, back in the days when the planes had to stop there to refuel, so it didn't cost any extra to make a stop there. My brother and his family were stationed there with the military so we had a place to stay, and someone to show us around. My sons' favorite thing was to feed the fish frozen peas at Hanauma Bay.
Safe travels home!
Martha
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