New Honeymoon plans

I think we've pretty much given up on Egypt for our honeymoon. It was going to be so perfect! But with all the protests and violence, it's just not safe. I kept thinking that by December it will be all back to normal again, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. President Mubarak has indicated that he will stay in office until September, when there will be a new election. Which means in September, there will be a whole new round of political unrest. That's a little too close to December 5 for me. So we spent all weekend trying to come up with a new vacation that we could still be excited about. It's remarkably difficult to find a nice place in December. All of Europe and most of Asia is way too cold. Australia and New Zealand are going to be really expensive, and 10 days just won't be enough to see everything there. An African safari would be incredible, but also incredibly expensive. There isn't a whole lot in South America that appeals to me, besides maybe Peru (Macchu Picchu) and the Galapagos Islands. But December is their rainy season where there is a downpour every single day. Costa Rica would be great, but Daniel's already been there. He's also been to Jamaica and the Bahamas before with his family. So that leaves..... Hawaii! It's so stereotypical I know, but I think it's exactly what we're looking for. Beautiful weather (of course), not in the middle of their high season (late December into January) so things won't be exorbitantly expensive, the flight is about half the cost of Egypt's flight, we'll be able to see everything in about 10 days, and there's a good mix of adventure, culture, natural beauty, and relaxation on the beach. Daniel's parents just went last summer, so they can help us a lot with the planning. In one weekend I'm already further along in the planning than I was with Egypt. Obviously there's a lot more resources out there for trips to Hawaii. We were hoping to keep the cost down a little bit. Egypt was going to cost us at least $5000, so we want to keep Hawaii under that. So far, I've determined that it will cost about $4500 including the flight and everything for 10 days. It adds up so fast!

The first big issue we ran into was the rental car. I will be 23, and Daniel will be 22, which means we can't rent a car. You absolutely need a car to get around, because there's no public transportation. With a little research, I discovered that most companies will rent to people 21-24 years old, but with an added fee of about $25 per day. That's an extra $250 for our trip! Crazy. With a little more research, I discovered an awesome perk of being a USAA member. They have a deal with Hertz, Avis, and Budget. All three will rent to 21-24 year olds for no extra fee! They also waive the "extra driver" fee, give a discount of 20-25% off, and free unlimited mileage. Can you believe it? That brought the quote from about $600 for the cheapest car to under $200 for the whole 10 days! That made me so happy.

We've also already found some gorgeous bed and breakfast places to stay that aren't ridiculously expensive, and are very romantic. My favorite so far is called Aloha Guest House. They have 4 or 5 rooms that all have ocean views. They serve a full breakfast every morning out on the deck for all the guests. They have snorkeling gear to borrow for free, and kayaks to rent. Every review says that this was the highlight of their trip to Hawaii, and they all want to come back. After a little bit of research, it seems like Hawaii is going to be much more romantic than Egypt. And our money will go much further. I even planned a day at the spa for us! I've never spent a day at the spa. We will go to a beach that has all black sand, and one that has green sand. We can see an active volcano. We can watch the lava flow down the mountain into the ocean. We are going to snorkel with manta rays at night, and go to Mauna Kea Observatory where you can see every star because you're out in the middle of the ocean! We can go snorkeling in a marine preservation that spinner dolphin families use as their nursery, and sea turtles nest there too. I'm so excited already! December needs to come really quickly!

Spring needs to come quickly too! We have gotten so much snow in the last week. We had a snow day last Monday evening/ Tuesday all day. Then that all melted and we got more snow all day on Thursday. That stuck around until Saturday, when it again snowed all day and night. Sunday morning I woke up and shoveled about 4 inches of snow off our driveway and sidewalk. My shoulders are very sore because a lot of it froze on into ice which I had to chip away with the shovel. And we have yet another winter weather advisory for tonight into tomorrow. We are going to get 6-8 inches overnight and all day tomorrow. That's on top of the 6 inches that are on the ground right now. And the high is 11 degrees. The local news mentioned that there's a good possibility it will be a snow day. That would be nice- but it will have to be really bad for the University to cancel two Tuesdays in a row. I hope they do though. Last Thursday when it snowed traffic was a nightmare. It took me an hour round trip to pick up Daniel from school and get back home. That's over twice as long as usual. I'm already dreaming of spring break in Phoenix. I can pull out my shorts and tank tops and get a nice tan while I'm there. It's only four and a half weeks away! And I get to see my gorgeous wedding gown again :-)