So looking forward to vacation! I'm already mostly packed...just need to pick up hiking shoes for Haleakala and maybe some Keens for the water. FYI, REI is having their Anniversary Sale May 21-31, a perfect time to pick up things on your wish list.
I booked a room at the Hana Kai Maui condos in Hana for our last night in Maui. The web site was easy to navigate and the reservation process easy: filled out a form, submitted it, received a confirmation that same evening. Room rates in Hana are expensive since there are only two major hotels in town, this hotel and the Hotel Hana-Maui. The Hana-Maui is luxurious, commanding 3x the prices of the Hana Kai. I tried to price a room there, but their reservations website wasn't working. That isn't good for business. I looked into other options, like B&B's and private condos through Craiglist, but decided to stick with Hana Kai Maui (even with the high room rate) based on the good reviews on Tripadvisor.
I already secured a rental car through Priceline months ago, a mid-size for $12/day plus taxes. I also like Hotwire, if you don't want to deal with bidding on Priceline. I did not use Hotwire since the price per day was a few dollars more.
Nothing much else planned so far except snorkeling, hiking Haleakala, driving to Hana, otherwise, general "chillaxing" during the week. Jennifer wanted to do a girls' spa day; I won't object. :)
Yesterday, I made plans for July 4th week: Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. The great outdoors. At first, I wanted to go to Paris and London, but with airfare costing close to $2000 per person for the schedule I wanted, it seemed best to stay in the good 'ol US of A. I don't understand why fares are so expensive given the drop in value of the euro and the disruption of travel due to the Iceland volcano. I checked seating charts for the flights (though seating charts aren't truly indicative of the loads) and the planes are only half-full! Oh well. Anyway, I'm looking forward to big skies, moose sightings, Old Faithful and magnificent scenery. I've been to the area before on a bus tour with my family during my early teens, but it'll be a whole different trip with Babe. Sorry Brenda, I'll still pick Wyoming over meeting you in St. Louis this week. :)
It is expensive to fly into airports closer to the parks (Jackson Hole (JAC)/West Yellowstone (WYS)/Bozeman (BZN)), so to save $600 total on airfare, we opted to fly into Salt Lake City and drive the 5.5 hours to Jackson. If time is precious, then it's worth paying the extra money to fly into closer airports. I'm currently researching places to stay in Grand Teton and Yellowstone, so any recommendations are welcome. So far, everything within the parks are sold out except for Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton. I'm hoping for last-minute cancellations.
In addition to Yellowstone, I booked a trip to Las Vegas in August. I received an invitation in the mail from the Wynn resort to spend three nights in the Encore hotel for $349 plus tax, which includes 2 free tickets to Le Reve. I couldn't pass that up...a perfect "champagne wishes on soda pop budget" opportunity! It's almost like they're paying me to stay there. Unfortunately, the invitation is good only once and non-transferable to boot, otherwise I'd tell everyone to book, but there is a "friends and family" promotional code available if you want to stay at the Wynn: $139/night Sunday-Thursday, $199/night Friday-Saturday with the code USHARE2, good until November. I don't know why I got the invitation as I don't have their players card. I used to have a Platinum Total Rewards card with Harrah's properties a couple of years ago, but I doubt the Wynn would be trying to pick up people who couldn't re-qualify last year. I'm happy I got the invite as I've always wanted to stay at the resort. I really like the Wynn breakfast/brunch buffet too. (Dinner buffet is trumped by the Bellagio, followed closely by the Rio Village Seafood Buffet) Now I will get a chance to compare Le Reve to "O". Incidentally, Lady Gaga is in town at the MGM Grand Arena the same weekend. Maybe I'll go if I find someone desperate to get rid of tickets for cheap an hour before the show.
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