Thanks I'2!

I think I'll call the owner of the love shack in Makena just to be sure all is well. I'm gonna e-mail the GM of the hotel too.

Hot damn! I got ya beat. I'll be there in 135.

-Bill

I would hate for people to cancel their travel plans if everything is OK so I created a website where people can learn what current conditions are. If any of you locals want to share what you see, send it to me and I will put it up.

hawaiiquake.com

We flying to the Big Island on Thursday for our vacation. A little shaking isn't going to stop us.

Awww, Shanghainese, that was very sweet of you.

Well, as it turns out, my friend tells me that the national news is making the event look WAY worse than it was. OK, it was a bad event and there is damage, but the way my friend puts it, it puts Hawaii in a terrible light!

Same friend found herself unprepared on Sunday. She had to serve her family bananas, salami, and stale Triscuits. Her 6 year-old daughter exclaimed, "Wow, mommy, this is the BEST dinner you ever made!"

Shanghainese, thank you, I like "companion"!

So, my father and his 2-legged companion are going to Oahu the first weekend of November.

LOL I'm really laughing loud typing it. My co-workers are used to me by now. Sigh.

Every time DH and I go to Hawaii, we wish something would happen that didn't hurt anybody, but would cause our flight home to be cancelled. Sunday we got our wish!

We had headed up to Hanauma early for a last snorkel before our flight home, but the weather was too dark and wet so we stopped at a McDonalds on the way back to Waikiki. It was just us and an elderly couple having breakfast when the earthquake hit, we all pretty much said "gosh!" after the shaking had stopped, and finished eating.

We were glad we weren't in our 11th floor room at the Sheraton PK. After shlepping up 11 floors, packing, shlepping luggage down 11 floors, we felt we had better get checked out. The hotel people were great, serenely and cheerfully helping the confused guests. It must have been a tough day for them, but everyone we encountered was smiling and doing their best to keep things running smoothly.

Kalakaua Ave. looked really odd with confused tourists milling about in the rain looking for breakfast. A couple of restaurants had opened with limited menus, the waitresses were heroes!

Once we found that our flight home was cancelled, we walked over to the Royal Hawaiian and got a room! We have been wanting to stay there for ages, and have spent many evenings at the Tiki Bar. By the way, their walk-in rate is $275. By now we had heard that no one was killed or seriously injured, what a relief. Power didn't come back on until well after dark. There were some lights in the hallways by the rooms, but the RH lobby was really beautiful lit by candles and glowsticks. We even got dinner, the hotel put out a very nice buffet for guests.

As we stood on Kalakaua about 9:00, suddenly one large hotel's lights flashed on and people cheered! Then some street lights, another hotel popped on, more cheers!

DH and I had quite an adventure, if only the weather had been sunny. We were lucky, we had breakfast, a nice place to stay and we had even visited an ATM before the quake and had $$. I feel sorry for the locals who had damages, being from LA and getting whacked by the '94 Northridge quake I know what it's like.

Thanks to all the local folks who had to show up for work on Sunday in Waikiki and take care of us! Wonderful people.

Words fail me, I have jet lag...

You should check out this site on earthquakes - great map that shows where the quakes are and how big:

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/bigmap/index.phtml

Wow, gigb, what an unexpected adventure for you and DH, and you have such a positive take on the situation. It IS wonderful that the local people are so nice and helpful. Glad you returned to S. Cal safely and thanks for sharing

Sorry, gigib, the fingers are tired ...

the aloha spirit is alive and well in Hawaii. No looting, violence or any of the other problems you see in other places where disasters occur. everyone pulling together, helping friends, family and strangers, most with a smile and a shaka.
Update:
after getting 12-15 inches of rain last night in Pahoa, Kona had 4-6 inches and thunder and lightning that wouldn't stop, the highway into Hilo was closed due to flooding. The road was finally opened around 8:00 a.m. this morning.
8 schools closed due to damage, 2 or 3 will be closed for some time, the rest just for cleanup
Kawaihae harbor is closed indefinitely as the pier was heavily damaged by Sundays 2 quakes
1 more home has been red-tagged, not inhabitable
mauna kea/hapuna prince hotels are still assessing their situation on taking new guests
the Ironman triathalon will go on as scheduled this week-end in Kailua-Kona
the weather on the East side is sunny and warm, good for drying out the ground after last nights storm.
there was a 4.0 aftershock this morning at 5:30 HST, i didn't feel it on the east side.
Aloha and a Hui Hou!

<b>mauna kea/hapuna prince hotels are still assessing their situation on taking new guests</b>

And I hope the two hotels reconsider the outrageous Hot Deal rate increases they implemented earlier this year. It used to be one of the best deals on the island at $220/nt incl. breakfast for two. Now it's just about overpriced at $310+.

fdecarlo; Now that's a jolt! ;)

if you lived here, you can get the kamaaina rate and only pay 50%...

Just read through all of these and am glad to know that all of the Fodor Folks Hawaiian Group are all okay!

Got home late this afternoon and will work on trip report as soon as I can get my fingers to agree to using the keyboard...I guess 2 weeks without internet made them uncooperative!

A few days before the quake, I thought of something that needed to be added to the travel tip list -- and Barbara mentioned above.

I realized one morning, while opening the inroom safe to get a few things out, that it was NOT a good idea to leave your valuables locked up in the safe while you are sleeping in the room in case there was an emergency and you needed to get out in a hurry.

So, from that night on, I did exactly that and on the morning of the quake...I grabbed my purse along with the other &quot;valuables&quot; that had been in the safe as DH and I walked down the stairs to the lobby to find out what was going on.

And of course, you need to know where the exits are...wherever you are [plane, theater, hotel etc] you never want to find out that you are missing that info when you need it most!

Hope this helps...
Debi

Glad to hear all of you over in paradise are well and safe. I'm from Southern Cal so I know from shaking.

I am interested in any updates about Hapuna Prince once their assessments are done. Thanks. It's just about my favorite hotel anywhere.

Be well

Any news about the Hapuna Prince/Mauna Kea &quot;updates&quot;? It's been more than 24 hours since that message was posted and I'm getting a bit worried. It sounds as though they were not accepting new guests, but maintaining existing guests. I'm flying there this Saturday, Oct. 21 and getting a bit worried that we haven't received an All Clear yet.

AG3046~ I would check the hotel website for updates..
just as airlines update travelers after events, I would assume the hotels/condos and similar would want to keep the information current for anyone needing the facts..

:)have a nice trip and good luck, J.

ag, if you have reservations at HP/MK, call them directly and ask them. if they are not going to be accepting your reservation, i'm sure they will put you up at another hotel in the area, but ask them this also. (kona hospital patients are staying at the Sheraton until the hospital reopens)

Does anyone know how the snorkeling at Kealakekua has been affected? Poor fishies.

Has the hospital reopened on the Big Island? We have friends going in a week and that is their major concern...

gigib~kealakekua bay is currently closed due to concerns about more landslides. the water is silty and the state is inspecting above and below the water to see the effect of the tons of rubble that fell into the ocean.
travelina~ only 10% of Kona hospital is open, the building was certified safe but a lot of clean up is going on. the emergency room, x-ray, radiology and oncology units are open.
three hiking trails are closed until they can be inspected: Muliwai trail in Hamakua, Ainapo trail in Ka'u and Pololu Valley trail in Hawi.