Hawaii Trip Plan

 I'm going to Hawaii without a race.  I had planned to mark my 50th state visited with my 50th race state but given the scope of the situation with COVID and a possible vaccine requirement to travel by air, it may not happen.  My other race states are Maryland, Minnesota and Maine.  I've been to all 3 of these multiple times.  If worse comes to worst, I could drive to all 3.  Maryland would take a day and a half.  I can get to southern Minnesota in 16 hours or a manageable 2 day drive.  Maine would be a tough 2.5-3 days so let's hope that I don't have to do that.  Obviously, I cannot drive to Hawaii but perhaps the requirement, if enacted, is lifted in a few years.  

When?

I thought about MLK Day weekend.  I'm already getting cabin fever and I've only been back to working from home for 3 days.  Nope, it's too soon after Cancun.  I will wait until President's Day weekend and hope that no new restrictions are imposed between now and then.  Figure 2/11 would be my travel day getting there.  Then, I'd spend 4 full days in Hawaii and leave on 2/16.  I'll probably have to take a red eye and another day to recover from jet lag so that's a week out and 4 days off work.  Logistically, it will be tough.  It looks like the best option is to fly out of Atlanta and take a relatively short layover in Seattle with both flights being just over 5 hours.  A better option would be to break up the trip back with an overnight layover in San Francisco.  Unfortunately, there is a 10 day quarantine requirement there.  Ridiculous that I could get in trouble for taking a walk down to the bay to see the Golden Gate Bridge but yes, I could get caught.  They will know that I am a tourist.   

Which Island?

The 4 major islands are Kuai, Maui, Oahu and Hawaii (Big Island).  They have their pros and cons and  I intend to visit them all.  After quite a bit of deliberation, I feel that the Big Island is the best fit for a relatively short trip.  Of course, the biggest attraction for me will be Magic Sands Beach, which is supposedly very good for body boarding and I'll be spending most of my time there.  I expect at the very least, it will rival the beauty of Cancun.  It may be even better.  Though probably not the best for swimming, I still want to see a black sand beach and yes, there is one on this island.  Believe it or not, there is snow in the winter on top of this island's highest mountain.  Hopefully, there will be enough to go snow tubing.  Man, that would be wild in Hawaii!  There is also a Volcanic National Park and some hiking trails with waterfalls on the other side of the island.  That will be plenty to do in 4 days.

Weather:

I'll be spending most of my time on the Leeward or Dry side of the island.  I can expect sunny skies with a low chance of rain.  Both air and water temps should be in the low 80s.  By contrast, the city of Hilo, just about 2 hours away receives considerable rainfall all year round.  This will not be the farthest south that I have been.  That honor goes to Puerto Rico by just over 1 degree in latitude.  

COVID?

Hawaii is open for tourism with no quarantine requirement.  I will have to pass a COVID test within 3 days of my arrival.  I don't want to be a statistic and add to the count of false positives but that's a risk that I am willing to take.  What if I don't get another chance at this?  If in the unlikely event that I get sick, I'll have to spend 10-14 days in Hawaii.  Could be worse.  I'd rather be there than Mexico. Again, it's a risk that I am willing to take.  DO IT!