My Closet (where I keep all my crap crammed): Don Ho -- The (in?)famous U-Haul

edited to add--
I just added the details that I thought would be damaging to my reputation. Please don't judge me too harshly.

(This story has been told, retold, and overtold. Chris and a few of my friends told me it needed to be in my blog. They think it's a story worthy of documentation, I guess. Some of my favorite details were left out in an attempt to spare my image, but then again...you've probably already heard them)

Some people are planners, list making, schedule following planners. I've never been very good at that. I can't say I am the most spontaneous person, but I am far from organized and lists are easy to misplace. So, when I set my mind to something, I just kind of take a leap of faith and hope it works out. It helps that I am married to a farmer, you can't really plan things when you don't have a steady schedule. It helps that he is married to me, because I can't really plan things out anyway.
This is how we ended up in a U-Haul in Kauai. Chris & I were loosely "planning" a trip to NYC, a long weekend away for our anniversary and then some stuff happened...unplanned icky medical stuff that really put a damper on things, so we put our trip on hold. The day before our botched trip was originally supposed to take place, I got good news and all of the sudden our long anniversary weekend didn't look so doomed, so we planned a trip. I didn't much want to go to NYC anymore, I needed my babies and we all needed to finally RELAX. So, 7PM Friday night, we booked a one-way flight for 4. By 11AM Saturday morning (yup, about 16 hours later) we were on the beautiful Island of Kauai. Packing was pretty easy, it was winter and the kids had outgrown most of their summer clothes. The rest, we didn't have time to stress about, so we just kind of threw some stuff in & bought new swim suits and flip flops there (that's all you really need right?). Flight booked. Hotel booked. Bags packed (kind of). Psyches fresh & ready. Car rented....nope, that part wasn't coming together but we would figure it out there. Maybe...
No available cars in Kauai. One of those things that a list making, schedule following planner would have worked out prior to jumping on a plane....but not us :) Heck, we didn't even have a return flight home. It was the taxi driver who planted the U-Haul seed. She might have been joking, and Chris was quick to dismiss the possibility, but I am an admirer of creativity and I really wanted some freedom to explore the island. The next morning after exploring as far as our legs and our kiddos tiny feet would take us, Chris jumped in a cab and was delivered to the U-Haul lot to pick out our rental. It might have been too much to wish for a pick up truck or a small utility van, but we held out hope. Chris called me to tell me he was in the rental and was headed back. He said he was going to park on the main road, a mile walk from our hotel, our only choice of Valet parking had him intimidated. You probably already know I am lazy and I had a toe injury from a hasty airport pedicure, so I headed down to talk to the Valet guys. I have a way of talking like I am joking I guess, because I am not sure they took me seriously. You can drive the entire island without having to stop for lodging, nobody moving from one residence to another usually stops at a nice resort for a rest along the way. It turns out they hadn't ever parked a U-Haul. They said they could park a pick up, they weren't sure if a moving truck (a full sized moving truck-did I tell you that part?) would fit in the small parking garage...but they were up for the challenge. Chris was a little embarrassed, it happens, it's not often but it does. The irony in this is that being married to him has toughened me, embarrassing me is way harder. If I can walk out of a restaurant with a grown man wearing boxers, socks and sandals, with wetted pants tucked under his arm (another blog perhaps?) than I can stand proudly watching my husband pull up in our oversized rental car, later to be named Don Ho, while my new valet friends discover that I indeed wasn't joking. For the next few days we were minor celebs. "Aloha Kontos family, let me get you your U-Haul", "Welcome back, we trust you enjoyed your outing today"...I don't want to brag, but we were kind of cool ;)
Beyond the resort, we were islanders, everywhere you go in a U-Haul, people think you are locals. I mean, if you don't live there, you probably don't need a U-Haul. Don Ho's cab had 2 bucket seats, one that fit Chris and one that fit both our kiddos and then there was a big hard open space in between. It wasn't too uncomfortable when Chris didn't need me on my knees (gutters people! Heads out!) to help him navigate. Eventually (Ok, really quickly) I discovered that my old knees weren't what they used to be and justified our next decision with 2 facts, 1) the maximum speed limit was 45 and 2) We were by far the LARGEST rig on the roads by a landslide. I'm not sure what the statute of limitations on bad parenting is, and I'm reluctant to share this next part as it goes against every moral fiber of my being, but we put our kids on the floor of the Uhaul (yes, I'm ashamed) and Chris drove very, very carefully while we both played a fun game of whack a mole with our curious children every time a cop car passed us by. When we stopped somewhere we would all just roll right on out. And then leaving was never without ceremony as the back up alarm loudly alerted everyone around us (and in nearby communities) our departure was imminent. At one point, we pulled up to a ranch for a horseback tour and for a long time we were unable to locate the guides, they saw us pull in, assumed we were moving in next door and didn't come out of hiding to greet us. Tourists don't drive U-Hauls. I'm not really sure if I should be proud that my kids are also past the point of embarrassment or if I should worry that circumstance has rendered them too resilient to shame and they won't ever develop social boundaries, however, I'm choosing to be proud. They embraced our adventure with minimal eye rolls and "seriously!"'s.
After a few days, a rental car became available...we had a choice to make. We still didn't have a return flight booked and our hotel reservations had an expiration date. We could pretend we didn't have responsibilities back at home, keep Don-Ho in the event that our hotel evicts us for the next scheduled guests and we NEED to move into his spacious posterior, or we could book a flight, say goodbye to our celeb status and rent a car for the last couple of days. I was content, I was loving the life of an Islander (with room service, housekeeping and valet parking as an added bonus), Chris even said we could stay and sell surfboards or Taco's out of the back of Don Ho. The kids were ready for a comfier ride though, and it kind of made sense at the time to get a car that fit on ALL of the roads. A little bit of magic left us that day. We were just tourists to the next shift of valet parkers, tourists with no name and no U-Haul. It was time to book our flights.
Sometimes I get discouraged with myself, I want to be organized, create and follow lists and spare overwhelming myself. Sometimes though by having a plan, you miss out on some of the very best things that probably would have never made it on to your list or itinerary. Planning might get us what we think we want, but sometimes the things we need, the things that inspire us, lift us, bond us and create the best memories are the things we can't possibly plan.