September has been the beginning of things really starting to seem REAL.....I think sometimes, "am I really moving to Maui soon?????" Sometimes, it felt so far away still because we couldn't pick a date until all of the doggie stuff was official. I'll give you a little background on how "challenging" it has been to get the dogs there. Maui has a ton of crazy rules, regulations & paperwork on allowing dogs to enter. There is a 5 (YES FIVE) page checklist that we have to complete!! They had to receive rabies vaccines, then wait exactly 21 days before having their blood work drawn. So...the tick tock tick tock began after we started the process back in July. After their 21 day waiting period, we had their blood work drawn and it took about a month before we would get results to see if then even passed!! SO...we waited and waited!! Finally, the day after I got to Missouri for a visit, the vet called and said "THEY PASSED...you're going to Maui!!!!" But.....we still couldn't book anything until the state of Hawaii received their passing paperwork and then they would post our "arrival date" on their state government webpage. You MUST wait 120 days after the date the lab receives their blood sample before you're even allowed to arrive in Maui. So....we waited and waited again. FINALLY.....we checked the Hawaii web page and their they were --- ARRIVAL DATE December 14th!!!!
(they are the first two on there!!)
So, we have a lot more paperwork to complete and mail in everything to the state of Hawaii and then we have to wait for our "Island Permission Pass" in order for the airlines to allow them on the plane to fly to Maui. This then took us to our next "patience testing" task on getting these dogs to Maui -- BOOKING our flights!! Mind you....a handful of airlines allow dogs to fly to the Hawaiin islands because of Hawaii's quarantine laws and crazy rules they have. SO, after lots of time on the phone with people that hardly speak english -- we narrowed it down that only UNITED would fly the dogs straight into Maui. BUT...we weren't done yet ---- we have to leave from somewhere warm because otherwise if it's too cold outside the day of departure, the dogs won't be allowed to go....so we narrowed down Cali & AZ because its pretty warm there and shorter flights for the dogs. Eric was on the phone for like 2 days talking with multiple people trying to book us some reasonable flights!! (winter time is the most expensive time to go to Maui!!) He would find one great flight and we would be ready to book, but "oh, we're sorry that is operated by US Airways and they don't allow dogs to Maui" or "sorry only 1 dog can fly on this flight"or "sorry, dogs not allowed on this flight"...... you get the picture!! SO, after lots of frustration on the phone.....Eric finally did it & we booked our ONE - WAY flights to MAUI for 2 Adults & 2 Dogs!!!
So, we leave DECEMBER 15th and will be official Hawaiians by sunset!!!
We love ALL our doggies to death and having ALL of their best interests at heart...the two brother beagles are the lucky ones to sand & surf with us in our next journey.
SO, we will be working on finishing up all their paperwork and applying for our Island Permit and getting them acclimated to being seperated in crates :(
Oh....and incase you're curious as to how much it will cost to get these little furkids out there....here's a breakdown:
Rabies shot $8
Rabies blood work draw/vet charge $180
Airline approved crates $90
One way doggie airline ticket $250
Vet meet at the airport $200
Payment to state of Hawaii (not sure why) $170
That would equal $898 HOWEVER.......times that by TWO
for a grand total of $1,796!!!! Plus, were sure there will be more fees!! But, we love them very much and they are our children.
Aside from the dogs...in order for us to afford it all....Mommy had to apply for her HAWAII Nursing License!!!
I had to send in lots of mail to Hawaii & Illinois and luckily NO TEST was required!! Just $200 to the state of Hawaii to obtain a license to practice there!
I applied back in July and just today (sept 19) I received my letter!!!!
We're beginning to learn that we must have patience when dealing with anything in Maui :)
I jumped up & down like a crazy person!! I can't wait to get my real license -- I hope it has a rainbow and pretty colors on it!!
Needless to say the first half of this month has been making things begin to seem real! All our work is starting to show and pay off. Now, we just have a very LARGE to do list to work on!
If anyone is interested in moving to Maui let us know...we will make you a checklist!!
I can smell the ocean and feel the sand....it's getting close!
