And We're Off!

As I’ve mentioned in the past few days, we’re off on another vacation. Actually, it’s more of a necessity trip. When you have status with an airline, the perks are many and for Tony the most important perk is not having to pay for checked bags. Although we fly as light as possible for pleasure, when Tony flies for work he travels with three large (put-a-body-in-them-sized) bags. For each trip checking these bags would cost him as much as $300 per trip. But when he flies more than 100,000 miles in a year, that cost is waived.

Well this year, in late November he was doing his calculations and realized he was going to be about 2,500 miles short of his 1K status. So a last-minute trip was necessary. We put together a list of places that would take us to warmth or friends … Miami, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, etc. But can you believe the cheapest place we could go was Hawaii? Evan Los Angeles was more expensive … even though we connect through there!

So off to Hawaii we go for a quick 3 ½ day trip! And let me say, this trip came at exactly the right time. Our weather, like much of the country, has been extremely cold … and Saturday’s forecast is for freezing rain and/or snow. Ah, the sunshine is going to feel good.

It is surreal packing for 80-degree weather when it’s below freezing outside. The good part was that there wasn’t much worry that something we wanted to take with us was in the laundry! I had to dig into storage to find short skirts, light weight dresses and swimsuits. On top of all that light-weight, sun-friendly wear is a Santa’s hat! We figured a couple of pictures laying on the beach wearing it would be fun. LOL

The biggest dilemma of it all was what to wear to the airport. Our flight was at 7:30a, which meant we had to be out of the house by 6:00a. The past few weeks the temperature has been in the teen’s around that time, and this morning was no exception. So I dressed in a light weight cotton dress, cropped tights and high heels, then bundled up in a big puffy coat and blankets for the ride to the airport. It was only as our son parked directly outside a door that I shed the layers and dashed into the airport. I have to admit it was fun watching people’s look at me as they walked around in their jackets, boots and hats. I think they thought I was crazy!

As I said, we got a great fare to Hawaii, but the route wasn’t the most convenient. On our way there we have two stops … and the first stop was in San Francisco with only a 30 minute layover.

For the first time ever, when we landed in San Francisco, we landed from the North … which meant everything was backwards. This usually wouldn’t matter to passengers, but it seems even ground control was having problems with the change and the ground traffic was all backed up and messed up (the pilot’s words). We finally got to our gate, only to find another plane still in our spot!

The flight attendants knew there were several people with tight connections and they kindly made an announcement requesting that anybody with more than 20 minutes for their connection or anybody staying in San Francisco please stay seated so those people with close connections could get off first. And you know what? Everybody on our plane had a close connection! With the exception of 2 people, everybody jumped up as soon as the fasten seatbelt light went off. Now I don’t know about you, but when I’m close to missing my connection I move like the wind when it comes to getting my stuff together and getting off the plane. But not these people. We only had 4 rows to go and I swear everybody in front of us was moving as slow as molasses in January!

Once off the plane, we found the departures board and found out … of course … that our flight was departing from the other end of the airport! Tony took off like the wind … with me jogging along behind in my high heels … lovely! We barely made it to the gate before they closed the doors, but we made it. Unfortunately, they didn’t have two seats together for us and being the laste on the plane the overhead bins were full. After some wrangling we convinced a couple of people sitting around us that their backpacks would do just find under the seat in front of them instead of the overhead bins so we could store our luggage.

Ah, we settled in. I had two very nice gentlemen next to me … and it was a good thing because the first thing I did was spill my drink on me! Luckily, not them. UGH! It soaked my puzzle book, lap and the blanket I was using to keep warm. Lovely. At least it didn’t get on my phone or computer … which were also on my tray.

I have to interject here that planes aren’t what they used to be. When they started the beverage service for the flight they announced there wasn’t any coffee or tea (WHAT?!?!?), or water in the bathrooms. They said the bathrooms were functioning, but I don’t know … without water? No thanks. Luckily it was a short flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

LA was, well, LA. Nothing unusual, just lots of men talking loudly into their cellphones, trying to act all important. It was actually a relief when they boarded the plane. Until we got seated. Tony had upgraded us to First Class … and if the seats we’re sitting in are First Class then I’d hate to see what the seats in the back of the plane look like. If the person in front of us puts their seat back it’s impossible to use the tray for a computer, or really anything. I’m not that big so it doesn’t bother me much, but poor Tony gets really cramped. As well, he has bad knees and stretching them out is the only way to keep them from locking-up. Even in First Class on this plane it’s a big difficult for him. Poor baby.

As I write this, we are 1 hour out of Honolulu. Ah, the warmth! The sunshine! I can hardly wait. We haven’t been to Hawaii in over 8 years, and specifically Oahu in over 13! We hear they’re having 50 ft. waves on the North side of the island so we’ll have to check it out … more to come I’m sure.