Wow, what a long day I have had, but I don't want the day to end without sharing my day with you.
I was awake before the sun to catch a 7am ET flight out of Grand Rapids on what was the first of three legs of travel. After a short flight and brief layover in Minneapolis, I boarded the plane to Seattle, anxious to get in the air. Just moments before we were scheduled to leave the gate, the captain announced that we would be delayed due to a minor mechanical issue.
As we sat in the plane waiting I was worrying about making my connecting flight, when the captain announced that the plane I was on would be the plane continuing the journey from Seattle to Honolulu. No way I was missing my connection. Boy was I relieved.
Finally. About 50 minutes later than planned, we made our departure from Minneapolis.
We arrived in Seattle with a plane full of people, many worried about making a connecting flight. While I knew I didn't have that worry, I did want to make sure I had time to grab something to eat before we left Seattle for the 6 hour flight to Hawaii. I saw a quick-service Chinese restaurant and decided that's where I'd eat...boy did I regret that decision! It was some of the worst Chinese I'd ever had.
Soon I was boarding the plane again for the final leg of my journey, unfortunately just minutes before take off, we were informed of another mechanical issue which would cause yet another delay. We sat on the steaming hot plane with no working air conditioning for about 30 minutes before they made the decision to have us deplane until the issue was fixed or we got another plane. So off the plane we went with all of out belongings.
After about 10 minutes back at the gate, we were told the issue had been repaired and we would then reload the plane. Thankfully things moved quickly, and we finally departed Seattle for Honolulu 2 hours later than our original schedule. But we were on our way!
The flight over the ocean was smooth and uneventful, and didn't feel as long as I expected. We arrived in Honolulu at about 4:40 HT...about 90 minutes late. But we made it!
I made my way to baggage claim to pick up my luggage and then headed over to pick up my rental car. And finally, I left the airport about 50 minutes later, just in time for 5 o'clock traffic.
Luckily, the slow down wasn't too bad and I made my way to my home for the next couple of days on the North Shore in Laie.
It's a slow drive to the North Shore and the 34 mile trip took me just over an hour. I arrived at my room in Laie at dusk, at 6:30PM HT/12:30AM ET.
I settled into my room, quickly ran out to grab a small bite to eat, and came back to relax and get some sleep. I'm looking forward to doing some exploring in the North Shore over the next day and a half before heading back to Waikiki for the rest of my time here.
Today I made it to my 50th State....a goal that 15 years ago I wouldn't even have thought was possible. Tucked away in my luggage making this journey with me was a small portion of Imke's ashes...it took me nearly 11 months to open them, but she's been there since the beginning and needed to be here now...so we could complete the journey together.
I was awake before the sun to catch a 7am ET flight out of Grand Rapids on what was the first of three legs of travel. After a short flight and brief layover in Minneapolis, I boarded the plane to Seattle, anxious to get in the air. Just moments before we were scheduled to leave the gate, the captain announced that we would be delayed due to a minor mechanical issue.
As we sat in the plane waiting I was worrying about making my connecting flight, when the captain announced that the plane I was on would be the plane continuing the journey from Seattle to Honolulu. No way I was missing my connection. Boy was I relieved.
Finally. About 50 minutes later than planned, we made our departure from Minneapolis.
We arrived in Seattle with a plane full of people, many worried about making a connecting flight. While I knew I didn't have that worry, I did want to make sure I had time to grab something to eat before we left Seattle for the 6 hour flight to Hawaii. I saw a quick-service Chinese restaurant and decided that's where I'd eat...boy did I regret that decision! It was some of the worst Chinese I'd ever had.
Soon I was boarding the plane again for the final leg of my journey, unfortunately just minutes before take off, we were informed of another mechanical issue which would cause yet another delay. We sat on the steaming hot plane with no working air conditioning for about 30 minutes before they made the decision to have us deplane until the issue was fixed or we got another plane. So off the plane we went with all of out belongings.
After about 10 minutes back at the gate, we were told the issue had been repaired and we would then reload the plane. Thankfully things moved quickly, and we finally departed Seattle for Honolulu 2 hours later than our original schedule. But we were on our way!
The flight over the ocean was smooth and uneventful, and didn't feel as long as I expected. We arrived in Honolulu at about 4:40 HT...about 90 minutes late. But we made it!
I made my way to baggage claim to pick up my luggage and then headed over to pick up my rental car. And finally, I left the airport about 50 minutes later, just in time for 5 o'clock traffic.
Luckily, the slow down wasn't too bad and I made my way to my home for the next couple of days on the North Shore in Laie.
It's a slow drive to the North Shore and the 34 mile trip took me just over an hour. I arrived at my room in Laie at dusk, at 6:30PM HT/12:30AM ET.
I settled into my room, quickly ran out to grab a small bite to eat, and came back to relax and get some sleep. I'm looking forward to doing some exploring in the North Shore over the next day and a half before heading back to Waikiki for the rest of my time here.
Today I made it to my 50th State....a goal that 15 years ago I wouldn't even have thought was possible. Tucked away in my luggage making this journey with me was a small portion of Imke's ashes...it took me nearly 11 months to open them, but she's been there since the beginning and needed to be here now...so we could complete the journey together.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.