After a fitful evening looking for my cell phone the day
before, where I’d absentmindedly put my permanently-in-silent-mode-cellphone in
my robe only to have Sandy tidy up after me and put my robe back in the bathroom while I was packing with all the
ensuing panic one can imagine for over an hour of frantic searching before I
finally figured out where it went … whoa – run on sentence, where was I even
going with this?
Oh right, so after a restless evening we set the alarm for
6:30 to finish packing/tidying up the house. So much for sleeping in! And here I thought that with the flight not leaving
until noon we’d have chance to catch up on our sleep and take it easy ...
We’re actually late leaving the house and we haven’t even
seen my horse Tessa yet. This, of course, is not something that can be
compromised on so we swing by the barn to give her some loving then it’s
straight to the airport. I hate running late – it makes me so anxious!! What if we forgot something? What if there's traffic? What if ...
But nothing and we arrive at the Hilton right on schedule.
No, we’re not spending the night here; it’s just a lot cheaper to
park here and they have free shuttle service to the airport.
Check-in is a breeze and security is faster than ever which
means there’s time to get a quick meal at Subway before boarding the plane. Whew, that's a good thing because they
aren’t serving any meals during the flight. Kind of strange for a 5+ hour
flight, but if that’s what’s making it cheaper I’m all for it, plus Subway vs. airline food = no contest.
It’s been a while since we’ve flown United; Sandy thinks the
leg room has gotten smaller – I actually feel like I have more space than
normal. Weird. They have the individual media screens in the seatback in front
of you, but it’s all pay-as-you-go direct TV, not a single channel free of
charge. Oh well, we just put the seats back and tried to nap as best we could.
After landing in Los Angeles, we have to switch terminals to
get to our next flight. Fortunately it all runs pretty smoothly so we have time
to get dinner – this time at a place called Ruby’s Dinette; the only viable
option out of a handful of places. Not great, not bad, what can I say?
The second leg of our trip finds us seated right behind an
infant … oh goody I think, but this Dutch (no kidding) baby is just the
quietest thing ever. Awwww, yay for Dutchies!
I’m all tucked in for my nap when I see that they’re
starting to play a movie on the overhead screens. Whoa … Wait a minute … But
that looks like … They’re not supposed to show that movie now?! … OMG! It is
…It’s Chasing Mavericks!!! Only the biggest surf movie of the year that I’d
wanted to see in theaters but somehow missed, is playing during the flight.
Sweet!!!
They play two more movies during the flight, but all I
remember is dozing on and off as soon as Chasing Mavericks ended. When I finally
wake up Wreck It Ralph is playing and try though I might I can’t go back to
sleep. Now, that one I definitely don’t recommend, ugh.
When we land sometime after 8pm, it’s completely dark outside so
there’s no instant "wow Hawaii" moment like las time, but we're too tired to care. Things move pretty fast and we only have to wait for a few minutes
before the Alamo shuttle picks us up.
Alamo is cool because they will let you pick your own car out
of all of the cars in your class, except our choices this late at night are
limited to a Fiat or a Fiat – cars so tiny they almost look like European Smart
cars. Getting the luggage in is a struggle; I manage to bang my knee and strain
my shoulder at the same time and it freaks me out … we’ve got all these
fun activities planned and now I’ve messed up my already messed up shoulder,
argggh!
But what can you do? After a brief discussion about the
pros & cons of upgrading to a bigger car, we decide Tiny Tim is going to
have to do since all of our luggage is already inside and he is kind of cute in
an odd way. Sandy says he actually handles really nicely!
This late at night there’s barely any traffic so we make it to Waikiki in no
time at all, where we check into our hotel for the next two nights; the Waikiki
Gateway Hotel. Parking is a whopping $25 a night, but that’s Waikiki!
Surprise: there’s an ABC store in the building! How neat is that!
I loved going there on our last trip to Hawaii :-)
The lobby is really nice, but when the elevator opens up to
the far less luxurious 5th floor the smell of pot comes wafting into the elevator. But wait, it gets better;
when we walk into the room we're hit with a strong stench of urine. Blergh, it’s like
sticking your nose in a urinal … honestly, if I’d been even partially awake I
would’ve gone back downstairs and requested another room, but my eyes had
seen the bed and that was the end of that.
On to the fun stuff tomorrow!
Hello darlings;
ReplyDeleteThank god the password was oke.
Oh, I know the feeling. I hate running late too. Everything has to be meticulously prepared in advance or I will freak out.
I don't like smelly hotel rooms neither.
love and kisses,
Joeve