Are We There Yet?

April 12-13, 2024

We left Hawaii. Our Lyft driver was a friendly Native Hawaiian named Kata. He is a rugby player and coach. We talked about sports and mentioned we were from Alaska. Naturally the conversation turned to snow. Kata wanted to know how much we got, how you walked on it, etc. He said it was too bad Alaskans couldn’t do sports in the winter. I said we have lots of winter sports, especially skiing. He said he meant “outdoor sports.” We said skiing is an outdoor sport. He said he meant sports you do on the grass, like rugby. Oh.

I hope he gets to go somewhere with a lot of snow some day. I think he will like it.

So we got to the airport and check-in and boarding went well. People are far less pushy about boarding in Hawaii. But still, after showing up three hours early, to allow for (non-existent) traffic and (non-existent) TSA lines, is how a 9-hour flight becomes a 12+ hour flight. It’s just something to be endured.

They kept us fed and watered, and we were given pillows and blankies and iPads full of movies. I finally got to see the Barbie movie. It was quite funny.

Comfy seats with mattress pads, comforters and pillows were waiting for us.

Ken enjoys a pre-flight Hawaiian Airlines Signature Mai Tai.

The Japanese-style meal was yummy, though the fried lotus root was like eating cardboard.

Best part of the meal: an origami salt and pepper holder/Aloha shirt.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. The walk from our gate to the immigration checkpoint was quite long, but after so much sitting, it was a good opportunity to stretch. 

We took a taxi to our hotel. Almost the whole ride was either underground or in a channelized, walled-off roadway. Not interesting, but over with quickly.

The hotel seems quiet tonight. Our bed beckons.

Today’s fabric is the Kū Mākou print designed for the Hawaiian Airlines uniforms in 2016. Kū Mākou means “We stand together.”

This photo comes from Hawaiian Airlines MEC (association of flight attendants).