Best Lei'd Plans

Things have changed a lot since we originally planned this trip.  I (David) think it was back in October that Karen got one of those ads in the mail for a vacation package in Maui.  It seemed like (and, hopefully, will be) a good deal - five nights at the Westin Ka’anapali in Maui, including a rental car and partial credit towards food, etc.  You were even able to pick your dates, within a certain window. 

Since we wanted to go visit Basil anyway, this trip seemed ideal.  Spend a few nights at a resort in Maui and then fly over and spend a week with Basil on Molokai.  So, we asked Basil what dates would be best for him, and between us, decided we would commence with our trip to Maui on February 22, 2015.  We were also excited to meet Basil’s new significant other, Lynn, who was planning to be in Molokai for our visit. 

Well, at least that was the plan!  Unfortunately, Lynn had eye surgery earlier in the year, and it did not turn out so well.  That required her to have the surgery again to repair the mistakes.   So, in January we found out that Lynn would be having another surgery in February.  Not only that, but the surgery would be done in Illinois.  So, not only would we not be meeting Lynn, we would also be missing Basil, as he went to Illinois to take care of Lynne during her recovery.  Best lei’d plans…  pun intended!   

Hmmm, dilemma for us….  It was too late to cancel the Maui portion of the trip, as we would lose the full payment we had made.  We opted to cancel our trip to Molokai and just go to Maui.  Maybe next time, Basil!  Sorry about that!  Please give Lynn our best wishes for a quick recovery.

Of course, when we planned our trip to Maui, we picked a time that we assumed would be cold - and either rainy or snowy - in Oregon.  We assumed we would be escaping a week of miserable winter to enjoy warmth and wonderful sunshine in Hawaii!  As it turned out, the whole week before our trip was absolutely gorgeous in Oregon, with nary a cloud in the sky.  Go figure!  But that does not mean we won’t enjoy the sunshine and even warmer weather in Maui!  The forecast calls for lows of 68 and highs of 81 for the duration of our trip!  Pool, beach and ocean, here we come!

Of course, our first stop this morning was the Hood River Starbucks to say good-bye for the week to our friends there.  Then it was off to beautiful PDX (voted the best airport in the U.S., and for good reason) this morning.   There were clear, blue skies in Portland today also, by the way - quite unusual for February.  Of course, we also made a stop at the airport Starbucks for good measure.

  

I was prepared for a relaxing flight to Hawaii aboard Alaska Airlines.  I love Alaska Airlines.  Prompt departure times, the best gates at PDX, assigned seats, and real food available!  As expected, we taxied out of the gate to the minute of the scheduled departure time.  Unless my watch was off, we actually left a minute early.  Off we went, into the wild blue yonder!  We weren’t paying much attention after take-off because we were rather excited about the trip.  Karen was working on the New York Times crossword puzzle, and I was pretending that I was helping her. J   I did notice, however, that we seemed to be over land for an awfully long time.  Twenty minutes or so into our flight, we were still in familiar Oregon territory.  Our seat mate looked out the window and asked someone “What mountains are those?”  The response was “That is Mount Hood.”  “Impossible,” I thought to myself.  “We have been flying west for twenty minutes, that can’t possibly be Hood.”  And yet, incredulously, it was Mt. Hood.  This was the first indication that something was wrong.  About this time, the Captain comes on the intercom and says “Folks, you might wonder why we haven’t left the Portland area yet.”  Duh, no doubt!  “We have an auto pilot problem” he says, “and we haven’t figured out what to do about it.  So we are going to just stay right here in the clear skies over Portland till we get it figured out.  We will keep you posted.”

Of course, Karen is calm, cool and collected and says “nothing to worry about David, stay calm.”  Or was it the other way around?   Was she clutching my arm and saying “we’re going to die!”  Must have been one of those things.  Anyway, after another ten or fifteen minutes the Captain comes back on and says “Well folks, we’ve got it figured out.  We’re going to Seattle!”  We haven’t been to Seattle since last winter, so that sounds good to us.  And besides, Seattle is only about twenty minutes from Portland. 

Twenty minutes or so later, the Captain makes a beautiful, reduced flap landing in Seattle.  Fire engines escort us down the runway and, for some reason, find it necessary to foam down the brakes on our plane.  I don’t see why, as we did no excessive braking.  But whatever.

I have to tell you though, Alaska has their act together.  We taxi to the terminal, sit waiting on the plane for about fifteen minutes, deplane at gate 9 and go to gate 17, where they already have a plane waiting for us!  Not like the last time we flew American Airlines and had to spend an extra night in Miami because of a mechanical issue on takeoff.  All told, it took less than half an hour or so for them to get the baggage switched and get us onto a new plane.  We had to wait on the plane another twenty minutes or so for catering to get there and bring food and beverage. 

Once on board and seated, they announced that we would each be getting two free drinks enroute, not counting the free mai-tai service they normally provide enroute to Hawaii.

 

We would also be getting discounts on our next flight.  And a free dinner-type snack due to the plane issues - an excellent fruit and cheese tray along with a nice red blend from the Canoe Ridge Vineyards in Walla Walla, Washington.  Not bad. 

As if this wasn’t enough excitement, there was a medical emergency on our plane.  Someone two rows in front of us had some sort of a diabetic shock.  Luckily there was a doctor on board (or at least someone who plays a doctor on TV) to attend to the patient.  I told you, I love Alaska!

We arrived into the Maui airport a bit after 6 p.m.  Here's another Starbucks at the Maui airport.

 By the time we pick up our rental car and drove to the hotel, we had just a bit of a walk around the property, then fell into bed.

 

Hope everyone has a great evening, and aloha from Hawaii!

With love,

David and Karen