Day 1: The Travel Day
The day started at a very reasonable hour (7:00 am), and wbenetti and I were able to leisurely pack our final items (books and toiletries), send out our itineraries to very helpful friends (like ammitnox and disoculated, who picked us up at the airport, and girlie47, who is taking care of our cats), and do my daily Dragon clicking routine. We head to the airport and park in extended parking, where the first part of my travel karma kicked in -- the bus pulled up just as we got out of the car.
At the airport, we had a very pleasant exchange with the woman from American Airlines who checked in our bags (she was sassy!), slipped through a quick and easy security line, and had the breakfast of champions. Afterward, we boarded our flight to Dallas/Fort Worth, during which I devoured a good book with a trashy cover. By the end of the flight, we were a bit peckish, so we decided to have lunch in Dallas.
But, no, times conspired against us. I'm not sure why Travelocity thinks 45 minutes is enough time between flights, but at Dallas/Fort Worth, where you have to ride a tram to another terminal building, we discovered we had to sprint to the tram station, run up escalators, ride the tram, run down escalators, and sprint to the gate. But travel karma was still there with us. The good news? We made it with a minute to spare, so we got some cheap food at the market right across the gate. The better news? James' weekly cardio boot camp sessions means that I was able to keep up with Bill and neither one of us was winded!
The flight was about 8 hours, which gave me more than enough time to get through another trashy-covered novel. We land in Honolulu through some pretty icky turbulence. I get motion sick, so I was not happy, but I got through it. We got some ColdStone, and then we got some Chinese fast food, in that order. High winds are in affect, apparently. Then, last leg, we make it into Lihue, Kaua'i, in about 45 minutes. Sweet!
In a final burst of travel karmic energy, our bags arrive safely and come out in relatively short order. disoculated and ammitnox pick us up at the airport, and we finally get to the Marriot. Everyone else, including hugeboozehound, 224215152, ledbury, and barbzirra, has already arrived and are in the "party room." (The late and light sleepers are all in one room, and the late-nighters/early-risers are all in the socializing room.) We have a couple beers, struggle to make it to 10:45 PM, and finally allow ourselves to head off to bed. ::yawns::