Aloha At Last

Aloha! Yes, we finally made it here two days late.

This post may be one of the few I will ever write like this. I am writing about a day in which nearly everything went as well as anyone could want. No grumbles, no complaints, no observations about some jerk or other.

Nope we woke up to 7 above 0 Fahrenheit in Pittsford and went to bed when it was 75 in Honolulu. (You may have noticed by now that I can't figure out how to do the degree sign in this program, but we're all friends so let's not get too hung up).

We got up at 5am to confirm our flight was actually leaving, and packed the last few odds and ends. Sandy and Dave picked us up a little before 6am to go to the airport. We were expecting long lines at security after the scare on Christmas Day, but we had the easiest and fastest time getting through I can ever recall at Rochester Airport.

Waiting to board the plane, they announced it was a full flight, so would everyone do their best to board quickly because they were hoping to -- ready for this? -- leave early so we could all make our connections. And we did!

In Chicago, our next gate was about 150 meters away, and we had about 40 minutes to kill before boarding. Actually most people on the flight were killing their time by standing in one of the longest queues I have ever seen. Apparently the plane was overbooked and people had been given boarding passes without seat assignments, so they all had to line up at the gate to get a seat while they airline begged people to take a really good deal and let them put on a later flight.

Our seats had been assigned when we checked in at Rochester, but we got in the queue just in case there was a problem. But before we got to the desk they called boarding and we took two steps to the left and got in that line. We were on board within seconds.

Once in the air, the stewardess - sorry, flight attendant - insisted we have a second Bloody Mary. "That's the whole point of going to Honolulu," she said. Such wisdom in the air. And then they served what may have been one of the better meals I have had in the air. I watched a great movie - Inglourious Basterds. Then we slept a bit. And we were in Honolulu.

Shirley was waiting at the hotel. She had made sure there was plenty of ice in the freezer. And I had what was my toughest choice of the day - Grey Goose or Absolut.

We were feeling a bit lazy and ordered a pizza and salad to the room. The pizza was fantastic. And by 9 o'clock I discovered that I had stayed on the East Coast long enough to be on their time zone so my body clock thought it was 2am and time for bed. I am pretty sure the Grey Goose had nothing to do with it.

After 8 hours of sleep, LK and I woke up around 5 and dressed to go out and have some coffee while we let Shirl sleep in to a more civilized hour. And for the first time in 5 weeks I was able to put on my retirement uniform - shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. I'm telling you, it's been a very good 24 hours.