Hawaii '09

April 25th - A Loooong Day's Travel

We were up at 'dark o'clock' on Saturday morning in order to make our 6:00 a.m. flight to Montreal and then Los Angeles. While Chico, our feline tenant, fretted and paced, we hurried to get ready for the taxi pickup at 4:30. I was surprised with a 4:15 'wakeup call' from a friend in Orlando (thanks Freddie, my love) and with a last few treats for Chico we were off. We arrived at our quaint local airport in plenty of time for a muffin and some juice, and a chance to wake up before the flight to Montreal.

An hour and a half later we touched down in 'la belle province' at the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport, with the softest landing I have ever experienced. With an hour and a half between flights, we had sufficient time to collect our luggage, present ourselves at U.S. Customs, and clear security for the flight to Los Angeles.

Flying time to Los Angeles was 6 hours, plenty of time to have an onboard meal (purchased of course - the days of free meals in Air Canada coach class are long gone). We also had time to watch 2 full-length movies on the on-demand entertainment system, choosing 'Yes Man' starring Jim Carrey, and 'Quantum of Solace' with Daniel Craig. The comedy was excellent, and the James Bond movie was equally good. We passed the rest of the flight by listening to the XM radio selections.

Landing in sunny but slightly cool weather in Los Angeles, (actually colder in LA than back home in Fredericton!) we collected our bags and called for the Travelodge Motel shuttle. I had reserved a day room as a place to store our bags and grab a quick nap before our 6 p.m. flight to Hawaii. After checking in and depositing the luggage, we headed to Denny's for lunch, then went back to the room to chill out and watch a baseball game. We caught the 3:30 shuttle to the airport, grabbed a white chocolate mocha at Starbucks, and boarded the Hawaiian Airlines plane for the 5 and 1/2 hour flight to Honolulu.

A word about Hawaiian Airlines - very nice plane with an equally nice crew. The flight attendants wear casual Hawaiian shirts rather than the smart but stuffy business suits of most airlines. The inflight safety announcements were broadcast over the tv screens , and the entire flight was done with a minimum of interruptions for those of us who were trying to grab a quick nap. A small Mediterranean salad and chocolate brownie were served complimentary, but access to the inflight movie/music was $5. Since the only movie choice was 'Marley and Me", we declined, and passed our time reading, writing this blog and trying to get some much-needed sleep.

We arrived at 8:20 and after a 15 minute wait for bags we were in a cab (with a friendly cab driver who chatted and welcomed us to Hawaii) headed for the Wyland Waikiki, a boutique hotel with a great location decorated throughout with the Wyland marine life art. After a step out on the balcony to enjoy the view of the lighted pool area and the fresh night air, we headed out for a bite to eat. Bedtime came much too late, after having been up for over 26 hours.

Tomorrow: A tour of Oahu's North Shore, and embarkation.