December 22, Saturday

December 22, Saturday

Back in Honolulu Harbour this morning. 

We docked by 7 am.  Only thing left to do is go for breakfast and get off the ship, unfortunately at 8:20, for my 10:30 shuttle to the airport.  At the appointed time I made my way down to the pier to locate my luggage.  Both suitcases were there, however one of the big outer pockets has been almost completely torn off.   Some of my booklets are still there, along with a few other items, but I have no idea if I’m missing anything.  CRAP.  I did not have anything of great value in that pocket since it does not lock and I would probably have a hard time identifying what was missing, if anything, so I decided to just take my suitcases and make my way to the shuttle buses.  It’s not worth wasting time here when everyone is busy unloading luggage for all the passengers who were onboard.

I’m in luck, there is a Roberts Shuttle leaving for the airport every half hour, and they don’t seem to be checking their list of names, so I am able to get on the 9:00 shuttle without any problems.  There are still many empty seats.  

The ride to the airport was quick and in no time I’m dropped off at the “United” area and get in the general line for their flights this morning.  I’m just at the end of the line when a lady comes up to me to tell me my bags have to first be scanned and tagged for the Agricultural verification.  Back out of the line, with both huge suitcases, and return to the scanning area I somehow bypassed.  Both suitcases get scanned and I haul everything back to the line, which thankfully hasn’t grown much since I left it.  I’m half way through the line when I notice that my flight isn’t showing on the “United” departure schedule.  I turn around to talk to the couple behind me and say that my flight isn’t showing.  The lady says that she used to work for airlines (many years ago) and asks to see my flight confirmation documents.  She points to the area where it clearly states “United” and the tiny script underneath it that says “Operated by US Airways”.  She tells me to go check at the counter while she watches my luggage.  Sure enough, they confirm that my flight to Phoenix is with US Airways and that I have to walk over to the next area for the check-in.  Crap, I’m unable to get a luggage cart, and I’m stuck hauling the cases again.  I’ve got the big one on wheels and decide to but the big black soft sided bag I bought in New Zealand (the one that now has a ripped pocket) on top of it so I can push the whole thing along and pull my backpack on wheels behind me.  I make it to the “US Airways” area only to find that there isn’t a soul around.  Seems I’m not the only one who got misdirected; only a short time after I got there a trail of other passengers who had gone through the entire “United” waiting line started arriving.  The signs indicated that the counter would only open 3 hours before the flight was scheduled to leave, so we still had over one hour to wait.  As we reached the ½ hour mark, an airport lady came by to tell us we were supposed to be outside waiting in line for the agricultural check.  When we pointed to our purple tags from the agricultural check for “United” flight she told us those were only good for California, there was a separate check for Arizona.  So I had to move my luggage yet again.  We were getting different information from different people as to which line we should get in.  I decided to stay smack dab in the middle between the two line-ups until I was SURE which line I needed to get into.  Turned out it was neither one!   A new line was just starting to form for the “US Airways” flight and I moved my luggage into that one and waited yet again.   The 3 hour mark came and went and still we weren’t moving.  Turns out the scanner for the agricultural check wasn’t working and we would have to move to another machine.  Noooooo !    Luckily it was just the next machine over and the lady ensured that everyone stayed in the same spot in line for the switch.  Finally, I got through the agricultural check, loaded up the luggage yet again to get to the US Airline check-in counter.  Paid my extra luggage fee and…. Had to move the luggage yet again since the belt wasn’t in the same area!  Of all the times not being able to get a luggage cart, this was the worst day.  I had about 2 hours left before departure and went to have a bite of lunch.  In no time at all it was time to get through security and make my way to gate 20.

I definitely will NOT be missing this part of travelling: airports are always a nightmare.

My flight to Phoenix left at 2:10pm and is scheduled to arrive at 11:15 pm in Phoenix, although it is only a 6 hour flight.  My inner clock is already completely screwed up; this should be interesting.

I caught a glimpse of Maui and the tops of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island in the distance as we flew over.  This past week wasn’t exactly the island hopping I had planned, but I’m glad I got to see the Hawaiian Islands.  A few more check marks on my bucket list. 

The 6 hour flight was extremely rough the entire way; the seatbelt sign was on almost the entire time until we reached the coast of California.

When I came down the escalator at the Phoenix airport, my brother Bruno was there to meet me. 
The first familiar face I’ve seen in 15 ½ months.  It’s good to be home….  Family is home.   

It’s so good to be home and get my hugs in person.