Because Every Flight Has a Story...

If I don’t have a story to tell at the end of a flight, things were just too smooth.

And really, things were mostly smooth.  Nothing too exciting between Tulsa and Denver. The most of excitement there was the blast of cold air when I stepped off the plane. (They are not in the OK heat wave there.)  My flight between the mainland and Honolulu was one of the smoothest I have ever had.  Minimal turbulence.  I think the seat-belt sign came on twice, and that only lasted a few minutes.  The best part of all was the fact I could watch The Greatest Showman as many times as I wanted. :)

But when I got off the plane, things didn’t go so smoothly.  I mentioned earlier that I’m flying the “island hopper.”  Because the layover is too long, TSA requires that I get my luggage in Hawaii.  This particular year, I have one giant suitcase at 63lbs. Another giant suitcase at 57lbs. A rolling carryon with a projector in (so not exactly light), and my backpack (with a laptop, a tablet, my Bible, etc).  I have a LOT of luggage.  I already had resigned to the fact that I would pay the million dollars for a car. (It was only $5. I was afraid it would be worse.)  Then I waited..and waited…and waited.  It was over an hour from the time the flight landed until my luggage popped out. (And mine is tagged priority—it should be one of the first out. Riiiiggghhhht.)

Now the trouble starts.  My phone won’t make a call.  It keeps saying, “please enter the area code and number you are trying to call” over and over.  Hello! I AM entering the area code and number I am trying to call. Grrrrr. I have never had phone troubles in Hawaii. Ever.  But, two weeks ago my phone did the same thing when I was in New Mexico. 

Anyway, I needed to call my hotel for my free shuttle. But after a billion attempts, I decided I would push my rolling cart with my five billion pounds of luggage up a small hill where I wouldn’t be under all the concrete and try to call.  Well, the rolling cart fell over.  Luggage flew everywhere. Three people came to the rescue and it took all of us to get the luggage back on there. (They were so nice! You know, Perry would be a lot of help if he would build some muscles and help me carry this stuff.) Finally, I gave up on the phone and took a taxi.

The taxi company wasn’t too happy to take me one mile. Then the driver was really mad. He kept telling me they have a shuttle. “I KNOW!!!” I wanted to yell.  I kept trying to explain my phone wouldn’t work.  If they had a phone I could use…Well, cranky taxi driver took me, complaining about my luggage the entire way.  (Which was actually only 0.8miles and a couple of minutes.)  My fare was $8.  I was going to give him a $10.  When I asked how much (just to double check I read the meter correctly), he said, “$10 because your luggage is too heavy.”  That made me mad, and I almost said, “Here’s your $8 that I owe you and forget the tip.”

Thankfully, the guys at the hotel were super nice.  Some of the friendliest front desk people I have ever had. Super cheery. Helpful. Kind. Yes, I'm in Hawaii, but I'm not on the beach. I'm in an airport hotel...the old one...the cheap one.  But it is super clean, has air con, a hot shower, and a nice bed. (There's a pool too, but I'm too tired to care.)  

Sadly, my phone still won't make a call. My parents called me on my hotel land line so I could fill them in on my adventures.  And now, even thought it is only 6:16pm local time. I'm going to bed, so I can do all this insanity all over again.  

(Note: to me, it is almost midnight. And I only had 4 hours of sleep. And I started my day at 3:30am.  I tried to proof the blog, but I'm too tired to care.)