To get to the airport ahead of our 6am flight on Friday, we planned to take the Megabus on Thursday at 1:30. The weather warnings to our west had us a little worried. However, after being dropped at the bus station on at 1:15 by our friend Karen, the bus trip was uneventful. We took a shuttle to the hotel with 12 very happy travelers who had just returned from a week in Cuba. Our large back packs stood out in the luggage pile!
So far, just milk chocolate.
Our shuttle left the hotel at 3am and our driver, Samir, lead a full-on "Cash Cab" style quiz show. Totally unexpected and so much fun. Security and US customs were a breeze. Usually we get nailed for some camping gear violations, so that was a nice change. We boarded the plane for New York on time and were thilled when the captain informed us that the flight time was 1 hour. Our tickets clearly said 2 hours and we were excited that we'd get an extra hour between flights as the turn around time was just 55 mins.
Now that's little more like hazel nut mocha.
However, one hour soon became 2:15. Here's the math - delay the take off by 30 minutes due to a noise ordinance...really? Add 45 waiting for a gate in New York. Suddenly, we are nearly running between the A and B gates at JFK. Sweating, we board the plane without having to wait in line. At 9 am, our scheduled depart time, the captain informs us that we have a problem.
Orange cream. That's all I have to say about that.
Five hours and 2 planes later we finally left the tarmac. The crew were amazing and we loaded up on free snacks, but our 3 pm arrival time in Honolulu was no longer. That meant a night time, two-hour bus ride. On the way, met Anne, a retired teacher who told us about her recent work teaching in China and a young couple, Aurora and Braxton, whose car had just broken down. They gave us some good hiking (and pie) advice. We missed the stop for our camp ground and had to walk a bit. We crossed the highway to enter the campground and the place was empty. Complete ghost town. It was 10:47. Twenty-four hours and 7 minutes after our "Day" began and we had no place to stay.
Nothing but raisin-mint.