Farewell to Paradise

Saturday morning was a sad day.  It was our final day in Hawaii, and Jason and Michelle had an early flight and needed to leave about 9:00.   Taryn and I bid our new friends farewell and Ryan and Amy bid their old friends farewell.

We had to check out of our beautiful house by 11:00.  We all packed up our suitcases, and did what we could to clean up the house a bit.  All this was finished by 10:00.  At that point, we all sat at the kitchen table, stretching out the time as long as we could.  None of us wanted to leave.  I pulled out the guest book and jotted down a note to the owners of the Falls at Reeds Island.  At about 10 minutes to 11:00 the owners showed up to begin cleaning the house for the next renters, and we decided it was best for us to leave.

Our flights were at 4:00pm.   Ryan and Amy went to the airport and decided to wait there until the flight.  Taryn and I decided to take advantage of a few hours, and decided to go to a vegan Indian restaurant down the street that we’d both been wanting to try.  We headed over to it at 11:30, to find that it was closed until 2:30.  Bummer.  Instead we went to a Thai restaurant right around the corner, called Chang Mai  Oddly we both were intrigued by the same dish, entitled “The Evil Dish.”   I ordered it with chicken, and of course Taryn ordered it with Tofu. 

After lunch, Taryn and I went to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens.  This garden was nestled into a valley, and did not disappoint with its lush array of tropical plants.  It also had an aviary with several parrots in it.  We sat on a bench in front of it for a few minutes watching the birds and were pleasantly amused, when one of the parrots said very clearly, “Aloha.”  He seemed to like our reaction, so he repeatedly said it over and over again to maintain our attention, occasionally throwing in a “Hello” or a “pretty bird”.  Finally he said “Goodbye,” and we got up and continued walking through the gardens. 

After finishing our walk through the gardens, we headed over to the Hilo airport, checked our bags, and went through security.  This is a tiny airport, and there were more employees than passengers around it seemed.   We met up with Ryan and Amy, and did a little bit of souvenir shopping.  Finally it was time to board our flight to Honolulu.  We were spread throughout the plane on this flight, but it was only 45 minutes or so, so no one really cared. 

Upon landing in Honolulu,  we had another 4 hours to wait before our flight to Los Angeles.  Taryn and I had planned on heading  over to Pearl Harbor, while Ryan and Amy again planned to relax in the airport.  We exited and found a cab, however when we asked to go to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, he informed us that it was too late in the day, and it was closed.  I asked what other stops would be worthwhile for our 4 our layover, and he suggested dinner and drinks in Waikiki.  This sounded good to us, so we took the 20 minute drive, and found a bar/restaurant with live music, and a balcony over looking Waikiki beach, where we each enjoyed a MaiTai (and a few other drinks) as we took in the Hawaiian sunset for one  last time. 

Sunset over Waikiki Beach

After an hour and a half or so, it was time to head back to the airport.  We found a cab, and headed back.  The next 12 hours we knew would not be fun.  We had a 5 hour flight to LAX, landing at 5:00am Sunday morning.   Taryn and I had again gotten upgraded to first class.  Unfortunately, this plane did not have lie flat seats.  First class did of course come with free drinks so we had a few of those before pushing  the seats back and doing our best to sleep.  Ryan and Amy crammed themselves into coach, and also tried to get some rest.  When we landed in LA, I don’t think I ever quite woke up.  I stumbled off the plane, found a section of floor, and lay down and went back to sleep for a half an hour.  When it was time for the flight to DFW, I stumbled on the plane, and also got set to go to sleep. 

RJ came up to first class to give us crap for again flying with the first class snobs, but was quickly ushered away back to the little people by the flight attendant.  After this 3 hour flight, we landed in Dallas.  Taryn, RJ, and Amy were home.  I said goodbye to all of them, and went off to find my gate for the final flight to Nashville, noticing that the airport seemed exceptionally crowded today.   I pulled out my phone to check the American Airlines app to see what gate I was at, and was surprised to see the words: “Cancelled” after my flight.  Great.

I was exhausted and in no mood for this.  I looked for an American Airlines counter, and the first 3 I found each had a line of over 100 people.  Outside it was storming, and clearly many flights were being impacted.  I continued walking and finally found a desk at gate A29 with only a few people in line.  Meanwhile I let Taryn know that I was apparently stuck.  They were all still waiting for baggage, and offered to take me with them if I wanted, but I said I’d stick it out.  When I got to the front of the line, I gave the agent my ticket expecting the worst.  As he started typing on his computer, a surprised look crossed his face, and he said, “I can get you on a plane for Nashville….that is boarding now!  You will need to run like the wind.  It is at gate A8.”  People around me looked at me in shock and envy, and one actually said “Man are YOU lucky!!!”   I snatched the ticket, and took of running, screaming over my shoulder “You are my hero!!!”.

I ran top speed weaving through the sea of humanity in the airport with my 2 carry-on bags.  When I finally got to the gate sweaty, out of breath and exhausted, they had closed the door, and were in the process of removing people from the flight that hadn’t shown up, while  an eager line of stand-by’s hoped they’d get a seat.  They let me on, and I settled into my seat. 

An hour and a half later I landed in Nashville and headed to baggage claim.  I knew my bags would not show up given the last minute change, and this was proven correct.  I headed home, figuring I didn’t need anything from my bag anyway.  (It ultimately got delivered to my house over 24 hours later.)  I ordered an UberX car and jumped in. 

The driver was very quiet, and I spent the 15 minute drive home reflecting on what was a phenomenal week, spent under the ocean, climbing mountains, and flying over volcanoes.  In addition to leaving with hundreds of photos of places we’ve been and awesome memories, we also left with deeper friendships---something which you cannot put a price on.