Hawaiian Adventure???

When I set out to have a Hawaiian adventure…this is not exactly what I signed on for.

I envisioned a quick and easy flight that would whisk me off to a tropical paradise…and yet, here I sit in a Holiday Inn in Los Angeles, using what meager supplies I have in my carry-on baggage to get me through the day…until I can board a plane tonight, exactly 24 hours late, to whisk off onto that adventure.

The original plan had me flying from St. Louis to Dallas, with a short layover before flying to Los Angeles, with a two-hour layover before the final flight to Kona, Hawaii. As our group (there are ten of us) was getting ready to board our flight in St. Louis yesterday morning, the gate agents suddenly shut the door to the gateway and announced that there would be "no more boarding" - due to "mechanical issues."

Uh oh.

So, we sat back down. And waited. And waited. And waited. At least half of us were in the terminal area, with access to drinks and restrooms…the other half of the passengers were stuck on the plane, where it was cold, and benefits were limited.

Eventually, they opened the door back up for boarding, got the rest of us on the plane, and then we…proceeded to wait. Again.

A long story short - by the time we finally took off and arrived in Dallas, we had long missed our connection to Los Angeles. Pretty much all 180 passengers on the plane missed their connections, and so we had to stand in line - behind approximately 150 of them - as ONE SINGLE SOLITARY GATE AGENT at the airport tried to fix things.

Gah.

We stood in that line for close to two hours.

I wanted to throw myself down on the floor and have a screaming temper tantrum, but I withheld…only because there was a mother and her two-year old daughter right in front of me, and I didn't want to set a bad example. Actually, that toddler handled it better than any of us did, happily playing with her iPad and sipping her juice and munching her Cheerios. And there you have it. Juice and Cheerios can make all the difference - the airlines should pass that stuff out next time to those of us standing in lines, and our frustration levels would go WAAAAY down.

We eventually made out way to the top of the summit front of the line, where we were told that our only option was to catch a later flight to Los Angeles, spend the night there, and then catch a 5:45 pm flight to Hawaii.

Oh joy - WE GET VOUCHERS!!!

I've actually never had to get a voucher…never. In all of my traveling around the world, I guess I've been lucky - or not - depending on how you look at it - in that I've never gotten a voucher. And not just for a room at a Holiday Inn…but $19 for FOOD!!! (Which, I am sure, will go FAR in Los Angeles. Squeeeeeee.)

It's interesting…before I left on this trip, I had told my husband that my goal was to work on my patience. If you know me - you know that I don't always adapt well to changes in my well-laid plans. I can sorta'…flip out. I have to say, I'm doing remarkably well so far, and I've had no flips. Yet. But the trip is young.

So…anyway…today, I should finally be back on my way to paradise. Once there, our group will be camping at a Methodist camp near Hilo, Hawaii - where we will be doing a lot of manual/physical labor at the camp. Landscaping, building walls, tearing out stumps, pruning the fruit & nut orchards, laying pavers, sanding/painting camp walls - we'll spend the next two weeks doing labors of love. Throw in some sight-seeing, and it should be an awesome trip.

If I can ever get there.

Peace (and patience).