Nobody In Tow

The day finally arrived! Time for the kids to go to Camp Hendrickson for a week and Rob and I to go to Hawaii! Well, Rob and I aren't going to Hawaii together. He's had to be there with the Air Force and I flew out separately. Two flights all by myself, to read, watch movies, and drink over priced Chardonay.

But before I could enjoy all of that I have to pick up the kids and get them off to Jenni's. This was kind of a pain because I was packing them and myself for two different things. It's much easier to just throw it all in one suitcase!!

I tried fitting it all in this bag. It's not big enough for a whole week for two kids. So I ended up going with a bigger one.

Here are my post it notes, this time color coordinated. Things I needed to do for the kids were pink, things for me, orange.

Traveling by myself allows me to pack a much different carry-on. iPad for my own personal use, a month's worth of back issues of People magazine, a nice, long book I can read uninterrupted. Instead of bringing a whole large guidebook, I just photocopied the pages I needed.  The red and white rectangle is a reusable coffee sleeve I crocheted, I planned to drink a lot of Kona coffee!

I bought these party flats last year and they are awesome to use as slippers on the plane. I can take my shoes off and put these on to be comfortable.  Then I can still get up and go to the lavatory if I need to. Bonus, the shiny pink color makes the bag easy to find in my carry-on.

I also pack this little kit of essentials. It's always nice to freshen up before you land.  The blue stuff is mouthwash that I got last year from first class.

Packing done, it was time to drop off the dog and the kids. Anne and Ryan were so excited to be going to Jenni's they barely had time to give me a hug or kiss. I'm sure they will miss me, but in the moment it was all excitement.

This is where I parked at CVG.  It's always helpful to take a picture!
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There was a long line at security, so I was grateful for my TSA precheck. I arrived at the gate in plenty of time to people watch. No first class for me this time, but I did get economy comfort, which was nice. More leg room, free adult beverages, and free headphones.

The sound quality was actually not that great and made it a little hard to hear My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

Sorry, I guess I should tell you that my first leg was CVG to LAX. Flying over LA I saw smog and that concrete river where the drag race in Grease took place. So it was exactly what I was expecting. Then I got to stand in line for 10 minutes for the ladies' room, which was less than awesome after a long flight.

An hour later my flight to Honolu was boarding. Again I had Economy Comfort and this time it was a window seat.

Can you see the Flight Attendant with the tray of Mai Teis? Yeah, those were for first class only. I missed it by two rows! Actually, since Hawaii is a domestic flight, it's nearly impossible to get first as a non-rev. For both of my flights there were over 20 paying customers trying to upgrade to first class. Obviously they go first and get those drinks. And the meal.

In no time at all we took off and were winging our way to Hawaii!!  I have no fear of flying, I think I'm a pretty good traveller unless the air is bumpy.  However, looking out of my window over the wing and seeing California fading in the distance was a little creepy.  Nothing but ocean for thousands of miles!

Now here's a little story about the first time Rob and I went to Hawaii in 2010.  We were talking about our flight to the island (this was before we worked for an airline and we actually bought tickets!) and I said, "how many people does it take to hand out leis to everyone getting off all the flights?"  He off course looked at me like I was crazy.  I explained that in the movies and on tv, everyone who flies to Hawaii gets a lei when they get off the plane.  After a long chuckle he said that they don't do that in real life.  

Fast forward a few weeks to when we landed in Honolulu and there was a man holding a sign in the terminal that said "Schneider" and two leis.  My awesome husband had arranged a lei service, how awesome is he??

Fast forward again to 2016.  Since Rob was flying for the Air Force, he wasn't able to meet me at the airport.  He did arrange for Robert's Hawaii to bring me to the hotel, which was awesome.  And of course, I got lei service again.  

Actually, in my world, you do get a lei every time you land in Hawaii. ;)