Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Adventure of a Lifetime

I sat in my tiny seat in the tiny plane. It was a very small simple plane, one seat on the left, and two seats on the right. I was on the left near the front of the plane, ahead of the wing. This gave me a very good view out my window. It was pitch black except for the city lights below.



I was leaving Abilene very early in the morning, starting an adventure of a lifetime. I was merely plane hopping to Dallas/Ft. Worth, but my next flight took me to San Diego, California. This means I flew over two mountain ranges, the Rockies and the Sierra Mountains. Oh and what beautiful sights they were!











My second flight was completely full and there was a gentleman between me and the window. That didn’t stop me from staring out the window wide-eyed. I fear that I made the gentleman a bit uncomfortable. I didn’t stare non-stop however. I had my Kindle out so I played games and finally did a few jigsaw puzzles. The older gentleman on my left who kept falling asleep while reading the newspaper finally set it down and just watched me do my puzzles until we landed. San Diego airport was terrifying. My plane ticket said Gate CT. CT? I had no idea what that was. All the gates were numbered. I finally found a security guard and he said CT is the Commuter Terminal. I asked where it was. He said that I had to go outside and take the airport loop bus to the terminal. Outside? But that means leaving the safety of gate terminals and going outside. Goodness! Thankfully, I found the bus and found the Commuter Terminal. But I had to go through security again and this time the security guard was less than friendly unlike the one in Abilene. Next it was time to wait. I had already eaten lunch so I just waited. From the two hours I waited in the Commuter Terminal it appears that it is specifically for plane hopping between San Diego and LA. Hence the name. I boarded the plane, finding with excitement that I got the window seat again! I watched San Diego disappear as we ascended to the clouds. Because of the way the California coastline curves, the straightest path is over the ocean so I was able to see the coastline through breaks in the clouds.







Sadly, the majority of my trip was above the clouds. But I caught a gorgeous view of some tall mountains. I wish I knew which mountains these were.





The Los Angeles airport wasn’t that bad, everyone had told me how huge it is and how easy it is to get lost. Well, I must have someone watching over me because the terminal I entered the airport through was directly across from my departure terminal. Thank goodness! And it was a straight line to a restaurant where I could eat dinner. By this point, my body thought it was 5:30 and I was hungry! But it was only 2:30 in LA. I didn’t care, I chowed down on an amazing burrito that I discovered and a gigantic bowl of delicious queso and chips. MMMM! It was dreary in LA. I was very sad because I may never visit LA again and it was raining. Oh well. I got to see it from the sky and it seemed to go on forever! It was dark by the time my plane left after 5 pm Pacific time. But as we rose above the clouds, there was a beautiful sunset.







The sunset quickly turned to darkness and stars. Endless stars. I wish my camera could capture what I saw. I saw thousands upon thousands of stars that seemed to move with the plane as we followed the sun west. There were also the hazes that give the Milky Way Galaxy its name. I couldn’t sleep at first. But eventually sleep won over. It was a 5 ½ hour flight. When I landed in Hilo 9 pm Hawaii time, it was 1 am Texas time. I was exhausted. But I pulled myself up and walked off the plane into a strong odor of wetness. I thought maybe the walkway that attaches to the plane had gotten rained on. Nope! The airport was open. I walked out and found myself on the second level of a covered walkway with waiting areas for what looked like only two terminals, one security checkpoint, and one set of escalators leading down to ground level that was also an open walkway with the baggage pickup conveyer belts. No walls. The airport looked like an oversized tiki hut that you see advertised in paradise vacation brochures. After picking up my luggage, I heard Rosanna shouting my name and she ran up to me and pulled a lei over my head. Welcome! The lei smelled strongly of flowers but I haven’t discovered what flowers they are yet.





I am in Hawaii. What seemed only a dream now has become a reality. It has become my adventure of a lifetime.

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Location: Volcano Volcano

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