I can’t believe that Christmas is over, and 2006 is winding down. It has been the most memorable year for family and friends- lots of new babies, new job, Maui, engagements, retirements, milestone birthdays, etc.
It’s been awhile since the last blog entry, and so I’ll break things down into chapters instead of one big entry.
The big thing is that we packed everyone up and had a family vacation in Maui- Ka’anapali and Kihei. We were apprehensive at the thought of travelling with e being just shy of 4 months… but until she’s 2 years old, she flies for free. Plus we had Uncle Henry and Aunt Doreen (UH/AD) on our flight to give us a hand, and some potential baby sitters in Maui.
We were to leave Dec 15th at 7am to catch a 10am flt with Harmony. The night before, we were madly packing and trying to get all the logistics sorted out. In the end we managed to get to bed just after midnight… just in time for the biggest storm we’ve ever seen roll in. First the wind- our windows are double paned and framed by plastic, glue, and compression fitted rubber seals. They generally stand up well to the elements, but that night we felt the building vibrate when the winds were gusting. I could hear the window and frame groan and creak as the wind whipped at it from the west- to the point where I was really concerned the windows were going to be blown right into the bedroom. Although the windows were fully closed, the blinds INSIDE the window would move everytime a blast of wind came roaring. The rain driven into the window sounded like someone was shooting an automatic BB gun.
In the distance, we could see lightning- blue and red, but we couldn’t hear the thunder?!
About 3:30am, I hear a LOUD crash upstairs. I went up to take a look, and found our big deck chair flipped over and on top of our hatch. The top part was wedged in, so I couldn’t open the hatch to free it.
6am rolls by, and we find that the power is out. Great. We still have to finish packing and get baby ready. We groped around in the dark and found our LED headlamps, flashlights, and lit some candles. Somehow we manage to get all our stuff together in time for our ride to the airport. We checked our flight, and it was still on time. The worst was over.
At the airport, we went to long term parking and took a shuttle in. The windows were fogged so we couldn’t see where our stop was, and the driver didn’t say anything and continued to Domestic Departures. 🙁
Ok, so we’ll unload and hoof it back all the way to US Departures… a good walk, but we were doing ok for time. Halfway there, E realizes that we left the base for our carseat on the shuttle. The carseat won’t work without the base. Argh.
Think fast… ok, the radio is faster than me trying to run around to find the shuttle. So I run over to customer service and ask them to radio the shuttle. They can’t do that, so they had to call around to find out which company runs the shuttle service. After a few anxious moments, they found someone who could contact them. They then instruct me to go downstairs and meet the shuttle.
Ok, I went down to the stop, waited a bit and the shuttle comes around. I talk to the driver, and he tells me that he dropped the seat off to the Long term parking kiosk. Hop in and he’ll give me a lift.
So here we go back out to Long term parking. We can’t leave without the base, and E can’t check-in without me. I check the time, and we’re getting near 9am.
We get to the kiosk, and the attendant there informs the driver that the base is on another bus, and they don’t know which one. 😐
At this point, I’m trying to goto my happy place.
The driver then gets on the Radio “This is 1, looking for 4…” “This is 1, looking for 9…” “Does anyone see Mike…” “Is his radio working”
Time is now accelerating as we’re getting close to our departure time. After an eternity of trying to raise the shuttle, the other driver responds that he’s at Domestic. My driver tells him to hold and he’ll meet him. We race off to Domestic where indeed, the driver and carseat base is there. Whew! I shake his hand and thank him for all his help. I then realize I’m back at Domestic and need to run all the way back to US Dep with a carseat.
I get there, we check in, go through security, and found out that we were pretty damn close to missing the flight. The staff at check-in were getting panicky that I wasn’t there on time, and would miss the flight. In the end, we made it to the gate and got on the flight.
The guy next to us was nice enough to move seats so E, e, and I could have a row to ourselves. I think he also wasn’t thrilled about being next to an infant, but hey it worked out for everyone…
Next chapter- Winter to summer in 5 hours.