Sunday, August 17, 2008

another second chance

My Way Sunday
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modern technology

[Thanks to my dear wife, we are able to reproduce some of the pictures we took, as would be typical of what you would see on a trip like this.]
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Aloha, y'all - Part 1

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our base of operations
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Common Hawai'ian Words:

aloha - love, hello, welcome, goodbye
hale - house
kane - man
luau - traditional Hawaiian feast
mahalo - thank you
mauka - a directional, toward the mountans
makai - a directional, toward the sea
pau - finished, complete
poi - staple food made from taro
wahine - woman
lei - garland, usually of flowers, but also of leaves or shells
. . . . .Diamond Head crater rim
. . . . .

We experienced a wonderful celebration of our time together. We visited most of the island in our 5-days and 5-nights there. We saw typical tourists sites and we visited with a number of friends who live on the island in the Kailua area [eastern windward side of the island].

We visited only the Island of O'ahu, which is home to Honolulu, the state capital. It is not the biggest of the islands in the state, but is the most inhabited.
. . . . .looking east towards Waikiki Beach [in distance]
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The island of O'ahu is divided into five main parts:
  1. Waikiki/Honolulu Side: contains Honolulu International Aiport, Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor, Manoa Falls, University of Hawaii, Diamond Head Beach Park, Ala Moana Beach Park, Hanauma Bay State Park, KoKo Head Mountain, Sandy Beach Park, just to mention a few.
  2. Windward Shore: contains Kailua Beach Park, Lanikai Beach, Polynesian Cultural Center, Kaneohe Beach Park, Chinaman's Hat, the Mormon Temple, just to mention a few.
  3. North Shore: contains Turtle Bay Resort, Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay Beach Park, Waimea Falls and Gardens Hike, Turtle Beach/Laniakea Beach, Hidden Beach, just to mention a few.
  4. Leeward Shore: Kahe Point Beach Park, Makaha Beach, Ko Olina Resort and Marina, Waianae, Kaneana Cave, just to mention a few.
  5. Central O'ahu: contains the Dole Plantation,Wahiawa Botanical Garden, World's Largest Maze, just to mention a few.
at the Dole Plantation
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In The beginning

On Friday night August 8, we stayed the night at an Indianapolis hotel near the airport. We needed to be at the airport at 7am to begin our adventure - and an adventure it truly was ... right from the beginning.

The plane was full.

Our itinerary was to take us from Indianapolis to Dallas to Honolulu - all via American Airlines.

Our first Indianapolis plane never left the gate.

A mechanical problem with a hydraulic pump left us stuck there. No replacement pump was available locally. The nearest was in Chicago. They could, and would, get one to Indianapolis in several hours, but that was a sure way to miss all those connections out of Dallas for many of those on board - including us.

All passengers whose final destination was Dallas - Ft Worth [DFW] were set aside as a seperate group. They would be placed on other flights going to or through DFW. Those who were making connections through DFW, like us going to Hawai'i, were then worked with individually to place on other flights to get us to where we were intending to go.

American Airlines
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The net result for us was a rearranged itinerary - new flight plans and new time-table. We were now getting to Hawai'i by adding a stop.

Indianapolis to Chicago
Chicago to LosAngeles
Los Angeles to Honolulu

Our arrival in Honolulu was originally scheduled for 3:40pm Honolulu time [6 hours behind, or 9:40pm Indianapolis]. Our new arrival time was now set for 5:55pm Honolulu time [11:55pm Indianapolis] - only 2:15 behind our original schedule. Not too bad. Our arrival in Chicago was just in time to make our connection. The flight to LosAngeles was in the process of boarding when we arrived at the gate - but we made it.
[to be continued]
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