Oakland airport, 7:20...
We are headed for Hawaii... We arrive with tickets, but without boarding passes... We check a couple of bags... Still no boarding passes... Those will be issued at the gate...
Security was easy and pretty quick...
We check in at the gate... They take our tickets and tell us they will call us... We wait... They are boarding the air plane... Asking people to gate check their carry ons... But we still don't have boarding passes... They call VIP boarding.. They board those who have voluntarily gate checked their bags... They are calling the first general boarding... Starting with the rear of the plane... We still don't have boarding passes...
The lovely Tina cheeks with the gate staff again... Our boarding passes are ready, but they have not called us (yet?)
We have seats together, 29 a & b... Last row... In the first general boarding group... Which had long since started to board... We line up for boarding, but things are going slowly... The line is confused... Everybody is ling up, but they are only boarding the last ten rows... (& 1st class of course, and "million mile club members", & anyone else with special status) but not those seated in rows 9 through 19... But many of those seated in rows 9 through 19 have lined up with those of us in the higher numbered rows... Or worse yet are just crowding the gate, waiting to jump into line once their row is called... We make it to the head of the line where a very pleasant gate attendant was inviting passengers to place their "lovely bag" into her "very lovely bag size check thingie..." Many, most would not fit... Some passengers were repacking, in hope that it might fit... Some argued... Others just surrendered their luggage.. T and I had checked bags, and were only carrying smaller, acceptable bags, and made for the jetway, and our seats...
The strict interpetation of the carry-on rules worked, and once on board, there was little of the too common ritual stuffing of too large bags into the over head bins. Alaska tried something I hadn't seen before... If you surrendered a bag for gate check you got on ahead of the other passengers...of course they didn't have over size carry-ons to hog space in the overheads, didn't block the aisles as the boarded, (not having to stuff over size, over weight bags into the overhead)... As a result, boarding went pretty well.
We took our seats, which being very last row, didn't recline... But the seats ahead of us did... I figure we had a space of about 22" x 26" at at our shoulders...
Now above 10,000'... IPad back on... Music on (Counting Crows)... We settle in... Tina is napping... I work on the blog... We are finally off to Hawaii.
Now 12:32 Pacific Time... The pilot has just announced that he has spoken to Honolulu tower and the found us a short cut, and we will start our decent at 12:47... Not 12:45... Not 12:48... 12:47... Wonder if there will be a count down...
Now 12:47... There are islands visible 20 miles or so to the south... We begin or descent... We are getting close... It is becoming real...
PS... I am blogging from our B&B in Hanale, we have had a great day... went to my favorite Sammi house... visited a light house and saw spinner porpoises... explored a couple of caves... now at the B&B... we have reservations for dinner within walking distance... We are officially on vacation
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