Text 20067, 68 rader
Skriven 2014-12-03 10:30:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 380
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UA 107 LAX HNL 1750 2123 753 2EF

Lilli and I were reunited for this flight, which was
serviced by one of those former Continental aircraft whose
seats I find seriously uncomfortable; they've since been
refitted with these beds that are not substantially nicer
but at least let you lie flat. Anyhow, this flight was
unimpressive and pointed up the fact that first class isn't
much to crow about any more. 

Hotels were really out of sensible range, but she'd found a
Best Western right by the airport for under $150 - it has a
poor reputation for highway noise and general seediness, but
the Internet says that if you ask for a room out back, they
will try to accommodate you, and sleep will be possible. And
so it was. Actually, the room was quite a bit nicer than we
were led to fear. Breakfast was packaged breads and instant
coffee. The shuttle from the airport was timely and fine,
but the one back there got into an accident in the parking
lot - glass and metal shards all over the place; eventually
they found another bus that parked a ways off, and we hiked
through the accident site and got on on the street.

We got to the Island Air counter over an hour early, the
second party in line. The first couple, obviously prepared
for a lengthy camping expedition, had lots of stuff, which
they were frantically rearranging in an effort to minimize
baggage charges. As it turns out, the staff, when they
arrived, started off really strict, reading everyone the
riot act, and then were quite helpful, giving people tips on
how to get around the more onerous rules.

WP 303 HNL MKK 0930 0955 DH8 7AB

The Interisland Terminal is just a warehouse with a bunch
of doors. There's a coffee and donut stand and restrooms in
the gate area, not much else that I can recall. Upstairs,
after you return to Honolulu, there are snack bars and
souvenir shops and stuff like that. Anyhow, you walk out
on the concrete to your rather weatherbeaten aircraft,
say hi to your crew (impossibly young-looking), and take
your seat in the wayback. I am not accustomed to the
wayback, but it doesn't matter, as in this aircraft every
seat feels like the wayback. It's the same kind of plane
that US Air flies to Williamsport, so I'm quite accustomed
to it by now.

A gorgeous 20-minute flight over the Pacific.

There to greet us was the lady from whom we'd arranged
B&B accommodations - a psychologist and probably leftover
hippie named Nita, who shepherded us through the difficult [Bogart]
procedure of renting a car (mostly involving waiting for
the agent to show up) and driving home (quite a bit more
involved, as though the distances are not great, the roads
offer many more twisty turnies than the maps tend to show.

Our accommodations included the run of a pretty nice (I'd
say 1970s or so) two-bedroom house with a quite well
appointed, equipped, and provisioned kitchen, a good thing
as the restaurant prices here are pretty high for what you
get. As what was on offer was mostly along the lines of
flaxseed and quinoa and sprouts and organic goat cheese,
we generally provided our own food, which tended to run
50% more than on Oahu.
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