Hawaii-Coming Home!

We boarded the plane, and after a long delay of about 30 minutes during which they were trying to fix some luggage woes, we were off into the inky blackness. I sat by the window, enjoying watching the golden lights disappear into the night from the islands. Kate was in the middle of the 3 row seats we sat in, and sat next to a man to her right.

After the plane took off, the lights dimmed as we ascended higher and higher into the clouds. All the passengers curled up as best they could; most had either brought flannel blankets with them or purchased the $7 blankets that the stewardess was selling, because the airlines no longer give you a blanket to use. As I first watched them, I thought to myself, "Oh, I won't need one of those! It's pretty warm in here right now, anyway!"

But, like many a time, I was wrong. As we got higher and higher, and finally reaching 35,000 feet cruising height above the pacific, it got cold. Very cold. What a simpleton I was not to think of bringing a blanket! Kate had one of her great ideas, and picked up the plastic bag full of thrift store finds and offered me a little girls' skirt to cover my shivering arms with. She used the middle eastern jacket/dress she had bought for Emily to keep warm, and then she appeared to fall back asleep. Me? Well, let's just say I tried to. The cold wouldn't have been so very bad if the window hadn't been so near me. You could feel the cold air coming out of it like it does after you shut the refridgerator door and the cool air escapes out. I switched the little skirt from arm to arm, and after noticing I was a bit warmer, I tried in vain to get in a comfortable position in the decidedly uncomfortable seats, I turned on my iPod and listened to harp music. I felt myself nod, and then, a while later, I must have woken up after sleeping, and I stretched my legs and looked around. All about the cabins, people slept. There was a row of three girls across the row from us, and I saw that all had that calm, smiling expression that sleeping people do. I looked back, and saw that the family behind us was fast asleep, too. Then, the asian family in front of us was asleep too, their little girl who sat directly in front of me had peacefully fallen asleep on her Mother's lap. I saw Kate, and she looked so cozy and snug, all curled up like a kitten. The man next to her, who was very quiet, was fast asleep as well, arms crossed, legs straight out across the aisle. As I looked across the aisles and aisles of peacefully snoozing passengers, I thought,
"Everyone on this plane is fast asleep except me!"
I tried and tried to get some sleep. At one point, I was so desparate, that I covered my purse with the 3T skirt and put it on the seat tray in front of me. No dice.

I was not really tired at all, but feared the zombie that I surely would become if I didn't get any sleep at all. Why, I didn't even know if I fell asleep in the first place!

About 4:00, the cabin began to wake up. Very gradually, heads began to pop up, the faint sound of yawning was heard, and little snatches of conversation floated across the aisles. Kate woke up, and we talked a bit about how terribly cold it had been. Turns out, she had been quite cold the whole time as I had been, and didn't feel as if she got very much sleep at all.

Well, if you're still reading this.........

The man sitting next to Kate was still fast asleep, and it had seemed as though he slept the whole time, or so it would seem. This would not be any problem except for the fact that I needed to go to the bathroom. BAD. I drank way too much water at dinner and before we took off, but I told her that when he moved and woke up I would try to get out and walk my wobbly legs to the nearest restroom. Finally he woke up, and I jumped at the opportunity and asked him if I could get by.

I walked back down the narrow aisle from the bathroom to our seats, and squinted to see which heads were my rowmates. (is that a word?) :-)

There they were! As I stopped next to our row, I prepared to ask him if I could get by again. Then, to my horror, I realized that he had fallen asleep. Again. In those few short minutes that I had been gone, he was fast asleep. I said excuse me, and he didn't move. His legs were blocking the narrow aisle, and I couldn't get by that way. Standing next to the aisle for a few awkward seconds, Kate reached over and motioned to the armrest that was still in position next to his right arm. Immediately, I saw what she had suggested. Before I even knew what I was doing, I stepped on it, and gently swung my other limb over the man and landed half on my seat and half on Kate's lap. We both held our breath for a split second following the jump, waiting to see if he would waken.

He didn't even twitch.

We burst out in a bout of surpressed laughter, as quietly as humanly possible. I returned to my seat, and then noticed that there was light to be seen outside, at 4:00 am, though it was. I pulled the shade, and marveled at the sun, shining on us there, and figured we must have been nearing L.A. We could soon see that we were no longer flying over the pacific, what we saw were canyons and the desert like landscape of Nevada and Arizona. Finally, after seven hours, we saw the familiar landscape of the Phoenix area, and after an uneventful landing, we exited the plane, very groggy and tired. We had a quicker layover due to the delay at the beginning of our flight,and so had time to go to the bathroom and eat some breakfast we had packed. Next, after setting my watch ahead 3 hours to the local Arizona time, we boarded our plane home, a 3 hour 20 minute flight to Charlotte.

On this plane, the seats were much more comfortable, and Kate sat by the window and to my left was an older lady who spent most of the flight on her little laptop she put on the tray in front of her. I videoed take-off for my brothers, and after that we listened to music and tried no to fall asleep for a majority of the flight time.

We had another incident with those airplane bathrooms. We both needed to go to the bathroom, but we felt like we shouldn't ask the woman next to us because she had just ordered her lunch and had it sitting next to her laptop on the tray. The problem was-she never ate it! Kate and I kept waiting, and finally we could wait no longer. Thankfully, she was very nice and when Kate asked her if we could get out, she joked, "No, I'm afraid your'e stuck!" and then she let us by with a smile.

Once we got out, we stood waiting for the bathrooms to be open as the plane started to go through some turbulence while we stood there. It was fun! I like turbulence, because it makes the flight less monotonous.

While I washed my hands in the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and my greasy-haired, tired-eyed reflection stared back at me. After I was done, the plane went through a bout of turbulence so bad that the flight attendant came on over the loudspeaker saying that everyone needed to return to their seats. I stood for a second more, adjusting my necklace as the bathroom lurched about me. Have you ever seem Mary Poppins? Remember the part when the cannon goes off in the captain's house near the Bank's home as it does on the dot everyday and sends their house in disarray? In the next scene, we see Mr. Banks smoothing his tie in a mirror as it moves side to side. That is just what it felt like. As Kate and I returned to our seats ironically, the turbulence stopped, and we had fairly smooth flying until we got near Charlotte.

Armed with a map of the EXACT location that our Mothers and Jenny would be, Kate and I set off for the bistro near the baggage claim. Straining for the familiar faces in the crowd, I finally saw them, sitting at a table at the foot of the escalator, talking. I think that they expected us to be coming on the escalator because they kept glancing at it as they conversed. We were actually coming from the right of the escalator, unbeknown to them! Kate and I walked right up and stood there for a split second and then, quite surprised, Kate's Mother, Mrs. Barry, turned around and saw us and said, "Oh my goodness, you're here!!!"

This produced a flurry of activity-hugs, kisses, and joyous exclamations. I was so indescribably happy to see my dear Mother and my little brother Oliver!! We talked and talked, and hugged some more, and then we all left the airport. Everyone being considerably hungry, we stopped to eat at Moe's, which, in case you have never had the pleasure of eating there, is a fantastic Mexican restaurant that is a cross between 'fast' food and a sit down dinner. Everything is so fresh and yummy, and they have at least 5 different kinds of salsas in which to dip your chips.

Talking about our adventures all the way, Mother drove us all home, which was 2 hours away from Charlotte. I don't know about Kate, but I sure had trouble keeping my eyes open!! After dropping Mrs. Barry and my sister (I mean....good friend!) Kate, Mother and I headed for home, which is, without a doubt, my most favorite place on earth.

When I arrived home, I was first greeted by a flurry of fireworks specially picked out for my by my sweet brothers. Then Father, Lillian, Zion, and Israel all rushed out to greet me, despite the lateness of the hour. After many more hugs, kisses and joy, I was led inside where I found the house so clean it gleamed and the walls were decorated with beautiful handmade posters covered with drawings of sea animals and tropical scenes. Beautiful vases of daffodils perfumed the room, including a special vase at my 'spot,' along with a welcome home sign and a sweetly scented candle. I truly believe that I have the best family in the entire world! I don't know what I would do without each of them, and I am so grateful for their sacrifices they made while I was away.

It was definitely an adventure, but coming home is the best part of all!