On Christmas Day, I found out that I’d be traveling to Maui with my cousin Teri for a once in a lifetime trip.
We would be leaving on March 8 from her home in California and flying to Lahaina for a week’s stay at Napili Surf Beach Resort. I was ecstatic to say the least. I’d always wanted to visit Hawaii and now I had my chance. The first thing I worried about was the time change. First off, California is two hours behind Oklahoma and on top of that, that Saturday was when Daylight Saving Time began, which sprung me ahead another hour. Now, add in the five hour time difference between Oklahoma and Hawaii.
Needless to say, I finally stopped worrying about the time difference. After all, my cousin was taking me to Maui and that’s all that mattered. There was no need to worry about sleep either; I decided I’d sleep when I was dead.
That Friday, I flew from Fort Smith to Dallas with no issues, but ended up having to wait for my connecting flight to John Wayne Airport. I had a few delays and the gate moved, but this wasn’t my first “airport rodeo” and I improvised the best I could by reading, passing the time.
Moments later, two flight attendants came scrambling in and announced that we were waiting on our plane to arrive from Belize, and that’s why it was taking so long. I piped up and told them, “No, it’s coming from Bozeman, Montana.”
They smiled at me and asked the gate attendant where the plane was coming from. The gate attendant then apologized to them, stating that I was right and the plane was coming from Bozeman. Both ladies chuckled and thanked me for the correct information.
After an additional delay was announced, I began to chat it up with the airline attendants and we became fast friends, talking about our adventures and many travels. When the plane finally arrived, they told me they enjoyed my visit and they were going to gift me a free cheese plate.
Folks, the airlines never give you anything, so I was overjoyed about my free cheese plate. The flight attendants also voted me in as a “reserve flight attendant,” meaning that I would have to “take charge” and assume their duties if one of them went down during the flight. They confirmed my position by handing me my very own aviation aircrew lapel pin. I laughed, sat back, ate my grapes and cheese, and enjoyed my flight to Orange County.
One of the best travel tips I can give you is to listen to and respect your flight attendants. These people can literally remove you from the plane if they want, so try and make their day a little brighter and don’t be a Debbie Downer.
My cousin Teri and her husband Dave picked me up at the airport that evening and after a great dinner from California Pizza Kitchen, I settled in for a good night’s sleep. After being up most of the day, I had a hard time winding down because I was too excited to sleep.
Teri and I spent the next day visiting California’s Aliso Beach, had a great lunch and picked up some last minute items for our trip. We were hours away from embarking on our big adventure, and were flying out the next day from Long Beach Airport.
All I could say was, “Let the adventure begin!”
