Day 1: 23 July 2002 - Tuesday

It was kind of a normal day at work, tried to get out on time.  My two aunties dropped me off at the airport well in advance to make my flight.  American Airlines departure at 9:15 pm direct to LAX.

Here are some pictures from my first night of vacation.

Here you can see the hard working staff of American Airlines trying to connect the poor stranded people so they can get home.

Here we have some snacks the airlines gave us for hanging out.  The middle picture is of a baby that was in such great spirits even though it was way past his bed time (11:30 pm).  The last pic is of the crowds and rush of people trying to get on the bus to get to the King Kamehameha Hotel for the night. What a zoo!!!

Finally at the King Kamehameha Hotel, here we are checking in.  In the foreground is Mr. Parson's from Prescott AZ.  In the background we have the Tillman's from Albany NY.  They were here on their honeymoon and got stuck.

And finally here is a picture of my room. Nothing fancy but sure a great place to sleep considering how late it was.

Day 2: 24 July 2002 - Wednesday

I got up early the next day.  Got to watch the sun rise and go for a walk.  Kona is a nice place in the morning.  Walked up Alii drive to Starbucks and had nice relaxing cup of coffee and read the paper.  I also did some shopping for cookies to take to my friend in Redondo Beach. 

I also made a phone call to American Airlines reservations to see if they had updated information on my flight to LAX.  Turns out the flight was now scheduled to leave at eleven thirty.  I was thinking I'd go to the airport and start making arrangements to get myself to LA.  But then I remembered I had already made plans to have breakfast with the Tillmanss so I just hung out.  We had a nice breakfast and then leisurely caught a cab to the airport.  They had already made arrangements to fly out on Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu and then fly out to Chicago on their way home.  I stood in the American Line for hours and made arrangements to fly to Honolulu and then on to LA.  By the way, some time while I was in line the American flight was now scheduled to leave somewhere around five that evening. 

So I was slated to make it on to Hawaiian's flight which was to depart at eleven.  My bags were still in storage with American, we had just enough time for the Hawaiian and American people to get my bags on to the flight.  I unfortunately missed the flight because I took too long getting through security.  Not to worry, I made it on to the next flight which got me to Honolulu with more then enough time to connect to my flight to LA.  Thank god, I was finally on my way.  I only wished that I could have been on the earlier flight so I could have sat witht the Tillmans. 

 

So I finally get into LAX around ten thirty Wednesday night.  I get down to my friend Greg's house close to midnight.  We hang for a bit and get to sleep as I have to get up and be ready to leave for Eugene, OR the next morning at five thirty.

 
Day 3: 25 July 2002 - Thursday

I get picked up by my friends Troy, Ruth, and Mark.  Mark's so cool, he wakes up so early just to take us to the airport.  I was suppose to have golfed with him the previous day (Wednesday).  Unfortunately, my flight was canceled and I never made it in.  I felt bad about calling him really late and telling him I was not going to be making out in time.