Let me jump off my soap box for now and get back to my trip report.
I forgot to mention that since we were late boarding our flight in Charlotte they made us check our carry on suitcase saying there was no overhead bin space available. I didn't put up a fuss though since I was still chanting my mantra: No biggie. I am going to Hawaii so all is good. Mom wasn't chanting my mantra and was insistent that we were never going to see the suit case again. I assured her that wasn't true but on her last trip she was forced to check her carry on suitcase and the suitcase didn't quite make it to its final destination in a timely manner so Mom was a little paranoid.
Needless to say, when we got on the plane there was plenty of overhead bin space if the flight attendants had simply moved a few things one way or the other. Pure and simple - they were lazy!!! I normally fly Delta and those flight attendants are almost always trying to squeeze in another bag in those poor overhead bins. (Just another reason I don't like US Air.)
Sorry. I am jumping back off my soap box, again.
Finally the trip from hell touched down in lovely San Francisco. And I have never been so happy to be off an airplane. I felt like I was free from the confines of a clown car at the circus and if I wasn't weighed down with carry on bags I just know I would have spread my arms and twirled around singing songs from The Sound of Music. It was a glorious feeling, my friend.
When we got off the plane in San Francisco for a 4 hour layover and our first mission was to get something to eat. Dad was thrilled to be free and decided he would like stretch his legs and to walk some. Who am I to question? So we start down the terminal where we finally find Go Bistro Asian Fusion Bar & Grill with a free table. So we grab it. It wasn't the greatest food I have ever eaten but it tasted delicious and rejuvenated all of our spirits for our final leg of the trip.
The only problem with our rejuvenated spirits was that Dad's legs were not rejuvenated and he just couldn't walk anymore - and according to the map of SFO I pulled up on the ipad while we ate (because there really weren't any signs on how to get to other terminals) we had quite a trek ahead of us. So Mom and I trek back to our original gate and ask for wheelchair assistance. Trying to explain to the gate person that we had come in on a flight an hour earlier and the person who needed assistance was not at the gate and that we were changing airlines was a challenge but we finally got all got on the same channel and someone was called.
Who showed up was little tiny old Filipino man. When we explained that we were going to Continental he sort of got this OMG look in his eye since that was about 1.5 miles away. SFO is not like any other airport I have been in. If you have to change terminals you have to go out of a secured area and trudge over to the new terminal and go through security again. But the little tiny old Filipino man was not deterrent in the least.
This is what our trek looked like:
We landed at #1. Walked to #2 where we ate. Then Mom and I walked back to #1 where we waited for our little tiny old Filipino wheelchair driver. Then the three of us walked back to #2 where we picked up Dad. And then we trudged over to #3. We definitely got our exercise and so did our little tiny old Filipino wheelchair driver. Needless to say, we tipped our little tiny old Filipino wheelchair driver well and relaxed at our gate for just under an hour while we waited to board our final jet plane to Hawaii. Some people may have thought we were crazy for having a 4 hour layover but we needed almost every minute of it just to eat and get to our next gate.
Before we knew it we were boarding our Continental wide bodied jet destined for Honolulu. The plane was GIANT compared to our last flight. There was Hawaiian music playing softly in the background as we boarded and the flight attendants all had flowers in their hair. (Well, not the male flight attendants but the females did.) There was even an in flight entertainment system!!!! Woohooo!!!!
I was so excited about the entertainment system that I took a picture of my screen
All of the passengers finished boarding and we realized that the flight was only about 2/3 full. Score!!!! We quickly spread out. Dad was in two seats by himself and Mom and I were sharing the three seats in the middle by ourselves. It was glorious!! I kid you not. It was glorious - except for the man in front of me who had his seat back so I could barely move forward. Even though it was now 15 hours into our trip I was still chanting my mantra: No biggie. I am going to Hawaii so all is good.
Before we knew it the plane was pushing back from the gate and we were airborne. Mom and I finally figured out how to watch a movie and decided on Monsters Inc. I love Boo! She is so cute. At some point Mom's movie switched to Spanish for a few minutes. It made us laugh.
Eventually Mom went to sleep on Dad and I laid down on my three seats. I didn't sleep but it was nice to be horizontal for a change. I turned all three seat back screens so I could watch the plane's progress. I find it fascinating that it can be -59 degrees Fahrenheit outside and nothing freezes on the wings. Fascinating!
Next thing I knew the little plane on the screen was approaching land. Land ho!!! It was just after 7 p.m. Hawaii time so it was dark but the lights of Honolulu are beautiful.
20 hours after I had woken up that morning and we finally made it! And I was still chanting my mantra: No biggie. I am going to Hawaii so all is good. In no time at all we had gathered all of our stuff and deplaned. Aloha, Hawaii!!!
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