Onward Ho!

Well, well, well, here I am on the last leg of our onward journey to Maui! It is another good five hours to our destination. What does one do when one is forced to into a confined little space with a constant engine drone in one’s ears with feet that feel like ever expanding melons? Write, of course! It’s also been quite a while since I blogged. I think mine is turning out to be more of a travelogue and less of a blog.

It has been over twelve hours of staring around the plane and out the window and my eyes are beginning to ache. Unfortunately I still do not feel the lack of rest, or perhaps it is the excitement that’s keeping me awake.

B has had two cat naps already – lucky him, but to his credit, he did not sleep a wink the night we were to leave. It’s that old theory about not being able to wake up early enough if you decide to sleep the previous night. Personally, I always have trouble getting myself out of bed be it 7 AM or 11 AM. I learnt early on that some things in life are to be humbly accepted.

Below us, the vast blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean as seen from above many a white puff. These flights, at least the domestic ones have decided not to serve food. The mathematics involving number of passengers, food options per passenger, total pounds of food to be carried and the extra fuel to be carried and burnt by the big bird (phew!) clearly show that eliminating meals while still charging the same fare can infact be very very beneficial to the airlines. I really don’t mind this but the one biggest downside is the increased traffic to the restrooms due to excessive beverage consumption. Self not spared.

The stewardesses on the other flights were definite veterans in their chosen field, and retirement seemed to be the last thing on their minds. The stewardesses on the Maui flight are the same, except more colorfully decked with massive fake flowers in their mile high updos – like a peacock showing off his brilliant feathers just before the monsoons!

Now, a look at our co-passengers. A quick visual survey reveals that a majority are baby boomers. They have the money, the time and the insurance. The second largest contributing sector would be young parents. Surprised? Me too. Children are taking to the air much earlier these days. And they yelp with joy all the way. Lucky me. Then finally come the honeymooners and brides/grooms-to-be.

I’m a bit of a planner, or at least I’d like to think so. My meticulous listing and checking of items on the list(s) usually never fails. This time I’m disappointed to say that I missed out on two very necessary items. I will try not to feel their absence too much. In my defense, I stuck to list item #7 “Update Ipod”, I never wrote “Keep Ipod”.

After much deliberation and a few pages of Crichton I began to doze off. I was very aware of a baby crying quite loudly and its mother profusely apologizing to the people around, but somehow it seemed too faint and far away. My 30 odd minute deep sleep was just the pick me up I needed. I opened my eyes to a beautiful cloud topped mountain in the distance, shimmering in the golden rays of the setting sun behind us. Ah, beautiful beautiful Maui. A traveler’s dream, a retiree’s home, honeymooners’ heaven, Polynesian paradise.