Sep 152014
 

Thanks to an early night, managed to wake up early…around 530, and headed out for a “short” run to fight off jet lag.  Headed down Kalakaua towards Diamond Head, before realizing it was too early and it wouldn’t be open yet.  Slight detour to Starbucks.  Had coffee, read the paper for an hour, and then started the run.  Got to Diamond Head, hiked up to the peak, and ran back.  Around six miles total, and the perfect antidote to jetlag!

Got back to the hotel, and had a huge container of pineapple and some aloe juice from the ABC store before giving up on being productive at all.  Grabbed a towel, headed down to Waikiki, and just sat in the sun for a few hours.

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I may have only had 24 hours in Honolulu, but between a walk, dinner at Duke’s, the run up Diamond Head, and beach time, I’m pretty sure I maxed it out!

Around 1:30 I called for the car, put down the sun roof, and headed back to the airport on a gorgeous day.  No problem dropping the car off, and soon I was at the extremely empty United check-in area:

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Thanks to the United mobile app and TSA pre check, I was already checked in…which was sort of a pity because it would have been entertaining to see the look on the agent’s face when I checked in all the way to Paris!

Less time in security means more time for liquid Aloha!  Went to the Kona Brewing Company in the terminal to grab a lite lunch…and of course a few Big Swell IPAs:

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I told the waittress to bring me the tastiest app on the menu whatever it was…the kalua pork quesadillas didn’t disappoint!

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After a quick lunch, I decided to do some plane spotting.  HNL is great for it, since it’s an open air terminal and you can get up close and personal with the planes.

Delta and a Korean Air A330:

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Delta 747 – to Tokyo I think?

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Alaska 737 and American:

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Delta A330 hiding behind the palm trees:

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Delta A330 with United 767 in the distance:

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More Delta:

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I love that Alaska has so many flights to Hawaii.  It was kinda a cool experience a couple years back when I tried them on this route:

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So, sidenote for the aviation geeks.  There’s a cool store at HNL that sells all sorts of airline knickknacks.  Baggage tags, bags, you name it.  I was relatively well-behaved:

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Soon, it was time for boarding, and the walk to the gate.  It may be outside, but this is still INSIDE security:

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The HNL-IAD flight tends to be full of self-important people who very quickly forget their relaxing vacation and return to the DYKWIA mode.  I wanted to get to the gate early, in order to make sure to get past them.  My last time on this route I got chewed out for trying to board first, and wasn’t anxious for a repeat.  This time, the agent didn’t even bother inviting Global Services on first…heh…good thing I was already at front of the line.

United Airlines flight 144
Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL) to Washington, DC, Dulles (IAD)
Depart 15:45, Arrive 7:04 next morning, Flight Time 9:19
Boeing 767-400ER, Registration N69063, Manufactured 2002, Seat 1D

1D.  A seat I was about to become very very familiar with over the next few days.  A glass of sparkling Château le Jeff to welcome me on board:

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It’s a long way to DC!

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Once airborne, the crew was quick into action.  A glass of 2014 Château le Jeff (red) and a glass of water for me.  Lots of flights coming up, and need to stay hydrated!

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Oh look!  It’s the same chicken dish I had the day before…but with a different salad dressing!

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Decided to live on the wild side today and get hot fudge AND caramel!  Plus, got THREE cherries.  #WINNING!

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…at this point I promptly passed out.  For over six hours.  It was absolutely wonderful.

Woke up, had two bottles of water, brushed teeth, and actually had enough time for breakfast.  Something I don’t usually do on redeyes, as I tend to sleep until the last minute.

…and I was glad I did.  It was the Jeff McMuffin which I’m sad to admit I’ve been craving.  Oh, and I shared a diet coke with “dad.”  Beats me, the can told me to do it!

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Landed 10 minutes early, and the advantage of being in 1D is I was first off the plane, and first to Starbucks where I proceeded to mainline some caffeine.  It was a long trip ahead!

Grabbed the Washington Flyer bus to the new silver line station on Metrorail…it works SO much better than the old bus to West Falls Church.  I had 10 hours in DC, and I planned to maximize every minute of it!


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