Aloha Oe, Seattle!

I left Jen & Susan's at O-dark-thirty, almost literally. The Shuttle Express driver was about 20 minutes later than when the confirmation e-mail said he would arrive. But we made it to the airport with plenty of time even with the traffic jam at the airport. The 2 other women on the shuttle, a mother and daughter, were headed to Kona for a 3-week vacation.

Twenty-three minutes before sunrise at Sea-Tac Airport.

Traffic jam in the departure lanes.

At the gate.

Since you can't bring more than 3 ounces of liquid or gel in a container through TSA, the Sea-Tac Airport now has water filling stations near the gates so people can fill up their personal water bottles. I filled mine up there, then later asked the flight attendant to top it off with some ice.


They served us breakfast on the flight; an Egg, Mushroom and Cheese Spread Sandwich and a Pineapple Coconut Breakfast Bite. They must have made the egg filling out of just one egg, it was about 1/4" thick! So the breakfast sandwich was fairly carb-heavy. The breakfast bite was also. But I still ate them.

Hmmmm, 17 grams of carbs in that little thing?

The on-board map system apparently has no Daylight Savings Time setting; it was off by an hour.


Once again, I used the sling to support my feet and take the strain off of my knees & hips. This time I used my neck pillow to provide lower lumbar support; my butt didn't get as sore as it did on the flight over. I think I'll get a couple more as gifts for other vertically challenged friends.

You can see the black straps of the sling going up to the sides of the tray table.

Towards the end of the flight the in-flight entertainment center played a video that provided a lot of information about the land, history, and culture. It also told about some upcoming special events and even had a few commercials. Here are a few of the slides.

Apparently it was pretty steady in the low 90's while I was gone.

This is one of the commercials.

They had slides about most of the main islands.

One of the cacao farms is just up the road from the Kohala house.

I'm glad they mentioned the Manu-o-Kū.

I had a great trip. Once I had Kai's new housing secured, I started visiting friends. In all I saw 80 friends on this trip: Jen, Susan C., Mary Ellen, Michael, Kathy W., Gulshan, Eric, Dwayne, Clarissa, Terri H., Beth, Mary, Greg, Monica, Darla, Brenda F., Melody, Crilly, Paul, Tambe, Kasimir, Chuck, Emmanuel, Bo, Barbara, Van, Randy, Janice, David G., Sarah, Lorena, Bruce, Karen, John McA., Shannon, Ummihan, Brenda A., Philip, Stan, Diane, Bruce, Monava, Shabbir, Ruqqaya, Alison, John M., Dr. Shaw, Cathy, Gabriele, Barb, Vlad, Susan O., John O., Holly, Ken, Dorothy, Mike, Ryan L., Tom, Ryan C., Lori B., Terri I., Shawn, Bev, Kathy B., Suzie, Lori A., Leroy, David K., Jack, Anne, Mary Kay, Catie, Robin, Leona, Kai C., Eleta, Ananda, Morgan, and Isaiah. I also saw my fur-friends Louie, Jasper, & Spike.

After Curtis picked me up, we dropped my luggage off at the house, then went to lunch at the Kahala Zippy's. Curtis had his usual Chili Moco and I had a Mini Chili Moco.

Regular Chili Moco; it has 2 eggs.

Mini Moco.

My next pair of Hoka One Ones arrived! I always order another pair when I put on a new pair of my Hokas. I think I should find out how many pairs are left of those in my size; this line was discontinued this year but you can still search their website to find them.


Here's some of the omiyage I brought back for The Roommates.

Jerky & dried fruits.

Milk chocolate.

For The Roommates to take on their Japan trip later this month.

Omiyage for the kitties.

I broke my crown again. It's the temporary one that Dr. Azuma implanted in July the day before I went to the Big Island for Obon. I was flossing my teeth and a big chunk broke off. Later, when I was rinsing my mouth, a smaller piece came loose. I left a message asking to get in tomorrow, if possible.


Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Steve!