WARNING: this entry is very long and possibly boring. You've been warned.
Saturday
We arrived in Maui after about 10 or 11 hours of traveling and three different flights. I didn't know it would take that long but was happy to finally be here. Bags and car rental went smoothly, as did the hour drive to the condo. The 8th floor condo that we were staying in has an amazing view and is right on the water. We did some shopping at Safeway (prices on some things are a lot higher than IL) and picked up some dinner at BLAHHH which was pretty good.
Sunday
We woke up pretty early because of the five (4 now) hour time difference and we weren't used to Hawaii time. We went down to beach early and walked around. After relaxing down there for a while we came back up to eat and sat on the beach for a while longer. We had a frozen pizza for dinner.
Monday
We made an hour drive to see the Iao Valley Needle. The area around there was pretty spectacular and we were surrounded by mountains. It was also surprisingly crowded. After we came back we hung out on the beach. The usual. We ate dinner at Dukes and both enjoyed fish meals.
Tuesday
Tuesday we woke up very early to head out for some kayaking and snorkeling. I'm not a huge water person but I wanted to do something different that Meg would really enjoy. We kayaked way out into the ocean and snorkeled for a while. I'm pretty terrible at snorkeling and water kept getting into my mask and multiple times my eyes were burning from getting water in them. Water and I just don't seem to get along very well. After the first stop to snorkel we were supposed to head in to see another reef and snorkel area but I wasn't feeling well, puked in the water, and we headed back to shore. I'm sure Meg would have liked to stay on the trop but I just couldn't do it. Sorry Meg! Later in the day we sat on the lawn and caught some sun. For dinner we picked up Maui Tacos.
Wednesday
Wednesday went spent about four hours in the beach. We both put lotion on but it must not have worked well after we went in the water multiple times because both of us got burnt in certain areas pretty well. I could have also just messed up the lotioning part like I always seem to do. It was very relaxing and there's a beautiful view of another island to the left and one to the right, with the beach straight ahead. We went out trying to find the shopping area but Meg didn't quite lead us far enough so we figured we'd go another day. For dinner we went to a luau, which consisted of appetizers, four entrees, and dessert while we enjoyed watching dancers and performers. I did most of the eating because Meg was trying to save up for the next entree and I hate leaving food so I took one for the team and ate most of the food which was pretty good.
Thursday
We woke up super early again. STILL NOT USED TO HAWAII TIME! We ate at Java Jazz for breakfast and relaxed in the condo afterwards for a few hours. After that we went to front street where the shopping area was. We walked around and bought lots of souvenirs. For some reason this day felt a lot warmer than previous days. We relaxed on the lawn for a little while and I avoided getting burned because I had taken a beating the day before. I finished my book which I had just started reading this trip. I'm obviously an amazing reader. For dinner we ate at Roy's. This Roy's was so much different than the other four Roy's I've been to. It was on a golf course, had a bar area, and was very loud. The table we sat at felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. The food was pretty good but both of us agreed that it didn't feel like the other Roy's that we'd been to. It could be because we were in Hawaii so they didn't feel the need to Hawaii it up like the other non Hawaiian Roy's. I have no idea but it just felt different and was very loud. Meg ate too much, per Meg.
Friday
On our last full day we woke up early and headed to the Gazebo Restaurant which was supposed to be a breakfast/lunch place right on the ocean. When we got there around 7:30 (when it opened) there was already a line. After about a half hour we sat and both ordered the combo pancakes which included bananas, pineapple, and macadamia nuts. The pancakes were one of the best pancakes I've ever had. The next few hours we spent on the beach getting more sun and after that we sat in the condo for a while before dinner. Dinner was at the Plantation House Restaurant, which was located on a PGA tour golf course which sat above the water and a great view. Again, the food was very good but knowing that it was our last night wasn't.
Saturday/early Sunday travels
I was going to assume everything would go well on our travels hope so I auto wrote in that everything went smoothly but boy I was wrong. Sadly, this part will be by far the lengthiest portion of the trip. I don't even know where to begin.
We packed everything up and left around 9:30 for a 2PM or so flight so that left plenty of time in case of rental car troubles or anything else. Everything went well and we got to our gate really early and got onto the flight from Maui to Los Angeles without any problems.
Everything went well until about an hour into the flight the pilot told us that we needed to go back because of pressurization or a general problem or whatever and since we were in the largest area between airports we had to go back to Honolulu. It wasn't that reassuring because the flight crew went over what if scenarios and the person sitting next to me kept looking at the safety card. After sitting on the plane for a while they told us they were going to try repairing the plane, so we sat in the gate area for a little while.
They kept delaying the time about when they were going to make a decision. While that happened I enjoyed listening to a man complain and curse to someone on the phone about Northwestern's loss to Michigan, which at least gave me a moment of happiness. After at least two hours they decided to move the flight to 8:45 the next morning.
They gave us all a night in a hotel, along with $12 in airport food per person and credited us a free breakfast at the hotel which we couldn't use anyway since we had to get to the airport before then. I think there were three or four hotel options and of course we got the worst one. Before that, Meg and I tried finding another flight out that night but since there aren't many flights out and the main group of people who leave Maui are going home after a vacation there weren't any other flights. Even if we found another flight that worked, it would have been difficult to make it because it took another hour or so for them to get us our bags.
After getting our bags we hopped on one of the shuttles provided and went to the Best Western which was about five minutes from the airport if that. In short, the hotel didn't seem like it was in a great place and our room was opened from the outside and it was very difficult to sleep because we were right near a highway or busy road.
We had to wake up early to get to the morning flight but we were both glad to just get out of that hotel. After going through the normal airport routine we reached our new gate of hell. We sat there for well over an hour and finally about 35 minutes before the flight time people showed up to work our gate and boarded us.
Our plane left the gate and a few minutes later we turned around and parked back at another gate. The pilot announced to us that the plane (which was the same plane as the night before) was experiencing some of the same issues as before so he didn't want to take off until everything was good.
Maintenance looked at it for probably about a half hour while we sat on the plane. After they realized that it wouldn't be an easy fix they took us off the plane and had us sit in the game. While on the plane, the pilot walked around to talk to all of us and told us that there was no other plane we could use and one of the women who worked at the airport said that there were no available flights for anyone to go to for the rest of the day (liar!).
Everyone lined up at the gate desk (of course we were in the back of the line) and after a long wait and little progress, Meg went down to the front ticket counter which I waited in the still long line. After more waiting Meg called me to tell me that she got us a flight around 8 or 9 to Dallas and then something after that to Chicago the next day. We wanted to avoid staying in a hotel again and just wanted to get home so that was our plan.
We also knew there was a direct flight to Chicago but when Meg asked about that the American people said they weren't able to put us on the United list for some reason/error and to come back in 30 minutes. Of course when I heard this I left the long line and relaxed. During this time our "broken" plane was being test driven to see if they had fixed the error. After at least 30 minutes Meg went back to the long line and I took over again as she went back down to the front ticket desk.
After another half hour Megan and I got to the front of our respective lines. The people at Meg's counter told her that there was nothing available on the flight to Chicago and she came back up. The guy helping me said he could find some room on United flight to Chicago but he took a while while he typed in all of our information and called the United desk multiple times.
While he was doing this our original flight 254 to LAX was boarding because they had fixed the problem.
We were fortunate to be at the front of that ticket line because after lots of people heard that the plane was ready, they got in line to switch back to the original flight. The guy who was helping us gave us ticket itineraries which were like reservations or something to show that we were going to be going on the flight but not an actual ticket or anything of value I guess. We decided it wasn't worth the risk to go back on the LAX flight and then wait for a connection that might not happen until early Tuesday so we took the long walk to the United terminal.
It was about 2 PM and our United flight was scheduled to leave around 8 PM so we had some time to burn but also wanted to confirm seats on this direct flight to Chicago. After arriving to our scheduled gate and waiting for an earlier flight to leave, I went up to confirm our itineraries and possibly get tickets. The lady at the desk could not find us in the computer and told us that these were no good. Of course that made us freak out.
We rushed around deciding where to go. After talking to security (we didn't want to have to go through security again which would end up being Megan's 4th time of the day) we found out that the ticket area in the front was really the only place to get tickets. First we went to the American counter to question what happened and why we didn't have a spot on the Chicago flight. This employee, who Megan had already talked to and seemed to remember her, told us that there wasn't any room on the Chicago flight and acted like the guy I had previously talked to was kinda full of shit or didn't book anything. She told us that we could still have the Dallas flight if we wanted but I wanted to get to the bottom of this.
I told her to hold off while we walked to the United ticketing area to see if they could see any record of us or if there happened to be any extra room on the flight. The lady took what felt like 20 minutes to totally understand our story ( and using at least two other people to help her) and reluctantly called the American desk to see what happened. United had a record of our itinerary in their system but they didn't have any record of us being booked or confirmed on the flight. The United lady said there really wasn't anything she could do and told us we should go back to the American desk and yell at them because it was all their fault and that all she could do was book us on a later flight to LAX, which would have been later than the Dallas one American had for us.
We rushed back to the American desk and talked to a different lady this time. After explaining the situation again she made a call to someone at United or to someone. (I'm not sure. Meg needs to fill in the details on this) At this point I was dealing with Expedia to confirm that we were switching flights because I guess since we booked through them they need to know when we change stuff. The American lady confirmed that she had gotten us tickets for the United direct flight to Chicago somehow and we had to go back to the United desk to print the tickets.
At the United desk, the same lady from earlier was confused why we were back to see her. We explained that the American lady had told us that we had tickets and we had to come here to print them out. After searching, she printed some tickets for our flight. Currently, we still aren't completely sure how we got onto the Chicago flight or what had to happen to get on there but we're very grateful that the American lady (heh sounds funny when I just said American lady) was able to help us, while everyone else remained confused as hell.
We went through security again and relaxed at the gate for another 4 hours (this whole ticket problem took 2 hours if you didn't do the math). The plane was a 777 and somehow we got seats (window and aisle) that were in the back and together. Again, if they didn't have tickets then I don't know how we got seats together or they booted someone or something else but we'll remained clueless about that. The flight was 8 hours and very difficult to sleep on but I didn't care. I was happy to get home and on a direct flight.
Once landed, we made our way to the American baggage area to see if our bags that went on the LAX flight were there or if we had to put a claim on them to have them sent to Chicago. Luckily the bags were there and again I'm not sure how but I didn't care. We were home, freezing, and relieved.
You'd be surprised but this is a fairly shortened version of the story and if you ever feel like being more bored then I can go into even more detail! Now we have to call American to complain and hopefully get something "free" out of this experience, though I doubt they'll fully grasp how ridiculous and terrible everything felt.
Overall the trip was really great and was full with a lot of great views and food. I wouldn't mind returning again sometime but it's hard to not look at our flight problems coming home and get a little upset that it overshadowed a lot of our trip.
extremely shortened version
-vacation was good, beautiful place, good food
-flight home disaster
-home now
