Here I am again, at SFO, waiting to board my flight. Where am I going this time? Honolulu! Yep, I’m Hawaii bound, because this is where my sister and her family live.
I had a quiet, low-key Christmas at home with friends. I had trips into the City with friends, cooked Christmas dinner and had friends over for lunch a few days later. It was a nice time .
Now I’ll finish off the year in the tropics.
The weather in California has been cool but sunny: the frost was evident in the morning, with lows in the 30s but it often got up to 60 degrees. There has been no rain so we are afraid we might be beginning another drought year. We weren’t allowed to use our fireplaces most of December because of the poor air quality – they’re called “spare the air” days. After all the fires in the northern and southern parts of the state, we are being very cautious. I’d still rather live in CA than live in the northern part of the country…brrrrrrr!
Because of the weather I began my journey with my long sleeved top, fleece jacket and puffy jacket, jeans, socks and walking shoes, even though I knew I’d end up in the tropics. Dress in layers!
I flew United on a 737 “skinny” plane, a 3-3 configuration, with one aisle, lots of legroom in economy plus but skinny seats and aisles. The drink carts could barely make their way through the aisle. I managed to get seat 7C, right behind first class and next to what appeared to be the one bathroom on the plane – there may be another bathroom at the back of the plane, but I was grateful to be so close, and I got to see lots of passengers too it was the smallest bathroom I’d ever seen.
You can see all the room we had. There was room for my carry on and my seat mate Max was the most quiet, focused four year old I’d encountered on a flight. I think I lucked out with the best seat. Good karma, maybe?
The airport was very crowded with lots of people from the mainland ready to celebrate the new year in Hawaii four flights from all over the U,S, came in with our flight, with lots of juggling and jostling for luggage .
My nephew Craig picked me up and we were off !
My sister and brother-in-law live on the 26th floor of a condo in the Waikiki section and their unit is in the end with wraparound views of hills and ocean.
My sister cooked a lovely, welcoming meal, I unpacked, went to bed and woke up to see the sun rise over Diamond Head. Good morning, Honolulu!
My sister and I are off to Ala Moana for lunch with friends in this last day of the year. Craig and Ed will do some male bonding. I think there might be some football games on today…