|
|
The thought of a 20-plus-hour flight ended that Aboriginal destination. Just like the possibility of creepy crawlies getting into our room zapped the idea of an eco-adventure in Costa Rica.
Actually, Costa Rica didn't fly with Spark from the start. When I mentioned a skywalk over the rain forest, he balked. We settled on Oahu and Maui, where we could keep our feet on the ground, and wouldn't have to fend off donkey-sized mosquitoes and poisonous tree frogs.
Annoying Seatmate
Our American flight from St. Louis to Dallas was right on time, and we were shocked to see another Washington couple onboard. They were going to their daughter's wedding in Cancun - "if we get there," the bride's mother said. That's when we found out a hurricane was bearing down on the resort city.
In the close confines of a plane, there aren't any secrets, and a hip-hop dude destined to be our seatmate overheard our conversation. He jumped right in, "Yeah, man, I'm going there too my girl is coming to meet me there from San Diego didn't want to cancel the trip I've downloaded this special app on my i-Phone its cool you should check it out Cancun is supposed to get a direct hit."
Spark and I got up to let Dude take the window seat, right next to me. I knew if I gave him even a glance, he'd start running on again, so I whipped out my book. Dude took the hint, and I blessed his auditory nerves as hip-hop came blasting through his ear buds. He kept the beat of the bass by drumming his booted heel on the floor until I thought it might go through the body of the plane. It was a long hour and a half.
Food for Thought
When we got to Dallas, we had two hours before our flight to Honolulu, enough time for lunch, which was a necessity. If you've flown recently, you know most carriers are now charging extra for luggage, and are no longer serving complimentary food. The box lunch picked up at the gate is a thing of the past, as are freebie bags of peanuts and airplane-shaped-crackers for the kiddies.
On our flight, you could buy lunch, a chicken sandwich or chicken Caesar salad, but you had to do it at the very start of the flight. "Or we might run out," the stewardess said.
Fortunately, we'd planned ahead. Spark's carry-on looked like a commissary. The other passengers were jealous of our stash - trail mix, Fruit Punch Jelly Bellies, flour dusted figs, dried cherries, a quart-size bag of walnut halves and Honey Crisp apples. When I pulled out the kettle corn I love so much, even the stewardess was salivating. I gave her a bite.
She reciprocated with her beverage cart handing me a whole can of Diet Pepsi, instead of just a little glass of soda over ice. And then she came back to collect our trash.
Things might be different, but there's still some friendly left in the skies we fly.Ê
