I am on a plane

Packing yesterday, flying today.  Van picked us up and got us to the airport in good time to enjoy a little lounge time.  

Boarding, lovely seats,

and now flying.  Yes, I paid for wifi!

Two hours or so into the flight, and having had one of the best airplane meals I’ve had in a long while,

I am going to get comfy for the next several hours, doze a whole eventually.  Oh, I should mention that we have pajamas!

Tokyo ahead,

not our last stop though.  Stay tuned!

one million

I am nothing if not loyal, it seems.  On the flight home on Tuesday, I ticked past 1,000,000 miles flown with United Airlines.  Nicely done, Peter.  Still less then half of what Conrad has done, but nicely done.

There are perks to being a Million Miler.  What was nicer, though, was the fuss made.  Greeted at the gate, boarded early.  Meeting the captain and first officer and getting a photo with the latter in the cockpit. 

Announcements on the flight noting my achievement.  Small gifts to mark the occasion. 

I felt truly special, and I thank them for that.

Yes, I've paid a lot of money over the years, as have my work and ALA and others.  I've spent many hours in airports and airplanes not in pursuit of this but building toward it, nonetheless.  It was nice to be celebrated, I have to say.  On to the next million! 

getting to Toronto

Last Friday morning I boarded a flight from LAX to EWR.  Oh, I know, I could have flown direct to the Centre of the Universe, but a) it would have cost more miles, and b) there were more options on Air Canada, which I try to avoid flying.  So disloyal to my home country, I know.  I had originally booked LAX --> DEN --> YYZ, but it meant an ungodly 5AM departure.  Look, I'm a morning person, but come on!  A couple of weeks before the trip I changed my routing, leaving later and going by way of EWR. So, yes, across the continent, but hey, lie-flat seats!

It was an uneventful flight.  I had a tasty enough breakfast aboard

and then a cod cakes "lunch" before landing. 

I dozed, read, listened to music, watched Cougar Town (my new favourite show).  We landed, and I had over an hour in the lounge before the next flight.

A window seat on flight two meant that I was able to see outside as we left Newark

and then, an hour or so later, as we approached and landed in Toronto. 

Ah, Lake America!  I joke.  Fuck that.  Lake Ontario.  Let's be real.

Getting through the airport and to the hotel was relatively smooth and as fast as it could reasonably be.  I made it to my room,

dropped my bags, and headed to the hotel restaurant/bar for a basic dinner, a turkey and avocado BLT. 

The sandwich was a sandwich, but the fries were good.  The bartender, also named Peter, warmed up to me after I explained a Boulevardier

to him and chatted a little.  Dinner done, I came upstairs to unpack and unwind and sip the glass of Baco Noir I'd brought up with me. 

A long day of travel done, and so much to come for the weekend! 

back from travels

Howdy!

The travels of recent days are done.  We boarded a flight in Cincinnati

yesterday, connected through Denver, and made it home in time to unpack, unwind, get to bed.  I'll be posting in the days ahead, and my apologies for going so long without posting.  It was a very good trip, and I just didn't make time for blogging while enjoying Nashville and Cincinnati (well, Covington) with Conrad and Van.

So, more to come!  Stay tuned.   

spring break vacation, Day 8

All good vacations come to an end, alas.  It's not so bad, I guess - I often find that the bedding and pillows on hotel room beds are the worst part of any vacation, and it's a delightful relief to crawl into my own bed after I have returned home.  And as much as I love to dine out, I find that my system appreciates it when I eat at home and eat a little simpler.  The joys of getting older, right?

We did have a good half day in Boston before needing to head to the airport.  We duly got our walking gear on

and headed around the Seaport area (once we got our Starbucks to start the day!).  It was a beautiful spring morning once again,

which promised for an on-time and easy departure later.  We strolled, taking photos, then headed back to the hotel for a bite of breakfast and final packing.

We also had time for brunch before heading to Logan.  I steered us to Row 34 for a bite.  A Hugh-No Spritz (non-alcoholic) for me,

a few oysters to share,

a tasty but maybe a little too garlicky avocado and crab toast,

and we had suitable food in our bellies.  Nice place though it felt like we were sort of stranded in this weird family room and with a somewhat indifferent server.  Still, I'd go back to try it again.

On to the airport where we parked in the lounge a goodly while before boarding our first flight. 

A connection in Chicago,

and we were on the ground at LAX late that night.  Bed, when we crawled into it somewhere around 1 in the morning, felt really darn good. 

Hawaii, day seven

You will be not be surprised, I am sure, to find that day seven of the Hawaii trip started in much the same fashion as day six.  That is to say, a walk.  And a longer one than the day before - we weren't due to meet in the lobby until a half hour later than the previous day.  The morning walk included part of the park but part of Waikiki first. 

And yes, a few photos from the stroll. 

A good start to the morning!

Oh, and I wore a new shirt with a cool manta ray pattern on it.  Love it! 

The work at the college went easily that day.  The morning was busy, but by shortly after lunch, we had finished what we needed to do and were waiting for the mid-afternoon report-out.  That event happened quickly, and before too long, we had made our return to Honolulu.

I've done five of these teams now, and this one was the one that went the smoothest and easiest and quickest.  But that also made it the one where the team members bonded the least.  We had dinner together the night before, and we had two breakfasts and two lunches at the college, but as soon as we got back to the hotel on that last day in Hawaii, the team chair was out the door of the van, thanking us each sincerely, and then heading off to his room, not to be seen again.  The assistant chair (or whatever the title may have been) beat a similar path but lingering several minutes longer.  That left the four of us to head to Pint and Jigger for drinks.

I like that bar.  I don't like the sports bar aspect to it, but I like the bar.  Good drinks!  I asked for one called Mr. Fancy Pants,

and the server was very careful to make sure that I might like it.  Like, super cautious.  And I get it.  Cynar is weird, not everyone likes mezcal.  But it was, in essence, a mezcal negroni, and I do like those, and so I liked my cocktail. 

As we went for round two, one of my colleagues decided she liked it as well.  I'm sure the bar was a little gratified that we all did!

Drinks done, we went our separate ways.  I could have invited one of them to dinner with me, but no, I decided to have a last evening to myself.  I hemmed and hawed (I get weirdly anti-social in situations like this and sometimes would prefer to have delivery food or something and just watch television I've seen before) and eventually got myself over to the Halekulani for a light bite at House Without a Key.  And it was nice.  It rained lightly on us.  My cocktail - a mai tai

- was good but not as good as what I'd had three nights earlier at Orchids.  The food was fine - some loaded fries and a mildly bland tuna tataki.  I enjoyed the singing and hula - the current Miss Hawaii was the dancer (but she sang a bit as well). 

It was all very pleasant.  But I felt guilty that I was there without Conrad and Van.  Oh, we would have loved being there together.  Sigh.

I spent the rest of my evening packing.  I was at the airport

early the next day, which meant time in the United Club there,

one of the nicer ones in my experience.  And, lo!  The one seat available for upgrade on my flight was assigned to me.  1A for the ride home to California. 

Good work done, good time spent, good food and wine enjoyed - I'd call the trip a success.

I can't wait to go back to Hawaii....