"What's That Smell?" Our Trip to Maui - Updated 2/16 About This Page:

[Courtney]

Who: Courtney, 25; Frank, 26; and Taylor, 6 months, world's happiest baby
What: Cross-country drive and 5 days in Maui
When: December 15-24, 2005
Why: Why not? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]


Pre-trip -

Upon finally deciding on the date that Taylor and I would be going out to Hawaii, I happened to be playing on Hawaiian Airlines' website, when I saw that they were running a special for $32 inter-island one-way tickets. (Normally, ticket prices interisland are about $75 one-way.) Those of you who know me well, know that I don't pass up a good deal! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] A quick phone call to Frank to decide where we wanted to go, and we went ahead and booked for Maui!

As is usual with our vacation plans, the dates had to get tweaked just a bit, and when I called Hawaiian to change the return flight, they told me that they would have to charge a $50 change fee. Since the ticket was only $32, I could just rebook and cancel the original reservations, which is exactly what I did. Turns out, Hawaiian didn't have a return flight back on the day that we wanted, but Northwest Airlines did, and at just $1 more than Hawaiian's special.

I then did a search for a condo that one of my clients had talked to me about; a place where her family had stayed previously, the Maui Kai. She had raved about it, so we decided that's where we'd stay. We got a last-minute special (which is pretty unheard of during the holidays, since that is high season in Hawaii) because there was a four day opening between existing reservations, so we got a studio condo on the beach for $100/night, plus an $85 cleaning fee (because we weren't staying for a week).

We booked a car through Alamo, and everything was set.

Of course, what was looming BEFORE the nice Maui trip was much more time-consuming. Not only did I need to finish packing (after driving about 15 hours back from Florida), but I needed to get the dogs' health certificates and make one (okay, it ended up being three) last trip to the UPS store to get the bigger items off. Taylor was cutting her first two teeth during all of this, and my grandmother and aunt and uncle drove down from Pennsylvania for a quick visit as well, which made things a lot more stressful for me. I also never realized how much help the bigger things like her swing, exersaucer, high chair, and playpen were until I didn't have them - how do we live without these things?!

My dad and brother took me out for one last taste of real southern barbeque, and I set off for our first stop - a visit with Auntie Mo - on Thursday the 15th. Taylor did very well this first leg, which was about 13 hours, when all was said and done. Unfortunately, the navigation system (we have one of those things where you can type in an address and it will talk to you all the way there) was set for Auntie Mo's MAILBOX, which was on the opposite side of the street as her house. Good thing I was talking to her as we drove up, because I turned into someone else's driveway! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

She and Uncle Kevan came out to see us and collect the schlumpy (Taylor) and we headed inside. Kevin was excited to see us, and excited about the dogs, and was just absolutely adorable. I told him that ChaCha was like the Taco Bell dog, and that certainly stuck with him. ChaCha tried to play with Maureen's dog Gabby, but Gabby wanted none of that! Taylor got her first present, a giraffe that plays music when you drop blocks into it, and we all stayed up way too late chatting.

Kevin and Taylor


The next day, Emily, Maureen, Taylor, and I had breakfast at Panera Bread (yum!), and then we dropped Maureen off at school to take a couple of finals. I had some things to return to JCPenney (no JCPenney in Hawaii) and some gift certificates to use up there, and something to return to Kmart, and I promised Emily a trip to Toys R Us. We had a great time trying on costume jewelry at JCPenney, and when an employee made some comment to Emily about being good for her mommy, Emily said, "She's not my mommy!" [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]



I tried tricking Emily by telling her that I didn't know how to get to Toys R Us (even though the navigation system certainly could find it for me), that Toys R Us was closed, that Toys R Us had moved, anything I could think of. She, of course, wasn't buying it, and our next stop was TRU. As we pulled into the parking lot, I told her that I had decided that we weren't going to go in after all, and she was not having anymore of this joking, and she started to cry. Of course, I felt horrible, (mental note, NEVER threaten to cancel a TRU trip with a kid, even if it's a joke!) and quickly told her that I was completely kidding, and parked the car.

We spent a lot of time in the stuffed animals (Emily does NOT like monkeys that hang around your neck) and in Barbie land, but she ultimately decided that she wanted a little figure with a white cat. (I'm sure there's a technical term for the thing, but I have a 6 month old, we don't get any more complex than blocks and exersaucers.) I opened it in the car for her, and she played with it on the way to Kmart. While we were waiting in line to return something, Mo called and said she was really sick, and was going to go home. She was going to call Kevan to pick her up, and I told her that we would be happy to come by and get her. When we picked her up, Auntie Mo was seriously pale, and extremely nauseous. By the time we all got inside (oh, here's the part where I can mention how RIDICULOUSLY COLD it was. Good grief!) and settled, I think we all ended up falling asleep for a few hours. (I'll skip the details on the frequent hurling trips, for Auntie Mo's posterity and all. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ) I just remember all the kids coming in and being scared because my dogs were out (and REALLY excited to see the kids!) and I guess the kids just weren't expecting them.

We had Christmas for Taylor and Courtney that night (Auntie Mo's presents are STILL in my room at my dad's house). Taylor got more toys (spoiled!!) and her mommy got some too! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]



We ordered pizza in, since we had a sick aunt in the house, and Kevan gave Taylor a little taste of what she had to look forward to at Disney when she's a little bit more grown up...

Soarin' (over the living room), which she absolutely LOVED



And the Tower of Terror, and we'll just pretend this is looking at the fireworks. (Whatever it was, it's one of my favorite pictures of them.)



The next day, we said our good-byes, gave Kevin a quick trip in the car because he wanted to see how the navigation system worked, and then headed off.

The next two days are kind of a blur. We stopped at a motel in Grants, NM (next door to the one Frank and I stopped at when we drove across a year and a half ago) and spent the night before our flight to Honolulu in a motel next to the San Diego airport. Of the trip, I only remember it being REALLY cold, and listening to a LOT of CDs, because the radio stations out there are few and far between. And talking on the phone. A lot.

I also remember putting my finger in Taylor's mouth at some point the night in San Diego and feeling her two bottom teeth had come in! (No wonder she had been WAILING across California!)

I spent most of the night in San Diego packing and repacking, because I was having a hard time getting everything into the bags that I had brought. I also had to have the dogs to Air Cargo by 6:30am, for a 7am flight. They were scheduled to fly from San Diego to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to Honolulu, arriving at about 8:30pm Hawaii time. (Bet everyone can guess the airline they were on!) We were going to put them on the flight with us, but someone had already taken up the two dog spots on our flight (and Delta was about half the price, too!) Delta also has the pressurized, temperature controlled compartment that I was adamant that they have. (Sidenote: I was REALLY nervous about flying my dogs. ChaCha had flown before, but she is also a tiny chihuahua, and Tinkerbell is easily frightened. Unfortunately, due to Hawaii's laws, ALL animals, no matter if they can fit under a seat or not, MUST fly under the plane when coming into the state. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] )

Also in the morning, I would have just enough time to drop the dogs off, get back to the hotel and get the bags into the car (no room for two kennels that were assembled AND all those bags and a baby), drive to the airport and switch off with an old co-worker of Frank's who would be car-sitting until the Navy had room to put it on a ship, get checked in and on our way. There was very little room for error.

Would we make our 9am flight? Would the dogs make THEIR flight? Would I lose my mind doing it all by myself in the process? You'll have to stay tuned to find out!

[lauren-roxy]

What a wonderful start Courtney and those photos are just precious!!! Can't wait to read more!!

[ariel14]

Great start!
More pls!

Cindy

[Grammy Grumpy]

Wow Courtney, you are one brave woman!! Traveling across the US with a teething baby!!

Thanks for the great report of your visit to Auntie Mo. I'm sorry to hear she was not feeling well when you were there.

Waiting for more.

[DopeyGirl]

Courtney . . . I think you know I have a little bit of interest in what happens the rest of the trip! Like . . . how the pets and car got there and what-not . . . [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Just in case!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

More please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Jennifer2003]

[ QUOTE ]
They were scheduled to fly from San Diego to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to Honolulu, arriving at about 8:30pm Hawaii time. (Bet everyone can guess the airline they were on!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously an airline that doesn't know US geography!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

This is such a fun report!! The pics from Maureen's house were great!!!

Jennifer

[Minnie Lor]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow Courtney, you are one brave woman!! Traveling across the US with a teething baby!!

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/yeahthat.gif[/img] I couldn't do it even without the teething baby!

[crystalloubear]

I think I would have had a nervous breakdown!! More please

[mac]

Wow Courtney, you are an inspiration!! Sometimes I want to pull my hair out driving across town with Isabella!

[statelady01]

Just so you guys know Courtney generously put it mildly when she mentioned the hurling factor. I can't even begin to tell you how upset I was at the fact that they were here and I was so sick I could barely lift my head. Luckily, it passed in about 9 hours so that night, we were able to visit. We had big plans to go out, shop and out to eat. Again, feeling horrible about that- but was told emphatically, "We are here to visit you guys not do that stuff!"- which made me feel tons better.

ALL the Austin kids are very fond of Courtney a/k/a Cookie and Taylor. SOME of the Austin kids are fond of Cha Cha and Tinkerbell. We are still adjusting to Gabby. LOL! But I think all things considered, everyone had a great visit.

I still am highly upset that Taylor showed definite preference for her Uncle. But I'll get over it.

This account of our adventures had me in stitches (no pun intended) and I am greatly looking forward to the next installment. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[DrDolphin]

Great start Courtney!!! Cross country with a teething 6-month old - I bow at your feet!!!

[Courtney]

So, after being up practically all night, I managed to get about 45 minutes of sleep before it was time to take the dogs to Air Cargo. They opened at 6:30, and had to be checked in ASAP to make it on their flight.

A woman was checking in two dogs on another flight to Hawaii (these were the dogs that took the spaces on OUR flight, ironically!), and we were next. Let me just say, Natasha at Delta's Air Cargo was NOT having a good day. She looked at ChaCha in her cage (which she traveled in a little over a year ago on THREE flights with no issues) and decided that ChaCha was too big for the cage, and told me flatly that ChaCha would not be traveling today. It was actually because I put ChaCha's "boyfriend" Winnie the Pooh in with her, and she happened to be sitting on top of it when Natasha looked in the cage. SIGH. Winnie had to leave, and then she was fine. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

When I initially made the reservations, I was told it would be $255 for both dogs. I gave Delta all of the measurements for the cages, the weights, etc. Natasha handed me the form to sign and it said it was going to be almost $500 to be paid upon arrival. I was not in the mood, nor did I have the time, to argue, so I just signed the form and headed back to the hotel to load up the car.

No sooner than I had arrived in the room, my cell phone rang. Frank was on the other line (it was about 4 in the morning there!) and said that he had just talked to Natasha, who told him that the area that holds pets on the plane that was to be flying to Atlanta was broken, and the dogs would not be traveling today. (She was just dead-set on my dogs not traveling, wasn't she?) We couldn't get anyone at Delta's PetFirst to pick up the phone, because we were going to try to get in touch with them to deal with things.

I ended up calling back to Air Cargo and got someone else on the phone who explained that the only other flight was through Salt Lake City, and they were trying to get them onto that flight. I was VERY concerned about the temperature there, and the woman assured me that the dogs would not be on the ground for very long at all, since it was a tight connection. Thank goodness our vet had written an acclimation statement on their health certificates saying they could fly to temperatures of 32 degrees and above. The woman I spoke with was just monitoring the temperature, and as soon as it hit 32, she was able to process them through on that flight. Crisis averted.

In the meantime, I was loading things into the car, and an old co-worker of Frank's from the ship that he detached from in San Diego came into the parking lot with her husband. (Sarah, here's the part about our cars!) Frank's car was shipped over to Hawaii when he detached from the ship, since the Navy will cover the cost of one car being shipped. There is a program that will allow you to put another car (or boat, jet ski, whatever) on Navy ships that are heading from San Diego to Hawaii on regular deployments/exercises/etc at a minimal cost, on a space available basis. It can take up to a year, but it's a lot cheaper than the $1500 cost of shipping a car (the cost will be based on if they have to use a crane to load or unload cars onto the ship (if it's not an amphib ship that can be driven onto), and divided by the number of cars that are loaded, so it could be a couple of hundred dollars). So Frank's co-worker was going to be car sitting for us until room opens up on a ship for our second car to come out. (Also the reason for the drive to San Diego, otherwise we would have just flown from Tennessee.)

We pulled into San Diego airport a little bit less than two hours prior to our flight. If the drive wasn't bad enough, I was now pushing a fully loaded luggage cart (three suitcases, a large duffel bag, three carryons and I had a backpack on) and Taylor in her carseat hooked into the stroller. Quite a sight. If any of you have been to the San Diego airport, you know that the drop off area is on one floor, and flight check in is on the 2nd floor. Pushing luggage, pulling a child, then pushing the child and pulling luggage. We inched our way to the elevators and then inched our way through the check in line. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

The very nice woman who checked me in let me know that strollers were permitted through the First Class security check-in, and thank goodness she did, because the line was OUT THE DOOR to get through security. I had never flown with a stroller before, and didn't realize the amount of work it takes to break down the ENTIRE THING (every carry-on through, had to take my laptop out to go separately, take off my shoes, take Taylor out of the carseat and send that through, then fold up the stroller to send THAT through, then walk through the metal detector and put it all back together.)

Let's just say, I was REALLY looking forward to a 6-hour break...I mean flight...

No sooner had I gotten everything back together and to the gate when I heard them calling for preboarders. Here's where I start my rant about preboarding; other parents, feel free to chime in. What the HECK is the point of getting preboarders on first if they don't give you any time to get settled? I had JUST pulled Taylor (with carseat) out of the stroller when people started coming down the gangway. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?

A flight attendant ended up coming out to help me, and we headed back to our seats (of course, the Navy had to put us almost in the back of the plane. It's hard enough to walk down an aisle by yourself, much less with carryons and a baby, oy!) Taylor and I were two of the three seats in the center of the plane, and the girl who ended up being in the third seat was right behind us, and was a big help in getting things put away and us getting settled.

Whew! We're finally on our way!

The flight was relatively uneventful. Taylor did FANTASTIC on both takeoff and landing. The doctor had suggested nursing her on takeoff to help with her ears popping, but she didn't even need it. She grinned at a couple of people about two rows back, she charmed all of the flight attendants, and only did her normal light fussing before taking a nap. The flight was COMPLETELY full, by the way, so I was a little bit concerned about her having a meltdown and having a LOT of people mad at me, but she did great.

Hawaiian Airlines really does live up to its' reputation. The food was great (and it wasn't an extra charge like it is on some airlines), they showed Wallace and Grommit for the movie, the flight attendants were incredibly friendly, and while I can't say the six hours went QUICKLY (thank goodness for relearning my bladder control after having her - there was no way I was going to attempt using an airline restroom while holding a baby!), I was able to catch a little bit of a nap, and the movie held me over. I attempted to read a book, but Taylor had other ideas, and wanted Mommy to entertain her. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I called Frank when we landed, and he KNEW I was going to ask about the dogs, so the first words out of his mouth were "I called to check on the dogs, they were on the ground for about 1/2 an hour and were fine and are on their way out here now." Good news indeed!

I waited until the plane had emptied out before even attempting to get all of our stuff together and get off the plane. An incredibly nice flight attendant helped me with everything off the plane, and said that normally there are women traveling by themselves with a child and one bag who are 10 times more frazzled than I was. I guess I'm just so used to doing things the hard way (and was really thankful that I was no longer in a car stuffed with luggage, a baby, and two dogs in the middle of nowhere!) I knew I would make it to where I was going, it may just take a few extra steps to get there; and I was SO excited to FINALLY be there. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Getting from the Hawaiian Airlines gates to baggage claim is a LONG walk, and I was EXHAUSTED as it was. Of course, we underestimated how exhausting it would be to put together the puzzle of the car situation.

Frank's car is a Beetle. Now, picture baby carseat, monster-sized stroller, three suitcases (granted, one of them was the carry-on size), one duffel bag, four carryon sized bags and two adults. Needless to say, it was NOT a comfortable ride home.

We actually stopped at the Quarantine Station on the way, to drop off the dogs' paperwork, and get the good news that they were actually going to be released two days earlier than we originally thought, on January 17th (that's tomorrow - hooray!) They told us that because they were arriving later in the afternoon, they would spend the night at the satellite area at the airport, and be transferred over to the Quarantine Station in the morning.

We made it home, I immediately started unpacking boxes (what can I say? It annoys me when I can't find anything!), and sent Frank out for our first meal in Hawaii...Taco Bell.

We live on a base in a pretty small city that's main claim to fame are the pineapple fields. In terms of fast food, we're pretty limited - there's a Subway on the base, and a Taco Bell, Wendy's, and Zippy's in the "town". I had been eating fast food for a week; another day wasn't going to kill me.

We called to make sure that the dogs made it okay, and they had. (Another sidenote - Delta's PetFirst was STILL not answering their phones, but we were able to find the number to the satellite station online and called them to see if they were there. We would be dealing with settling the money issue with Delta later, and since they couldn't be bothered to answer their phones, we weren't stressed.) We unpacked and repacked for our flight to Maui, and then went to bed!

By the way, to get that fantastic deal on that flight to Maui meant that we were on a 5:30am flight. Y'all know that I don't pass up a deal where the flight is about 1/3 of the normal cost, even if it means waking up at 3am to make it to the airport by 4:30 for a 5:30 flight. (And I hadn't adjusted to the time change yet, so it was really like waking up at 8am Eastern time for me. Not so much for Frank.)

No pictures during this part of the trip - I was just a smidge frazzled on our big travel day to be documenting it on film. I promise to make up for it with great pics of Maui.

Coming up! Our first scent of Maui, curve-alicious roads, and $7 for cheese in a green can?!

[crystalloubear]

Oh cheese in a can - sounds like a Joan W plotline!!

Can't wait to hear more

[statelady01]

More please!

[lauren-roxy]

Great update Courtney!!! You really are an inspiration, and I have 3 kids!! I'm glad you will get your dogs tomorrow!! Can't wait to read more!!